Holes remain in border wall months after DHS said it would be fixing them

DOUGLAS, Ariz. (KGUN) — In December, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that it would begin activities include but are not limited to:

• Completing and/or installing drainage to prevent flooding.  
• Installing and completing permanent erosion control and slope stabilization measures to ensure the safety and stability of structures in the region.  
• Completing prior construction of patrol, maintenance, and access roads by adding guardrails, signage, and integrating existing roadways to address safety concerns. 
• Remediating temporary use areas such as laydown yards, haul roads, and project areas impacted by construction. 
• Disposing of residual materials not required for completion of the work as identified above.   
• Closing small gaps that remain open from prior construction activities and remediating incomplete gates.

At the Tucson sector, many sections remain unfinished.

"There are real gaps in the state of Arizona," Governor Doug Ducey said. "You can see in an area like this, the wall is here, it has been largely completed in certain areas, but you can go a few miles down the path here and that's wide open."

Following the storms last summer, parts of the wall were damaged. Some sections of the roadway flooded which made patrolling the border difficult.

"We need this roadway to secure this border," Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said. "Both my deputies and our CBP border patrol agents transfers up and down this road. So, these are just things that make you real frustrated. Why are we not getting this done."

KGUN 9 has reached out to DHS multiple times about a timetable for the completion but has not received a response yet.

Dannels said that his office is already flooded with people coming into the country.

"We're already trying to address this, we're already being overwhelmed," Dannels said. "We're a rural county we don't have the resources like you do in Pima or Maricopa County and cities beyond. So, we know there's an impact coming, we're already dealing with it."

With Title 42 set to expire in May, the governor said that this would further exacerbate the issues Sheriff Dannels is expecting.

"I don't know what the word is beyond crisis, but it will be a further tragedy here," Ducey said. "We're already completely overwhelmed at two million in the last ten months. This has got to be stopped, we've got senators both democrat and republican talking about this and it's time the Biden administration paid attention to our southern border."