Public input sought on new border wall plans in San Diego County
Dante Ulanday - News Moderator 
Nearly 10 miles of new border wall is planned for construction in San Diego County, as well as additional infrastructure such as cameras, lights and roads along roughly 50 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The 9.74 miles of new wall includes 7.6 miles to be constructed west of the Tecate Port of Entry, 1.3 miles of wall east of the Tecate Port of Entry, and just under a mile of “secondary barrier” east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
Infrastructural updates are also planned along 51.5 miles of then existing barrier system within San Diego County, which could include fiber optic cables, lighting poles, artificial lights, power cables, surveillance cameras, access and patrol roads and utility shelters along the border.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a waiver of environmental regulations to expedite the construction, which states the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector “is an area of high illegal entry” and that “there is presently an acute and immediate need to construct additional physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States.”
In April, Noem issued a separate waiver for more than two miles of border wall in Jacumba, Smuggler’s Gulch, and Otay Mesa, some of which has already been completed.
CBP is accepting public comments regarding the planned construction through Oct. 23 and in a statement said it was seeking “input on the project’s potential impacts to the environment, cultural, quality of life and commerce, including socioeconomic impacts.”
Comments may be emailed to SanDiegoComments@cbp.dhs.gov — under the subject “San Diego Border Barrier System Construction,” or be made by calling 833-412-2056.
Comments may also be mailed to:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters, Program Management Office Directorate, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. 6.5E Mail Stop 1039, Washington, DC 20229-1100, ATTN: Michelle Barnes.
