Trump administration installs plaque marking finish of 100 miles of border wall

The Trump administration earlier this month installed a plaque on a new barrier along the southern border commemorating the construction of 100 miles of President Trump’s long-sought border wall. 

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf traveled to Yuma, Ariz., on Jan. 10 to announce that the administration had finished building 100 miles of new barriers, calling the feat a “milestone” that deserved “celebration.”

He said in a tweet Saturday that he delivered a silver replica plaque to Trump “on behalf of the men and women of U.S. Border Patrol” and Anthony Porvaznik, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection sector chief in Yuma.

The plaque noted in its inscription that another one was affixed to a new barrier constructed along the Colorado River in Yuma. The plaque says that it is “dedicated to all the men and women who work tirelessly to protect our nation.”

Proud to deliver this to @POTUS @RealDonaldTrump this week on behalf of the men and women of U.S. Border Patrol and @USBPChiefYum. 101 miles of wall and counting! pic.twitter.com/VFot4e1ki9

— Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) January 18, 2020 

“Thank you for your steadfast commitment to the Southwest Border Wall project in the Yuma Sector,” the plaque reads. 

Trump made the construction of a wall along the southern border a major theme of his 2016 presidential campaign, and in February, he declared a national emergency to bypass Congress and spend roughly $6 billion in military funds to start building a wall. 

The declaration spurred numerous legal actions, but the Supreme Court last July ruled that the Trump administration could begin using $2.5 billion in military funds for construction of a wall while litigation played out.

A federal appeals court offered another win to Trump on Jan. 8 by lifting a lower court’s ruling blocking the administration from tapping into military funds for wall construction. The most recent ruling applied to a separate set of funds, CNN reported.

Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that the administration was planning to divert another $7.2 billion from the Pentagon to go toward border wall construction this year. It would mark the second year in a row that military funding was redirected to wall construction. 

“We will continue to oppose the transfer of counterdrug funding for the wall, and will force yet another vote to terminate the President’s sham national emergency declaration and return these much-needed military construction funds back to our military,” a group of senators, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), said in a statement in response to the report.