The Trump administration is continuing to award border wall contracts in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency, including in areas where private land hasn’t yet been acquired, an unusual move that will complicate President-elect Joe Biden’s pledge to halt construction.

Asked by CNN Tuesday whether there are plans to continue to finalize contracts, even in areas where the real estate is not owned by the federal government, acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan responded “yes.”

“We believe that probably by January 17,18,19, we will have well over 700 miles of that 800 funded…The contract will have already been awarded,” Morgan said. “The major milestone is having a contract awarded.”

Striking a contract before privately-owned land — which makes up a considerable portion of the Rio Grande Valley — has been acquired by the government is outside of the usual process for the US Army Corps of Engineers, which provides direction and oversight of border projects, according to Charles Tiefer, a government contracting law professor at the University of Baltimore.

“The Army Corps exists to build,” Tiefer said. “That’s their mission. And so they are expected to always follow the orderly path of buying the land before awarding contracts.”

Attempts to halt construction completely, as Biden promised, will prove difficult, particularly if contracts continue to be struck — a challenge Morgan acknowledged Tuesday. “They could terminate those contracts if they want to, but that’s going to be a very lengthy, messy process,” Morgan said.

“We’re going to have to go into settlement agreements with each individual contractor,” Morgan added, noting, that payments will have to be made for what they’ve already done, as well as for materials produced. He estimated the process could cost billions.

Raini W. Brunson, a spokesperson for the US Army Corps of Engineers, said the agency had nothing to add beyond Morgan’s comments.

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