While construction was supposed to start in 2019 on a new information systems facility at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the former Trump Administration diverted the project’s funds to the border wall.

New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced recently that funding for the facility will be restored, along with $18 million appropriated in 2018. The total cost of construction to replace the 60-year-old facility is estimated to be $50 million.

In a statement, Heinrich said the project is “the first major military construction project in direct support of testing and evaluation at White Sands in nearly 20 years.”

In 2019, the former Trump administration declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, which diverted $3.6 billion Congress had appropriated for military construction. Of that amount, $187.5 million was slated for projects at New Mexico installations, Alamagordo Daily News reports.

“It was an honor to use that responsibility to ensure this much-needed facility can replace an outdated complex built in 1962,” said Heinrich.

Photo by John Hamilton