<p class="title">The US was to begin construction in Texas on Saturday of part of President Donald Trump's border wall designed to curb illegal immigration, which he calls a security threat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Running along four miles (six kilometers) of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, the new section will replace existing fencing along the boundary between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This new wall will be far more durable and far more effective in deterring would-be illegal entrants," Aaron Hull, Chief Patrol Agent in the El Paso sector, said in the statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It said the existing fencing will be replaced by an 18-foot steel post barrier which allows Border Patrol agents to see through to the other side. The $22-million project is to be completed in about seven months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In April, the Border Patrol announced the start of construction of a 20-mile stretch of wall to replace an existing barrier in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Much of the border already has fencing or other barriers, but Trump has ordered a "contiguous, and impassable physical barrier," which scientists say would threaten more than 1,000 species of animals.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Congress has so far approved $1.6 billion of $25 billion Trump had sought for his wall.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He initially demanded that Mexico pay for the barrier, which added to tensions between the two neighbours.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many of the migrants trying to reach the United States are fleeing gang violence and poverty in Central America.</p>
<p class="title">The US was to begin construction in Texas on Saturday of part of President Donald Trump's border wall designed to curb illegal immigration, which he calls a security threat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Running along four miles (six kilometers) of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, the new section will replace existing fencing along the boundary between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This new wall will be far more durable and far more effective in deterring would-be illegal entrants," Aaron Hull, Chief Patrol Agent in the El Paso sector, said in the statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It said the existing fencing will be replaced by an 18-foot steel post barrier which allows Border Patrol agents to see through to the other side. The $22-million project is to be completed in about seven months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In April, the Border Patrol announced the start of construction of a 20-mile stretch of wall to replace an existing barrier in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Much of the border already has fencing or other barriers, but Trump has ordered a "contiguous, and impassable physical barrier," which scientists say would threaten more than 1,000 species of animals.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Congress has so far approved $1.6 billion of $25 billion Trump had sought for his wall.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He initially demanded that Mexico pay for the barrier, which added to tensions between the two neighbours.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many of the migrants trying to reach the United States are fleeing gang violence and poverty in Central America.</p>