Mexico border wall: Trump orders aides to seize private land and disregard environmental rules

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President Donald Trump is so eager to complete hundreds of miles of border fence ahead of the 2020 presidential election that he has directed aides to fast-track billions of dollars' worth of construction contracts, aggressively seize private land and disregard environmental rules, according to current and former officials involved with the project. But the US Army Corps of Engineers has completed just about 60 miles of "replacement" barrier during the first 2½ years of Trump's presidency, all of it in areas that previously had border infrastructure. "Donald Trump promised to secure our border with sane, rational immigration policies to make American communities safer, and that's happening everywhere the wall is being built," Gidley said. Several administration officials who confirmed the White House's urgency said they expect to be able to deliver on Trump's demands because the actual construction of the barriers is typically the last step in the process.