Border Wall Construction Advances in Arizona Despite Federal Shutdown

Even as a federal government shutdown grinds much of Washington to a halt, construction crews are forging ahead with miles of new border barriers in Arizona, a move officials say is essential to safeguarding military assets and countering a surge in illicit crossings that pose direct risks to national security. Not merely drugs, nor human traffickers from Mexico, Central and South America, but increasing infiltration from China.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in coordination with private contractors, has begun erecting a 15-mile stretch of 30-foot steel bollard wall along the Barry M. Goldwater Range, a sprawling 1.1-million-acre military training ground on the U.S.-Mexico border. The project, valued at $230 million, targets a dilapidated 12-foot mesh fence that is riddled with holes and easily scalable, leaving the installation vulnerable to unauthorized entry as reported by The Center Square.

Yesterday, the @USArmy and @USACEHQ began construction of 15 miles of Border Wall at the Barry M. Goldwater Range in Arizona.
 
This critical project protects a vital military installation, strengthens border security, and supports our brave men and women in uniform.
 
No nation… pic.twitter.com/MH1z53tpBx

— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) October 16, 2025

The Goldwater Range serves as a critical hub for air-to-ground bombing exercises, hosting squadrons from the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. Pilots from bases including Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, and Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma rely on its vast airspace—larger than the state of Connecticut—for training. “This is a vital military installation and an invaluable asset,” a Department of War spokesperson said, emphasizing that the barrier upgrade falls under Section 2803 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which authorizes military construction projects deemed essential to national defense even during funding lapses.

Source: U.S. Marine Corps, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 

Work on the Arizona segment, awarded to Montana-based BFBC LLC, is scheduled for completion by August 2026. It includes not only the towering steel panels—each weighing about 9,000 pounds and embedded in concrete—but also patrol roads, secondary barriers, access gates, surveillance cameras, floodlights, and motion-detection technology. The design mirrors barriers already in place along Texas border sectors, featuring anti-climb plates and bollards spaced just four inches apart to deter breaches.

“When incursions occur and illegal border crossers get into that area, the ranges must close. That delays the training exercises. It diverts our time and our resources and ultimately impacts readiness,” Jordan Gillis, the assistant Army secretary for energy and installations, told reporters per DefenseOne.

This effort persists amid a partial government shutdown that began earlier this month due to stalled budget negotiations, resulting in the furlough of thousands of federal workers. However, national security exemptions allow the Army and contractors to proceed without interruption, underscoring the urgency and military necessity of fortifying the southwest border.

The push comes against a backdrop of heightened threats documented in recent federal assessments. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows a dramatic uptick in encounters with Chinese nationals attempting illegal crossings, rising from negligible numbers pre-2021 to over 182,000 between fiscal years 2021 and 2024. In the first five months of fiscal year 2025 alone, more than 22,000 Chinese migrants were apprehended at the southern border, according to CBP figures released in June.

The Department of Homeland Security’s 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment flags these trends as a growing concern, noting that “the Homeland also will face threats to public safety from state actors using subversive tactics in an effort to influence and divide the American public and undermine confidence in our institutions. Many of these actors—in particular, the People’s Republic of China (PRC)—also target ethnic and religious minorities, political dissidents, and journalists in the United States to silence and harass critical voices, violating our sovereignty and the rule of law.”

Chinese Communist Party ties to transnational criminal networks, espionage, and intellectual property theft have also been widely documented. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray repeatedly warned of China’s efforts to exploit immigration pathways for malign influence, including the recruitment of operatives embedded in sensitive sectors.

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist,” Wray said in remarks at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats in Nashville.

At the National Sheriffs’ Association Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in June, FBI Director Kash Patel explained that the CCP is actively partnering with drug cartels: “They are smart. They are partnering up with the Mexican drug cartels, with the Russians, with the Koreans, with every adversary we have and saying, ‘Look, we don’t really like each other, but we just hate America, so why don’t we team up?'”

Director Patel warned that with the Southern Border slamming shut, their adversaries are adapting. 

“CCP is the adversary of our time, and anyone that says otherwise is being selfish or lying to you or looking for financial gain… Now they’re moving the drug trafficking trade up there [Canada] and they’re moving the fentanyl distribution up there,” he warned.  

Patel tied the phenomenon to international terror, noting that the CCP’s partnership lets cartels and hostile actors flood the north, with stats showing nearly 300 terrorists crossing via Canada. “We need you [sheriffs] on the northern front.”

In May 2025, Border Patrol agents encountered 8,725 illegal migrants overall along the southwest border—a 93 percent drop from peak levels under the prior administration—but the composition has alarmingly shifted.

Analysts point to sophisticated smuggling routes used by Chinese migrants, often funneled through Central America, evading traditional detection methods. Incidents like the seizure of fentanyl precursors linked to Chinese suppliers at ports of entry further illustrate the interconnected risks. Broader wall-building initiatives in Arizona amplify these measures.

In May, New Mexico-based Southwest Valley Constructors secured an $891 million contract for 43 miles of barriers along the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Additional awards include $199.5 million to the Barnard Spencer Joint Venture for 60 miles of enhanced systems in the Yuma Sector and nearly $607 million to the BCCG Joint Venture for 23 miles of secondary wall plus 66 miles of technology upgrades spanning Tucson and Yuma sectors.

These projects draw from a $4.5 billion CBP allocation for 230 miles of physical barriers and 400 miles of “Smart Wall” surveillance tech. Funding traces back to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which earmarked $46.5 billion for comprehensive border fortifications, including repairs to segments neglected during the Biden era.

Since 2016, the Army Corps has completed roughly 450 miles of barriers along the southwest frontier. Proponents argue that such infrastructure, combined with personnel and tech, is indispensable amid persistent vulnerabilities. 

With fiscal pressures mounting and migration patterns evolving, Arizona’s ongoing border construction signals a renewed commitment to layered defenses from the Trump Administration. For residents and officials in border states like California and Arizona, the message is clear: Securing our nation can’t stop when the lights go out in D.C.