Trump’s Wall Just Got A Second Life – Texas Could Receive Tons Of Biden’s Unused Material For Its Border Barrier
When Joe Biden entered the White House, he immediately halted construction on the southern border barrier. “Trump’s Wall” project wasn’t allowed to continue.
Since that time, however, unregistered immigration numbers have skyrocketed, and border officials have provided disturbing reports. Some of these reports say we’re losing complete control of the situation.
But Texas is clamping down — and they might’ve just received a very big boost.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has begged for help from the Biden administration throughout most of 2021. Having received little or nothing in the way of assistance, Abbott has taken matters into his own hands.
This includes building a border barrier of his own, which is very similar to Trump’s incomplete wall.
One of the biggest hurdles Texas faces is the cost associated with such a massive project. Without federal funding or help of any kind, it falls to the state to carry the burden.
There might be a light at the end of the tunnel now, though: unused materials, originally slated to be used for the border wall under the former President, might get a second life very soon.
This could be just what Texas needs to move forward and complete their ambitious project.
Via Washington Examiner:
Stockyards of border wall materials have been sitting untouched in each of the four states that line the U.S.-Mexico boundary for nearly a year since President Joe Biden canceled all of the Trump administration’s projects.
Those unused steel panels, cameras, lights, and electrical wiring may soon be headed to new homes on U.S. military bases, as well as the state of Texas, which is building its own border wall.
The move has the potential to be a big boon to Gov. Greg Abbott, following his June promise to finish former President Donald Trump’s border wall in Texas since Biden halted work in January.
If Texas is able to snag this unused stock of materials, they wouldn’t have to pay for more. It’s all going to depend on how much of the unused materials can be returned to suppliers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific Border District hired contractors to provide these materials, and now it has to go back.
But whatever can’t be returned “will be offered to Texas, the Defense Department’s Defense Logistics Agency, or several military bases located near the border.”
There’s a lot left that needs to be done, as gaping holes in our border remain. Border agents and DHS have constantly complained about these gaps, saying it has become impossible to police it all.
For example, in Yuma, Arizona, 107 miles of new border barrier had been scheduled. But only 5 miles got built before Biden stopped construction, and the other 102 miles didn’t get the upgrades.
So all those cameras, underground sensors, gates, and lighting didn’t make it into that part of the barrier.
And those materials have just been sitting there, according to retired Yuma Border Patrol chief Anthony Porvaznik:
All the light poles are sitting in that yard, just out there in the sun. The actual lights that go on the light poles — we had this really good LED lighting that was going on.
They’re all out there in cardboard boxes just sitting out there in the weather. And there’s stacks of those.
Apparently, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. A great many more materials have gone unused, and Texas could definitely use them to their advantage.
Before Biden took over, the Trump administration had invested $15 billion in 800 new miles of wall. But when the new POTUS came in, he canceled about 40 barrier projects, which many critics now say was a mistake.
The courts already ruled on another of Biden’s mistakes: rescinding Trump’s Remain in Mexico program, which must now be reinstated.
And now, it’s possible that Texas could stand to benefit from the unused resources sitting in piles. The military and federal agencies will get first crack, but the rest will be offered to state and local governments.
That’s precisely the help Gov. Abbott needs to help push his wall project into the final stages.
Source: Washington Examiner