/ Modified may 4, 2021 10:30 a.m.

Pentagon cancels border wall contracts funded by Department of Defense, return unused funds

The Trump administration diverted roughly $10 billion from the Department of Defense to fund the wall.

Walker canyon Border wall construction near Walker Canyon, east of Nogales.
Brian Best, Tucson Samaritans.

The Pentagon will cancel all border wall construction projects contracted by the Trump administration that used money from the Department of Defense. And the Biden administration says it will return any unused money back to the agency.

The Trump administration built more than 450 miles of new border wall and funded some of it by redirecting around 10 billion dollars in military funds. Randy Serraglio with the Center for Biological Diversity said seeing an end to those projects is a win for environmental groups.

"So these projects that Trump was funding with stolen money basically are in some of the most wild and remote and rugged places along the Arizona Sonora border," he said.

Serraglio said that includes Guadalupe Canyon, where contractors used dynamite to blast through tough mountainous terrain, and the Coronado National Forest.

Environmental organizations have challenged the legality of using military funds at all. Serraglio said those lawsuits will still go forward to ensure another transfer like it won’t happen again.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona