Customs and Border Protection | The Contracting Education Academy

February 3, 2021 By cs

Border wall construction paused, contracts and funding under review

President Biden paused construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and ordered a review of its contracts and funding, hours after being sworn in on Jan. 20.

The border wall was a signature of President Trump who made strict immigration policies a cornerstone of his administration. However, many viewed the wall as a waste of taxpayer resources and symbolism for xenophobia. Biden’s executive order on the border wall was one of the first he signed on Wednesday evening and one of several aimed at reversing the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

“Like every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats. But building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution,” said the executive order. “It is a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security. My administration is committed to ensuring that the United States has a comprehensive and humane immigration system that operates consistently with our nation’s values.”

The order terminated the national emergency for the Southern border that Trump issued on February 15, 2019, shortly after the end of the longest shutdown in history, which resulted from differences over funding for the wall.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2021/01/biden-pauses-construction-border-wall/171548/

May 17, 2017 By AMK

Border agency says it has picked finalists to design Trump’s wall

The federal government said Friday that it has settled on finalists to design President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico, but it won’t identify them.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it will notify finalists over the next several days. It won’t say how many there are, but it has said previously that it would pick up to 20 for contracts expected to be valued between $200,000 and $500,000.

An agency document released last month by Senate Democrats says authorities plan to select winners by June 14 to build prototypes in San Diego on a short stretch of land near the Otay Mesa border crossing with Mexico.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-12/border-agency-says-it-has-picked-finalists-to-design-wall

May 15, 2017 By AMK

Bidders question handling of border-wall project

The federal government has said it will narrow this week the list of companies in the running to build prototypes of a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

But some bidders expressed skepticism about the process, if the government’s goal — as President Trump promised — is to build a wall along the 1,900-mile border.

“From the beginning it’s not a serious process, it’s not going to get the wall built,” Michael Hari said of the process. His Illinois-based company, Crisis Resolution Security Services, submitted a design inspired by the Great Wall of China.

“Right from the get-go there were conflicts, there was not enough time given to it, to develop a reasonable process that would result in a wall getting built,” he said.

The bumps along the way have been documented.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection extended the initial deadline to submit designs three times. It also amended seven times the two requests for proposals in order to fix errors and elaborate on aspects of the project.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/09/not-serious-process-bidders-question-handling-border-wall-project/315253001/

September 17, 2013 By AMK

Man who trained Feds on how to beat polygraph tests heads to prison

An Indiana man who charged federal employees and job applicants for training on how to beat lie detector tests was sentenced to eight months in prison on Friday.

Chad Dixon, 34, of Marion, Ind., charged customers up to $2,000 plus travel expenses to teach them how to subvert polygraph examinations used by government agencies in federal security background checks. Two federal contractors with Top Secret security clearances who worked for an intelligence agency and a law enforcement agency were among his customers.

“Dixon customized his trainings by asking each customer the purpose of their polygraph examination and the information they wanted to conceal from the government,” according to a press release from Neil MacBride, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2013/09/man-who-trained-feds-how-beat-polygraph-tests-heads-prison/70122/?oref=govexec_today_nl

President Biden paused construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and ordered a review of its contracts and funding, hours after being sworn in on Jan. 20.

The federal government said Friday that it has settled on finalists to design President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico, but it won’t identify them.

The federal government has said it will narrow this week the list of companies in the running to build prototypes of a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

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