Three years after Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas would take the extraordinary step of building a state-funded wall along the Mexico border, he has 34 miles of
Gov. Greg Abbott looks at crane lifting a section of the border wall in place after giving a press conference at Rio Grande City on Dec. 18, 2021. steel bollards to show for it.
Democrats and immigration advocates have cast the wall project as a taxpayer-funded pipe dream that will do nothing to address the root causes driving the immigration crisis. And they say the governor, in reviving what was once a hallmark of Trump’s agenda, is using public money to boost his political stock.
Novak has said the pace of building about half a mile of wall per week is expected to continue for the “foreseeable future.” At that rate, about 100 miles would go up every four years, with the full 805 miles covered sometime after 2050, when Abbott would be in his 90s. Still, no Texas Republican has voted against border wall funding. Lawmakers approved nearly $2.5 billion for the effort in the state’s current two-year budget — more than was allotted in state funds to all but a handful of state agencies, and more than twice what Texas spends on its court and juvenile justice systems.
The scope of Texas' wall construction — and Abbott’s broader border security efforts — are unprecedented in nature, as the federal government is generally responsible for immigration enforcement and the costs associated with it. “Of course, we can continue to negotiate with ranchers, but that is a very slow process,” Creighton said. “And it's an incomplete process, because there will always be holdouts for different reasons.”
“Walls do not achieve the objectives for which they are said to be erected; they have limited effects in stemming insurgencies and do not block unwanted flows, but rather lead to a re-routing of migrants to other paths,” wrote Élisabeth Vallet of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute in a 2022 report.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Immigration Construction Funding Land Access Mexico Border
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Hollywood Arby's closes after 55 years over California's $20 minimum wage“With inflation, food costs have gone way up and the $20-an-hour minimum wage has been the nail in the coffin,” said general manager Gary Husch.
Read more »
Bay Area mayors, advocates tout $20 billion bond to build housingThe mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Berkeley joined housing advocates at a press conference in San Francisco's Mission District on Thursday to announce support for a proposed $20 billion housing bond that would fund regional housing goals.
Read more »
At half a mile a week, Gov. Greg Abbott’s border wall will take around 30 years and $20 billion to buildThe state has built about 34 miles of wall spread out across at least six counties on Texas’ 1,254-mile border with Mexico.
Read more »
At half a mile a week, Gov. Greg Abbott’s border wall will take around 30 years and $20 billion to buildThe state has built about 34 miles of wall spread out across at least six counties on Texas’ 1,254-mile border with Mexico.
Read more »
Around the Southland: Officials tab $20 million for flood projects, I-80 lane closures, moreAround the Southland: $20 million for flood projects, I-80 lane closures, bazaar in Tinley, Comicopolis in Lockport, BAPA Garden Walk
Read more »
Cleveland's North Coast Land Bridge Gets $20 Million Closer to RealityClevelanders are a tad bit closer to seeing those barren, gray parking lots north of Browns Stadium go away for good. This week, the 135th Ohio General Assembly of the State Legislature okayed a $4.2 billion spending bill that allocated tens of millions of state dollars to high-stakes Cleveland development in progress.
Read more »