Texas Governor Greg Abbott visited Rio Grande City on Saturday to mark the construction of a segment of a wall along the border with Mexico. The wall is being built on state-owned land with state funds and private donations.
"We are building this like any private property owner would have the right to build a wall or a fence in their own yard. We're not using federal land," Gov. Abbott said. "We're using state land...or, going forward, we will be using some land that we are working with private property owners to build on their property. The federal government has no authority whatsoever to interfere with our ability to build this wall and to secure our state."
Gov. Abbott criticized the administration of President Joe Biden for canceling some contracts to build sections of the border wall in Texas that had been ordered during the administration of former President Donald Trump.
"This border wall that you see behind us is a replication of the border wall that President Trump put up - same material, same concept," he said.
Gov. Abbott noted that Texas lawmakers had approved state funding for the project earlier this year.
"It was just six months ago that I signed a letter authorizing the Texas Facilities Commission to begin building this wall," he said. "Just after that…I signed two pieces of legislation passed by the legislature that provided $3 billion for Texas to step up and secure our border, including money allocated to build this border wall."
The Governor did not identify a specific cost for the segment of the wall. He said the cost-per-mile of the wall would depend on the topography of the individual sites. He urged private individuals to contribute funding for the project online.
"We are building this like any private property owner would have the right to build a wall or a fence in their own yard. We're not using federal land. We're using state land,” he said, “or going forward we will be using some land that we are working with private property owners to build on their property. The federal government has no authority whatsoever to interfere with our ability to build this wall and to secure our state."
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