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.

  • LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.eeEnglish
    191·
    11 hours 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.