The Department of Interior says it is transferring 560 acres of federal land to the U.S. Army to speed up construction on 70 miles of border wall in Arizona, West Texas and California.
This marks the first time the government has transferred land on an emergency basis to build border barriers.
"Extraordinary measures must be taken to preserve values that would otherwise be lost" at the southern border, said acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Casey Hammond.
The announcement comes as President Donald Trump visited a newly completed section of the border wall in California on Wednesday.
Trump's signature campaign promise was to build a wall between Mexico and the U.S. He promised Mexico would pay for it, but he is instead using billions in Defense Department money.
