Texas officials suggested the federal government could pick up construction. However, during President Trump’s first term, his administration built about one-third of what the state was able to put up in the same amount of time.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/31570120

Four years after Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas would be the first state to build its own border wall, lawmakers have quietly stopped funding the project, leaving only scattered segments covering a small fraction of the border.

That decision, made in the waning hours of this year’s legislative session, leaves the future of the state wall unclear. Just 8% of the 805 miles the state identified for construction is complete, which has cost taxpayers more than $3 billion to date. The Texas Tribune reported last year that the wall is full of gaps that migrants and smugglers can easily walk around and mostly concentrated on sprawling ranches in rural areas, where illegal border crossings are less likely to occur.

State leaders suggested the federal government could pick up the effort. However, during President Donald Trump’s first term, when wall building was his top priority, his administration completed just 21 miles in Texas — about a third of what the state was able to build over the past four years.

The Tribune reported last year that the state’s wall program would take around 30 years and more than $20 billion to complete.

  • Bwaz@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 days ago

    Hey, I smell a scam. What happened to all those billions that Mexico gave us to build that wall?!

  • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    But it was so important?

    Billions of rapists and hyper-violent drugged out gang members are flooding over the border every second.

    Does Texas not care about protecting their people? The country?

    Or… was it all absolute fucking bullshit designed to funnel a few million dollars to one of Abbotts cohorts?

  • LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    I mean, no shit. The goal was never the actual wall. The goal was what the wall represented. To be able to arrest, oppress, and “remove” any brown person they wanted.

    We’re already at the Home Depot parking lot arrest and we’re not even 6 months in. If liberals keeps talking about the wall as if it’s a hypocrisy that will sway Trump supporters they’ll lose that battle.

    It was never about a wall. It was about bringing fascism to America. And that wall is taller than anything Texas could ever build.

    Please stop thinking you’ll fight fascism with liberal “gotchas” of hypocrisy. That’s far behind us. If you’re not on the streets with a sign then at least just keep your focus in the right place.

    Focus on the HARM that is being done. Not some fake promise of a wall that no one ever cared about beyond the aesthetics and it’s symbolism.

    Tell your parents about the nice guy are home depot that helped you move your couch. That got taken by ICE for just trying to make a living. These personal stories resonate with that generation.

    But no one cares about a dumb ass wall. MAGA never did. And if you think they did you missed the the point and the appeal of Trump entirely.

  • nthavoc@lemmy.todayEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    So what happened to the $77 billion left to build the wall? Oh, they griffed it. Just like everything the Donvict makes, it goes to shit and he runs off with the money. Suddenly there’s no more immigrant crisis on the Texas border. Clearly it wasn’t the fucking wall that stopped it. Also, all that imminent domain claimed on farmers and habitat owners also just had their land completely stolen not for “imminent domain” purposes.

    His next term is in 2026. That’s right, he’s going for a 20 year tenure. There is not a limit on how many times you can be a Texas governor.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 days ago

      He’s too popular. Precisely because he brought $77B into the state to line his friends’ pockets.

      Who is going to run against Abbott that isn’t just a more Fash version of him? Any Democrat that runs will campaign on “Actually I always supported the wall and I’m upset he didn’t build it fast enough”. Any Republican in the primaries will complain that Abbott is too nice to Jews.

      And then every newspaper and TV channel in the state will endorse him, because that’s what their sponsors told them to do. The state will split 46/54, with a weird 40,000 vote undercount in Harris County and six counties in the Panhandle voting GOP to a man. And he’ll be in for another four years while the Green Party gets blamed for another liberal defeat.

      • JcbAzPx@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 days ago

        Any Democrat that runs will campaign on “Actually I always supported the wall and I’m upset he didn’t build it fast enough”.

        Maybe they should try not being an idiot.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 days ago

          Sorry, I hired a political consultant at $12,000/hr and he told me voters will only support idiots.

          Besides, we need to do something as a party to distance ourselves from Muslims, Women, PoC, and the LGBTQ community. They’re holding us back and scaring off all the white male social media millionaires!

          • nthavoc@lemmy.todayEnglish
            0·
            2 days ago

            I see your argument, but having an opposing candidate that can read the room may significantly increase chances of victory. Of course, victory is a very fleeting concept for democrats.

  • GraniteM@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 days ago

    How many college educations could have been fully funded for $3 billion? How many elementary schools built? How many other worthwhile problems could have been solved, rather than building a bunch of worthless crumbling garbage out in the desert?

  • SabinStargem@lemmy.todayEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    Unfortunate. The metal materials of that wall was an excellent donation program to local businesses.

    /s…? 🤔

  • RacerX@lemmy.zip
    0·
    3 days ago

    Good news for Mexico. I heard they were going to get quite a bill for that wall.

  • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    No need for it now. America is so shit nobody wants to go there.

    Be Mexico building the wall soon to keep Texans out.