'TEAR DOWN THAT WALL' R.REAGAN

Texas breaks ground on wall along border with Mexico

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled a section of a border wall paid for with state and private funds at an event held Saturday in Rio Grande City. Photo courtesy of Texas Governor's Office

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Work crews in Texas have begun work on a wall paid for with private donations and state funds on the border with Mexico, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Saturday.

Abbott made the announcement in a press conference near the construction of the first phase of the border wall Rio Grande City. He said the first phase of the wall is being built on state land managed by the Texas General Land Office.

In June, the Republican governor announced plans for the wall and that he had signed off on $250 million to begin construction. Last month, he signed a bill providing another $1.8 billion in state funding for the wall.

"Today not only represents the first phase of the Texas border wall, but it also serves as a major milestone in our efforts to combat illegal immigration, stop the smuggling of drugs and people, and keep our communities safe," Abbott said in a statement.

Building a wall along the U.S.'s southern border with Mexico was a key priority for former President Donald Trump, which he and his supporters said was necessary to stop the flow of drugs and crime.

Immigration enforcement agents reported 1.7 million encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border for the 2021 fiscal year, reports KSAT. That exceeds a previous high of 1.6 million encounters in fiscal year 2000. Encounters are counted as the number of times a migrant has been stopped by agents.

Although Trump is no longer in office, the idea of a border wall has persisted in Republican politics. The state attorneys general for Missouri and Texas went to court in October seeking to force the Biden administration to resume construction of the wall.

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Abbott has prioritized border security as he prepares to run for a third term for governor and has criticized the Biden administration for what he's characterized as an inadequate response. In November, Abbott said he had lined up about 20 shipping containers next to the international bridge that connects Eagle Pass with Mexico.

Abbott told reporters that the barrier is being built using the same materials used by the Trump administration, which oversaw the completion of 17 miles of the wall in Texas, reports the Austin American-Statesman.

The governor was unable to provide a figure for how much the wall will cost, the paper reports. He said the state has raised $54 million in private donations for the wall. However, the paper pointed to an investigation that found that 98% of those donations came primarily from one out-of-state billionaire Timothy Mellon.