U.S. to Establish New Port of Entry Facility in Southern California
According to data from CBP, border apprehensions have declined by over 95 percent.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has confirmed a multimillion-dollar deal for a new border entry port in Southern California, as reported by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
“These investments will enhance border security by equipping Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with cutting-edge inspection facilities.
“The new agreement also eliminates earlier Green New Deal stipulations, including a zero-emission vehicle charging requirement, which were deemed a misallocation of taxpayer funds and irrelevant to CBP’s national security objectives.”
The initiative is set to improve inspection efficiency, increase cross-border trade, leverage intelligent transportation technologies to handle traffic in the area, enhance freight movement, and reduce congestion, the agency stated.
Furthermore, this project is projected to yield economic advantages for the Southern California area, such as job creation.
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The project was initially funded via a grant from the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program in September 2022.
“Due to the prior administration’s lack of focus, this essential project remained stagnant for two years. No more. We have worked to finalize this agreement to enhance protection for our Southern border and combat drug trafficking while preventing taxpayer dollars from subsidizing unnecessary Green New Deal initiatives,” Duffy stated.
DOT noted that the Trump administration had inherited over 3,200 unallocated grants.
This backlog has hindered critical investments in American communities, according to the agency, which emphasized that it is “actively working” to expedite the allocation of these funds.
The Otay Mesa project is situated east of the current Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
The new facility will provide an alternative route for nearly 3,600 trucks that cross the Otay Mesa and Tecate entry ports daily, which are currently operating at full capacity.
Enhancing Border Security
Federal agencies have undertaken several measures to improve border security.
This contract, exceeding $70 million, entails the construction of approximately seven miles of border wall in Hidalgo County, Texas, within the U.S. Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley (RGV) sector.
“The RGV Sector is characterized by high levels of illegal entry and sees a significant number of individuals and narcotics being smuggled into the country illegally,” stated the agency.
“Closing the border wall in these areas will bolster the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) capacity to obstruct and deter illegal border crossings as well as the smuggling activities of drug cartels and human traffickers.”
The waiver was granted for three projects aimed at closing gaps in the border within the San Diego sector.
“Acting under President Trump’s Executive Orders, Secretary Noem is taking bold and decisive measures to secure the southern border and achieve complete operational control,” stated DHS.
Environmental Concerns
The waiver drew criticism from Earthjustice.
The environmental organization argues that the waiver enables the federal government to bypass 29 laws, including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Clean Water Act.
Earthjustice attorney Cameron Walkup remarked that bypassing legal protections related to the environment and governance that safeguard clean air, water, and biodiversity will adversely affect border communities and ecosystems.
“Instead of rushing to allocate tens of billions of dollars for President Trump’s construction of even more unnecessary border wall through a budget reconciliation package, Congress should concentrate on revoking these waivers and addressing the considerable damage already inflicted by the wall,” Walkup stated.
“Our southern border faces multiple threats. The complexity of the current situation necessitates a more direct role for our military in securing the border than we’ve seen in recent years,” Trump stated in the memorandum.
“This reflects a 14 percent reduction from February 2025, when USBP apprehended 8,346 individuals, and a staggering 95 percent decrease from March 2024, when there were 137,473 apprehensions.”
