Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway told the PRT in an interview Monday evening that the federal government will begin construction of a new, 25-mile border wall in the San Rafael Valley in May.
Hathaway claimed that he had seen the full plan for the project, details of which he shared with the PRT. “I’m not going to reveal my source,” he said, “but this is absolutely confirmed.”
According to Hathaway, the Trump administration’s plan calls for 1,800 truckloads of wall construction materials to be picked up in Benson and driven to a staging area near Lochiel.
“They are supposed to start in May,” Hathaway said. “The [trucks] will go down Hwy 90 to Mustang Corners, then they will take Hwy 82 through Sonoita to the Cross Creek Connector Road north of Patagonia to a site east of Lochiel. The trucks, which will be 18-wheelers, will not be driving on Harshaw Road past the Hermosa Mine and Washington Camp, but will travel into the valley towards the Vaca Ranch, then turn right to connect with Lochiel Road.”
Earlier this month, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it was in the process of seeking bids to build 24.7 miles of border wall in the San Rafael Valley.
In an interview with the PRT last week, CBP spokesman John Mennell did not divulge any details about possible wall construction in the San Rafael Valley, saying that there would be an official release of information once the contract had been awarded. He could not confirm that the staging area for the project was to be located in Lochiel.
Hathaway, however, was adamant that a plan is already in place.
“This is already confirmed, not waiting for bids, and I’ve actually seen the full plans,” he said. “We drove the route and I can tell you the route is being improved right now. It seems like the Trump administration is trying to be sort of cagey about this and not really talking about this publicly.”
Hathaway said he felt compelled to share what he knew about the project with the public, regardless of any possible blowback from federal officials.
“I’m so old now I don’t care anymore,” he said. “Like my dad used to say, there’s two people who will tell you directly how things are, it’s little kids and old people. At this point I just tell it like it is.”
Asked to respond today to Hathaway’s claims, CBP Spokesman Mennell said the agency stood by its previous statement.