Pentagon acquiring profits of auction on Trump border wall materials

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
21 Aug 2023 15:39
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A Pentagon Spokesperson says the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is disposing of the excess border wall materials, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation, albeit discreetly.

In this 2020 photo, Donald Trump was touring a section of the border wall in San Luis, Arizona. (AP)

The Department of Defense (DoD) and a local official at the southern border confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) that the Biden administration has been "disposing" of parts of the Trump border wall in an auction for months.

The auction firm GovPlanet has been selling off "thick wall tubes" and other wall components since April. It has already sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of wall supplies. In a statement to the DCNF, the Pentagon revealed that the Biden administration is "disposing" of some of the building supplies for the border wall.

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is disposing of the excess border wall materials in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation," Pentagon Spokeswoman Raini Brunson told the DCNF.

According to the New York Post, the profits from the auction will go to the Pentagon.

Read: US supreme court rejects bid to revive policy denying migrant benefits

The Daily Upside, which broke the news of the auction, says GovPlanet was told by the Department of Defense to avoid referencing Trump when marketing the wall materials.

"We are legally not allowed to mention these are the border wall materials, or we could lose our jobs," a GovPlanet source said. "But that’s what they are – 110 percent."

On GovPlanet's website, dozens of building supplies for the border wall that are worth thousands of dollars are still up for auction.

"USACE has already transferred approximately $154 million worth of the roughly $260 million of bollard panels and other materials in accordance with standard excess property disposition procedures. USACE stands ready to implement a decision regarding disposition of the remaining materials," Brunson said.

Jonathan Lines, the supervisor of Yuma County, is disappointed because he had hoped the Biden administration would repair significant holes in Arizona's border wall. One of the main entrance places for illegal immigrants is Yuma's Morelos Dam, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared more than a year ago that they will shut the breaches there.

According to Lines, work is still underway on the wall that will cover the dam's openings.

"Everything to complete the wall was already in place on the ground and purchased and now they have gone out and redesigned the enclosures for the gaps. This is an example of government waste at its finest," Lines told the DCNF.

Regarding the ongoing work to close the border wall gaps in the region, Lines said they "have been using a different product, but our panels in Yuma that are complete are still there."

Between June and July, when border patrol encounters rose from about 99,000 to more than 132,000, irregular immigration at the US-Mexico border climbed by around 33%.