This story was updated on May 1 with statements from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
While much of the country has been on lockdown because of the coronavirus, construction of President Trump's border wall has continued.
on construction. But the administration has accelerated some efforts to build the wall, and Trump is using the pandemic to justify his push for it.
Since the pandemic began in the U.S., federal officials have moved to by . And they are still filing lawsuits in south Texas to seize private land for the wall.
In Starr County, three generations of the Alvarez family live on about eight acres of land that has been in the family for decades. Their property borders the Rio Grande.
On a weekday afternoon, Nayda Alvarez was at home when her dad went out to get the mail.
That鈥檚 when he said he saw a caravan of company trucks driving through an old highway where they live.
鈥淪o, he comes back home and says, go check it out because they might be jumping the fences again,鈥� Alvarez said.
that is expected to cut through her property for more than a year now.
When her dad told her about the people he saw, she had a hunch they might be government workers.
Alvarez stepped out onto her porch to check it out for herself.
She said she saw a group of about eight people near her grandfather's property.
鈥淭hey were in there with several big trucks, some sort of machinery. I felt insecure that there were people next to us,鈥� said Alvarez. 鈥淵ou know, we are supposed to be in quarantine and we have stay-at-home orders here in the county of Starr. I don鈥檛 know who these people are, where they鈥檝e been or what they have.鈥�
She said she was struck by how close they were standing and noticed they didn鈥檛 have facemasks or gloves.
Alvarez took a photo and sent it to her attorneys.
Turns out, she was right, they were government surveyors who were collecting data for upcoming border wall construction that will go near her property.
BREAKING: Border wall construction continues despite nationwide demands to halt immediately.
One of our clients whose home is threatened by the wall sent us this photo today of contractors surveying the land near her home in Starr County. 鈥� Texas Civil Rights Project (@TXCivilRights)
Nayda Alvarez is one of about a dozen landowners the is representing, according to staff attorney Ricky Garza.
鈥淲hile we had seen six cases filed some months 鈥� most months, three or four 鈥� we saw 13 new cases filed in March, which was a record... the most we had ever seen,鈥� said Garza.
Garza said the coronavirus pandemic has made it hard to effectively meet with clients, and he thinks that鈥檚 why the government is doing this now.
鈥淲e think they鈥檙e taking advantage of the pandemic to go after people鈥檚 homes when they should be sheltering in place,鈥� said Garza. 鈥淚 was pretty shocked when I first saw the curve of cases, it looks like the coronavirus infection chart.鈥�
Since the 1st case of was confirmed in the US, the feds have sharply increased their attempts at taking the homes of border residents to build Trump's useless wall. See it for yourself
How can people protect themselves while this is happening? 鈥� Texas Civil Rights Project (@TXCivilRights)
Laiken Jordahl is a borderlands campaigner with the .
He travels along the southern border and talks to communities affected by it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 infuriating to see wall construction ramp up, actually be accelerated when the people who are fighting wall construction are now required to do that from the confines of their living rooms,鈥� said Jordahl. 鈥淚t seems and feels so unfair.鈥�
The usual protests and rallies organized are out of the question right now due to the pandemic.
Jordahl said border residents he鈥檚 spoken to have also seen the ramping up of border wall construction.
He said since the pandemic started, the and it is to build it.
鈥淎nd across the border in Arizona, in California we鈥檝e seen this massive influx of construction workers into our border communities,鈥� said Jordahl. 鈥淭hese workers are coming from all over the country. They鈥檙e crowding into hotels and grocery stores, exposing residents to increase risk of infection.鈥�
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said the process has not changed or escalated due to COVID-19.
"Any increase in land acquisition actions is solely due to the progression of project planning actions," said agency officials in a statement.
They added, "while day-to-day operations have been adjusted in response to COVID-19, it remains important to simultaneously continue these long-term efforts as safely as possible."
Vicki B. Gaubeca is the director of . She said the influx of workers, especially those who don鈥檛 follow social distancing or wear proper personal protection equipment (PPE), and Yuma, Arizona and .
鈥淏order rural communities typically don鈥檛 have access to specialized healthcare services, or even testing sites. Which means the lives of those workers, the residents, are placed at risk, as they would have to travel a long distance to access a healthcare facility,鈥� said Gaubeca on a recent press call.
Back in Starr County, Nayda Alvarez said she鈥檚 not surprised the government is continuing with its project even during this difficult time.
She said her experience so far fighting the construction hasn鈥檛 been good. Like last year, when her mom was dying of breast cancer.
She said the kept calling everyday.
鈥淯ntil finally I told the lady I was talking to, I said, 鈥榃hat is it that you don鈥檛 get? You know, we鈥檙e busy,鈥欌�� said Alvarez. 鈥淚 told her, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 you call me next Monday? You know my mother is going to die any minute now.鈥欌��
Alvarez told them they鈥檇 be done with the burial by the end of the week.
鈥淎nd guess what, that Monday morning the first call we got was from the Army Corps of Engineers people, again, trying to get their signature that they want for the access to the property,鈥� said Alvarez. 鈥淭hat shows you that the government has no value for human life, or what we鈥檙e going through.鈥�
Nayda said she鈥檇 like to see the money that鈥檚 going to border wall construction instead be used to battle COVID-19.
鈥淲e have over 40,000 people that have died with this virus and yet they are stubborn that they want to build the wall,鈥� said Alvarez.
The Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement that its contractors are instructed to comply with CDC, state and local guidelines.
CBP officials said the pandemic shows that it鈥檚 important to 鈥渉ave full awareness of who and what is coming across our borders.鈥�
The agency said it remains confident that it will build 450 miles of border wall by the end of the year.
Reynaldo Lea帽os Jr. can be reached at Reynaldo@TPR.org and on Twitter at .
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