Texas to make “down payment” on border wall

The Lone Star State will put up $250 million in state money to build more barriers along the U.S. border with Mexico, Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week. The governor’s office also set up a website and post office box where people can donate money to the effort. Questions remain over how far the state can take a project whose total cost, length, and timeline are unclear and could face legal challenges from the federal government.

Why is Texas doing this? “In response to the federal government’s neglect of all of the people who live along the border, the people who are facing the consequences of the spread of drugs like fentanyl, Texas is stepping up and doing more than any other state ever has done to respond to these challenges along the border,” Abbott said. He is asking the federal government to return land obtained for the U.S. government’s wall to private citizens who can allow Texas to finish the job.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew about what has happened to the border wall since President Joe Biden took office.