Well, it’s begun. It may not be the way you wanted it, but here it is.

Here we are, on the other side of President Trump’s delcared national emergency. And construction has commenced on — as noted by The Daily Caller — “the fifth border wall project of his administration.”

On Tuesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the start of a 14-mile-long, 30-foot-high steel post fence near San Diego as a replacement for the steel-mesh barrier there.

The fence is the second layer of a two-layer system, the first of which is almost done.

The $101 million contract for the partition was won by Galveston’s SLSCO Ltd in December. To cover 97 miles of the southern border, the White House has so far awarded approximately $1 billion in building deals.

On Wednesday, Trump touted the new digs:

We have just built this powerful Wall in New Mexico. Completed on January 30, 2019 – 47 days ahead of schedule! Many miles more now under construction! #FinishTheWall pic.twitter.com/TYkj3KRdOC

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019

Coming out of the longest government shutdown in history, the President signed a February 15th deal granting $1.375 billion in wall appropriation for 55 miles of protection. Not to rest on those not-so-impressive laurels, he then declared a national emergency in order to allocate $8 billion (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Former super fan Ann Coulter remains unimpressed.

What about you? Do you believe the wall promised in 2016 will ever be completed? Did Trump drop an unretrievable ball in ending the shutdown? Let us all know in the Comments section below.

-Alex

Relevant RedState links in this article: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

See 3 more pieces from me: concerned about the border, concerned about men, and concerned about the future.

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The goal is to get Trump's stupidest voters to say "HE'S FIGHTING!" No he's not. If he signs this bill, it's over. https://t.co/6DQSkqxV8h

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 15, 2019

Pres. Trump on Ann Coulter, right-wing commentator who has been critical of the president's actions on immigration: "I don't know her. I hardly know her…I just don't have the time to speak to her."

"I like her, but she's off the reservation." https://t.co/xb0BBhlx7T pic.twitter.com/PAm4vU9DVE

— ABC News (@ABC) February 15, 2019

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