'Physical barriers' at border are one tall, expensive order

I’m like a lot of Advance News readers — I don’t think our government, state or fed, ever cheats us out of our tax dollars.

For example, the billions flowing into construction of the Border Wall, with the help of no-bid contracts, even though border crossings are now almost nonexistent, just proves us right — the government, no matter which party is in charge, is using our tax dollars with the careful, judicious stewardship required of our public servants.

In fact, according to recent Department of Homeland Security data, border apprehensions hit a record low last month — a mere trickle across the entire 1,954-mile stretch from Boca Chica to Tijuana. By all accounts, border security is nailed shut.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM

Yet, if you drive near certain border levees this week, you’ll hear a sound that contradicts the peaceful sounds of Mother Nature: the rhythmic, metallic thud-thud of pile drivers.

“Boom, boom, boom, boom, BOOM.”

It’s the happy sound of our own government, via hand-selected proxies, making noise, and each “boom” is worth untoward riches for the right contractor.

“As of early 2026…in Hidalgo County…U.S. Customs and Border Protection is focusing on constructing 4.7 miles of new barrier, following a $70 million contract awarded in early 2025...” (Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection.)

Who wants to bet that a change order, or change orders, won’t bump that $70 mill to $90 million before everything is said and done.

For only 4.7 miles of a new barrier?

That’s fewer miles than a 10K race.

The Gold-Plated Fence

We are now watching the “One Big Beautiful Bill” pour $46.5 billion into “physical barriers.”

The massive federal funding covers physical barriers that include primary walls (e.g., steel bollard fencing), secondary barriers, waterborne/ river barriers (like buoys with razor wire in the Rio Grande), vehicle/pedestrian barriers, access roads, lighting, cameras, sensors, and other “barrier system attributes.”

Before you know it, this stuff starts to really add up for the chosen few handed these lucrative contracts.

It would be cynical of anyone to check campaign donations and try to connect the dots, but why not. The dots can always be connected. No-bid contracts don’t get handed out to businesses based on merit alone. We all know that. Even at the local levels, whether it be a city, a school district, a county department, there are some sweetheart deals made that never quite pass the smell test.

In some of the rugged sections along the border, which start northwest of Falcon Reservoir, and continue all the way to Tijuana, where the rock doesn’t want to give way, the American taxpayer is paying north of $25 million per mile.

For those companies getting handed no-bid contracts for this work, what can be better?

According to a series of federal notices issued in late 2025, the administration used “unprecedented procurement waivers” to bypass standard bidding laws.

That meant they could skip the usual competition and hand-pick their preferred contractors.

Boosters of the Border Wall say it must be built because if Biden II is ever elected to the White House, the border will once again swing open.

Okay, but if a future administration refuses to patrol the border, or lets in countless people with no criminal background check or health screens, a simple thing like a physical barrier isn’t going to stop anyone from entering the U.S.

Meanwhile, it’s time to take a quick peaceful trip to the banks of the Rio Grande, so calm, so pretty, so peaceful: “BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.”

Those pile drivers are loud.