HOUSTON – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott held a news conference Wednesday at 3 p.m. from the Capitol in Austin to address the Texas border wall.
Abbott announced last week that Texas would build its own border wall. Abbott has not shared details of the plan yet, but the Texas Tribune noted that in a podcast interview released Tuesday, that the state will be soliciting donations from across the country to help fund the wall.
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“When I do make the announcement later on this week, I will also be providing a link that you can click on and go to for everybody in the United States — really everybody in the entire world — who wants to help Texas build the border wall, there will be a place on there where they can contribute,” the Texas Tribune cited Abbott as saying on the podcast, a show about Republican politics called “Ruthless.”
He said in the first four months of this year, the Texas Department of Public Safety apprehended enough fentanyl from the border that could kill enough of 21 million Americans.
“The border crisis that we’re dealing with right now is a direct result of open policies that have been put into place by the Biden administration,” Abbott said. “Remember that the border was far more under control under the Trump administration, until President Biden and removed the remain in Mexico policy.”
Abbott has deployed National Guard troops to the border and ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest immigrants and charge them for state laws such as trespassing, illegal entry, smuggling and human trafficking.
Federal lawmakers have said building portions of the wall in Texas cost $26.5 million per mile. The Biden administration, which has ordered the federal government to stop construction of the wall where possible, said last week that building the wall cost taxpayers $46 million per mile in some areas along the border.
During the announcement, the governor signed a letter that will provide $250 million to be allocated as a down payment to begin the building of the border wall in Texas. Abbott said it will help hire more than enough contractors to start the building process. He said the program is officially funded in the state of Texas and will send a letter to President Joe Biden and his administration that will demand they return Texas land to Texans.
The Texas Tribune contributed to this report.