About 50 miles of barriers have been built since the end of February, when the first deaths linked to the coronavirus were reported in the U.S.
Bulldozers and other heavy machinery have been brought up to the edge of the Oregon Pipe National Monument outside Tucson, where crews have also detonated bedrock to lay the barrier's foundation.
Crews have worked to remove cactus and other plant life near the international wildlife preserve to make way for access roads which Border Patrol say are needed to enhance security. The Army Corps of Engineers in February conducted a series of controlled blasts along a sacred Native American heritage site known as Monument Hill.Cactuses in southern Arizona are removed to make way for the border wall in November 2019.The work has drawn the ire of local community advocates who accuse Wolf of ignoring the irreversible damage that could be done to the Sonoran Desert landscape.
"Wolf is responsible for ramming border walls into our communities, bulldozing our state's beloved saguaro cactuses and demolishing indigenous sacred sites," said Laiken Jordahl, an environmental advocate based in Tucson."Now he's wasting time with a dog-and-pony show while people are suffering and dying of COVID-19 in his detention facilities.
"I think the administration has been very clear on this front, which is border security is national security and Homeland Security, and so we're going to secure that border every way we can," Secretary Wolf said before continuing on to California for more Border Patrol meetings.
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