View of the metal fence along the border in Sonoyta, Sonora state, northern Mexico, between the Altar desert in Mexico and the Arizona desert in the United States, on March 27, 2017. Threatened species like the Sonoran pronghorn or desert bighorn sheep freely cross the border between Mexico and the United States in protected biospheres, but the construction of US President Donald Trump's wall will block their movement in these desert valleys and could drive them to extinction. / AFP PHOTO / PEDRO PARDO (Photo credit should read PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images)
A Texas legislator is pledging to complete sections of President Donald Trump’s border wall, proposing new legislation that would enable the state of Texas to resume construction of the wall system abandoned by Joe Biden.
Bryan Slaton of House District 2 is pledging to name the complete wall the “President Donald J. Trump Wall” in House Bill 2862.
“President Trump fought to bring real border security and was opposed by Republicans and Democrats in Congress. While hundreds of miles of new wall were built under his leadership, the Biden administration has already ceased border wall construction,” Slaton said in a press statement announcing the legislation.
“It is time for Texas to stand up and finish the work that President Trump started. Let’s finish building the border wall now.”
It’s likely legal for state governments to take eminent domain measures to acquire land on the border and build a protective wall on it. Contractors already lined up to work with the federal government may even be willing to negotiate rates with Texas, having fully engaged in building more than 450 miles of wall during Donald Trump’s presidency. Slaton’s legislation would also formally request compensation for wall construction from the federal government. The bill is currently awaiting assignment to a committee in the Texas House of Representatives.
Customs and Border Patrol agents have pointed to the border wall system as a lifesaver on the southern border, enabling law enforcement to focus resources in more concentrated areas where illegal immigration and drug trafficking have been focused.
An Arizona Sheriff is pointing to the cessation of wall construction as an invitation of criminality. Likening the border regions of Cochise County to a “crime scene,” Mark Dannels is describing the abandoned construction sites as “roads for the cartels,” pointing to rates of illegal immigration and smuggling that have doubled since Joe Biden ascended to the presidential throne.
Arizona legislators may soon follow in funding border wall construction at a state level, leaving California and New Mexico as Democrat-leaning states unlikely to secure the nation’s borders with states funds.
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