As Texas continues to wrestle with the historic levels of unlawful migration across the southern border, Governor Greg Abbott has started border wall construction.
“Texas is building our own border wall,” the governor recently tweeted, along with a 54-second video of a crane moving a section of wall into place.
Abbott himself can be seen in the foreground of the video observing the construction next to a sign which reads, “Securing the border.” The video had been recorded when Abbott visited the border for a press conference on January 30.
In December, Abbott announced wall construction would resume following extended negotiations between state officials and people who own private property along the border where the wall is to be constructed.
“More border wall is going up next month,” he tweeted on December 13. “It took months to negotiate with private property owners on the border for the right to build on their property. We now should be building more border wall all of next year,” he explained.
RJ Hauman, director of government relations and communications at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told The Dallas Express that Gov. Abbott building a wall along the Texas border is “absolutely” a good thing, but it is not enough.
“It will help rangers by stopping the destruction of their property by illegal aliens who tear down their fences,” he said. “But will it secure the border? Absolutely not. The only way he can do that is by invoking the full authority of an invasion declaration.”
However, some have a far less supportive view of the governor’s actions and do not believe the border wall construction is the best allocation of taxpayer funding.
“The latest announcement that Governor Abbott is continuing to build the border wall clearly shows that he is more interested in flexing his power instead of using these resources to fund what border communities and everyday Texans actually need,” Erin Thorn, senior attorney with the Beyond Borders program at the Texas Civil Rights Project said to The Dallas Express.
“We call on Governor Abbott to put an end to political stunts like this and Operation Lone Star,” Thorne continued. “It’s time for border communities to get the real investment and help they need — access to healthcare, better infrastructure, and resources to address climate change.”
“This wall has long been a symbol that attempted to tear border communities apart,” Thorn said. “Texans deserve better.”
In September of last year, the Texas Facilities Commission approved two contracts totaling $307 million to construct 14 miles of wall along the state’s border with Mexico, the Texas Tribune reported.
A $167 million contract was awarded to Southwest Valley Constructors Co. for roughly 6.7 miles of border wall near Del Rio, and a second $140 million contract was awarded to BFBC of Texas for about 6.95 miles of wall to be constructed in the Rio Grande Valley.