Just 145 miles of Texas border have a wall — here are the 1,100 miles Abbott vows to build
by Anna Giaritelli, Homeland Security Reporter |
| June 21, 2021 06:42 AM
Gov. Greg Abbott’s promise to finish former President Donald Trump’s border wall in Texas will likely be the biggest project the state undertakes during his administration as he simultaneously looks to secure a third term.
Furious about the 21-year high in illegal immigration at the 1,950-mile southern border, Abbott vowed in mid-June to bolster the state’s border in an effort to prevent continued drug and human smuggling.
Texas has more international border than fellow border states Arizona, California, and New Mexico. The Texas-Mexico boundary stretches for 1,241 miles, but just 145 miles of it has any sort of substantive fence or wall, according to federal planning documents from Trump-era wall projects and information provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Abbott wants to put up a wall on the remaining 1,100 miles. At an average cost of $20 million per mile, it is a tall order — even for the massive state of Texas.
The southern tip of Texas is roughly half the distance for Central American migrants traveling from Mexico’s southern border than if they traveled to California, making it a far quicker and cheaper journey for migrants. Consequently, Texas has seen more than half of all illegal immigration at the 1,933-mile border since the start of the government’s annual year in October 2020.
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