Texas Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled the first section of the state’s new border wall, while also blasting President Joe Biden for not doing his part in securing the southern border.
“Texas is taking what truly is unprecedented action by any state ever, for a state to build a wall on our border to secure and safeguard the sovereignty of the United States, as well as our own state,” Abbott said during a press conference on Saturday, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
“This unprecedented action is needed for one single reason,” Abbott said while speaking in front of a new section of the Texas border wall in Rio Grande City. “That’s because the Biden administration has failed to do its job as required by the Constitution, as required by laws passed by Congress to enforce the immigration laws of the United States of America.”
“Once it is completed, it will have multiple detection devices,” Abbott continued. “People we apprehend will be charged with trespassing to the state of Texas, and those charges will lead to them going to jail.”
Abbott added, “This border wall that you see behind us is a replication of the border wall that President Trump put up, same material, same concept.”
Abbott shared photos of the state’s new border wall on Twitter, but also took a shot at President Biden for not securing the border.
“The Texas border wall is officially up,” Abbott wrote. “While Biden does nothing, we are stepping up to protect our communities. The Lone Star State is securing the border.”
Abbott also retweeted photos of the Texas border wall that were posted on social media by Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin.
“Texas has officially started building its own border wall,” the Republican governor tweeted. “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.”
Abbott told Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson that the wall will be made of steel rods that extend 30-feet high. Abbott said the state is putting up a “football field” or 100 yards of border wall per day.
Abbott has authorized $3 billion for the construction of the state’s border wall, which will be overseen by the Texas Facilities Commission.
“Texas Legislature really took a strong stand to make sure that the state was going to have enough money to build a wall, but at the same time, make sure that we have the National Guard on the border in Texas, Department of Public Safety on the border, and that we are working to both secure the border immediately, while at the same time on the long term process build the wall,” Abbott said during a Fox Business interview.
Abbott noted that the Texas wall would cost less than the Trump administration’s border wall because the state owns the land on the border.
“Secondly, there are property owners of massive acreage on the border who are fed up with Biden’s open border policies, and they are donating their land to Texas for us to be able to use that land for free to build a wall on their property,” he added.
KPRC-TV reported in November, “During a Nov. 18 TFC meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a design-build contract that will not exceed $162 million for a total of eight miles of border wall that will fill gaps between portions of the federal border wall. The contract was awarded to Posillico Civil, Inc., a 75-year-old New York-based engineering firm that has worked on other border projects.”