WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th June, 2019) The US government picked more than a dozen companies to compete for $5 billion in southern border construction work, the Defense Department said in a press release.
"[The companies] will compete for each order of the $5,000,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for horizontal construction services in support of the Department of Homeland Security, Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Del Rio, Big Bend and El Paso Border Patrol sectors," the release said on Wednesday.
At least thirteen firms were selected for the contract including five from the state of Texas, two from New Mexico and one of each from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Massachusetts, Missouri and Montana, according to the release.
Each work project is expected to be completed by June 24, 2024, the release noted.
Caravans of migrants from Central American countries seeking asylum began moving toward the United States through Mexico last fall. US President Donald Trump has called the surge of arrivals a crisis and declared a national emergency in February to secure funds for constructing a border wall.
