“Texas has officially started building its own border wall,” Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced.
“Biden allows open border policies and refuses to enforce laws passed by Congress to secure the border and enforce immigration laws. Texas is stepping up to do the federal government’s job,” The governor added.
Bill Melugin, Fox News correspondent, revealed how the first panels look by posting photos on social media and tweeting: “Texas has officially started building its own border wall. The first wall panels have gone up in Starr County in the RGV. State land, state money. This particular contractor was building Trump’s wall until Biden canceled them. Now they build for @GregAbbott_TX.”
Melugin also tweeted that the steel previously purchased to build the border wall under former President Donald Trump, won’t be sold to Texas by the federal government.
“The federal government will not sell Texas the steel that was already bought and paid for President Trump’s wall. The metal continues to sit around, going to waste. TX is sourcing its own steel for its border wall,” Melugin tweeted.
At a briefing held by the Texas Military Department (TMD) and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Texans were given updates on Operation Lone Star. “Anyone attempting to enter Texas illegally by crossing these fences will be arrested for criminal trespassing. Catch and release is not part of Operation Lone Star’s mission,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw during the briefing.
The construction is expected to begin soon on a 1.7-mile portion of the Texas border wall. A design-build contract that will not exceed $162 million for a total of eight miles of a border wall was unanimously approved by commissioners. This contract was given to Posillico Civil, Inc., a 75-year-old New York-based engineering firm that has already worked on other border projects.