"As part of the President's Executive Order 13767, and at the direction of the Department of Homeland Secretary, construction for a border wall replacement in Santa Teresa with new bollard style wall will begin on Monday, April 9," the release said.
Construction is slated to run for approximately 390 days and cost $73.3 million, the release said. The existing barrier will be replaced with an 18- to 30-foot high bollard-style wall, the release added.
The initial construction project is modest compared with a barrier covering much of the 2000-mile-long US-Mexican border envisioned by President Donald Trump, who requested more than $20 billion for the wall in the 2018 budget. Congress approved just $1.6 billion, according to published reports.
"In Santa Teresa [New Mexico], Secretary Nielsen will visit the new border wall construction efforts," the release said on Monday. "She will also attend operational briefings on the wall’s construction and meet with local sheriffs."
Monday marked the first day of construction for a 20-mile section of a border wall 18-to 30-feet high in place of an aging chain link fence, according to an announcement by the US Border Patrol earlier on Monday.
The US Congress approved $1.6 billion for the project, far less than the $25 billion initially requested by President Donald Trump for a barrier along much of the 2,000-mile-long southern US border with Mexico.