Democratic lawmakers urged the Trump administration to cease work on new border walls across the nation's southern boundary with Mexico amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, asserting continued construction puts local residents and law enforcement agents in "immediate danger" of contracting the illness. New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich (D) and Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar (D) led the effort, backed by more than 90 House and Senate lawmakers, to freeze construction while the nation grapples with the spread of the novel coronavirus. "The construction of a wall puts workers, law enforcement personnel, and border residents in immediate danger," states the letter addressed to the leadership of the departments of Homeland Security, Defense and Justice. The letter asserts that continued work on new barrier walls across the 2,000-mile southern border violates both quarantine policies established by individual states as well as social distancing recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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