A politically connected construction firm received $569 million this week to build 17 miles of the border wall that President Donald Trump made a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign—when Mexico was supposedly paying for it—and which he continues to advocate for in the midst of a national health crisis. As the Daily Beast reports, the Army Corps of Engineers announced Tuesday that BFBC, a subsidiary of Montana-based Barnard Construction, was awarded half a billion dollars in contract modifications for wall construction in two different California locations. The original border wall contract that the firm received from the Army last May was just 25 percent of the amount announced this week. The report notes that this works out to over $33 million per mile, which is “steeply above the $20 million-per-mile average" that the government is already spending on Trump’s wall.

An Army spokesperson told the Daily Beast that the government requested in February—by which time the CDC had already identified the country’s first COVID-19 case—that BFBC “design and construct an additional 17.17 miles of border barrier in El Centro and San Diego, CA.” In less than a year, BFBC—which has been a consistent Republican donor—has gotten over a billion dollars in taxpayer money to build 37 miles worth of border wall, which Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, called “a travesty” that “must be investigated and audited immediately.”

On April 8—which the Daily Beast notes was just three days before the Army awarded BFBC the modification —four members of Congress wrote a letter urging the administration to cease all border wall construction efforts and “stop wasting critical federal resources” in light of the coronavirus crisis. “At a time when we are all taking extraordinary steps to limit the death toll and economic devastation wrought by this unprecedented pandemic,” they wrote, “it is deeply concerning to learn that government officials, contractors and construction workers in border communities will defy public health orders and continue border wall construction unabated, perhaps even accelerating construction in our border communities.”

A similar message came from a group of 91 Congressional Democrats this week. “We should be using all resources and funding to combat this virus and protect Americans, instead of using critical funding and resources to continue the construction of a border wall,” read the letter sent to the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Defense__ requesting the cessation of all border wall construction during this crisis. As Axios reports, the letters signed by a total of 66 House members and 25 senators argue further wall construction wastes “critical funding and resources” that “should be invested in healthcare, small businesses, and fighting the spread of COVID-19” and “defies” the social distancing and quarantine policies outlined by the CDC.

Senator Elizabeth Warren called in late February for defunding Trump’s “racist wall” in order to address the coronavirus outbreak, which Trump was still downplaying. “There’s a chance that it won’t spread,” he said at the time. Funding for the border wall continues to be a priority even as funding for the World Health Organization does not. Trump called this week to halt the group’s funding while his administration reviews their role in “severely mismanaging and covering-up the spread of the coronavirus.” As Politico reports, cutting off funds to the WHO—which has an annual budget of $4.8 billion—will pose an obstacle to the group in conducting vaccine trials, distributing test kits, and providing advice to governments around the world. Axios notes that money continues to be pumped to Trump’s wall, with his administration allocating $1.375 billion to build about 69 miles in fiscal year 2020. “The last thing we need,” said Senator Martin Heinrich, “is to put workers and the surrounding communities at risk when they already lack the health care infrastructure to handle this public health crisis.”

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