Texas to pay $307 million in contracts for 14 miles of new border wall 

Texas authorities awarded two contracts this week worth $307 million to build 14 additional miles of new border wall, according to the Texas Tribune. 

The Texas Facilities Commission approved a $167 million contract with New Mexico-based South West Valley Constructors Co. to add almost 6.7 miles of barriers between the Texas-Mexico border in Del Rio.

Similarly, the commission issued a second contract with Montana-based BFBC worth $140 million to build 6.95 miles of new border wall along the Rio Grande Valley. 

Francoise Luca, a spokesperson for the Facilities Commission, said that the new sections of the wall will be built as soon as they secure land-use agreements with the property owners of the land on which the wall sits. 

"The land-use agreements are on private land and remain in the negotiation stage," she said.

The commission’s executive director, John Raff, said Texas has “closed or is in the process of closing” deals to purchase over 2.5 miles of land for the Del Rio part of the wall.

The commission did not reveal any details about land acquisition or usage. However, its website does say that it is “contacting and working with about 150 landowners to secure land-use permission agreements that align with the project’s goals.”