The purchase late last month of a 1,402-acre ranch along the Rio Grande in Starr County, Texas, by the state’s General Land Office is slated to allow construction of a new 1.5-mile segment of state-funded border wall, agency commissioner Dawn Buckingham said. The planned section is near where Texas completed a 1.7-mile section in 2022 and where federally funded segments were built during President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration.
A statement issued by the state said, “Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard continue to work together to secure the border.” Texas has built 34 miles of border wall in six counties after the Biden administration halted federal construction in 2021, according to media reports.
Buckingham also wrote a letter to the incoming Trump administration on Nov. 19 offering to lease space on the private property to the federal government for an immigration enforcement facility. The General Land Office said the ranch’s purchase price was just under $4 million.
The property’s location makes it “crucial” for improved border security and the placement of a border wall, a Land Office announcement said. Buckingham said the agency will “partner with the state of Texas to secure this section of Starr County by building a 1.5-mile fortified wall.” Previously allocated funds would be used to install the barrier, he said.
Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy said the materials at the site were sections of steel wall similar to the federal wall. The new wall would be 30 feet tall, according to media reports.
The Texas Facilities Commission approved five procurement items in September 2023 for the Texas Border Infrastructure Program. These included contracts not to exceed $85 million to Posillico Civil Inc; $82 million to Southwest Valley Contractors Co., a unit of Kiewit Corp.; $69 million to Fisher Sand and Gravel Co.; and $150 million to BFBC of Texas. All the companies had previously received contracts to build the federal border wall, and Fisher also built separate privately funded sections in Texas.
The Biden administration said in October 2023 that it would restart construction of the border wall in Starr County and other areas along the Rio Grande with money set aside in the first Trump administration, but so far it has not been done no federal construction other than the placement of a temporary jersey. barriers
The administration also auctioned off construction materials purchased during Trump’s first term. In August, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) won a court battle preventing the Biden administration from redirecting funds for the federal wall to other uses.
