cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/31570120

Four years after Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas would be the first state to build its own border wall, lawmakers have quietly stopped funding the project, leaving only scattered segments covering a small fraction of the border.

That decision, made in the waning hours of this year’s legislative session, leaves the future of the state wall unclear. Just 8% of the 805 miles the state identified for construction is complete, which has cost taxpayers more than $3 billion to date. The Texas Tribune reported last year that the wall is full of gaps that migrants and smugglers can easily walk around and mostly concentrated on sprawling ranches in rural areas, where illegal border crossings are less likely to occur.

State leaders suggested the federal government could pick up the effort. However, during President Donald Trump’s first term, when wall building was his top priority, his administration completed just 21 miles in Texas — about a third of what the state was able to build over the past four years.

The Tribune reported last year that the state’s wall program would take around 30 years and more than $20 billion to complete.

  • nthavoc@lemmy.today
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    5 hours ago

    So what happened to the $77 billion left to build the wall? Oh, they griffed it. Just like everything the Donvict makes, it goes to shit and he runs off with the money. Suddenly there’s no more immigrant crisis on the Texas border. Clearly it wasn’t the fucking wall that stopped it. Also, all that imminent domain claimed on farmers and habitat owners also just had their land completely stolen not for “imminent domain” purposes.

    His next term is in 2026. That’s right, he’s going for a 20 year tenure. There is not a limit on how many times you can be a Texas governor.

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    8 hours ago

    No need for it now. America is so shit nobody wants to go there.

    Be Mexico building the wall soon to keep Texans out.

  • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    How many college educations could have been fully funded for $3 billion? How many elementary schools built? How many other worthwhile problems could have been solved, rather than building a bunch of worthless crumbling garbage out in the desert?

  • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
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    6 hours ago

    Unfortunate. The metal materials of that wall was an excellent donation program to local businesses.

    /s…? 🤔

  • RacerX@lemmy.zip
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    6 hours ago

    Good news for Mexico. I heard they were going to get quite a bill for that wall.

  • _stranger_@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    For context, the texas-Mexico border is 1254 miles long. Even the projected 805 miles never made sense (not that any of it makes sense).

    It’s the most heavily crossed border in the world with dozens of controlled ports of entry and hundreds of millions of documented crossings a year.

    The scattered 60ish miles they completed isn’t even laughable, it’s entirely a non starter, and this debacle would easily sink a governor in almost any other state.

  • Wilco@lemm.ee
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    10 hours ago

    So stupid. They will just tunnel under a wall. Also walls do not block planes, which is where 90% of illegals come in. They buy a plane ticket, get here, and then just stay.

    • BossDj@lemm.ee
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      15 hours ago

      Nah, government wasn’t scammed. They got to rant, rave, and photo op. They made it a big deal, hyped their base, and got reelected. Their base already thinks the border wall is built. Or that it’s Bidens fault that it isn’t.

      Some of those politicians may have made solid connections for their cozy retirement on some executive board

      • Gordon Calhoun@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        Sounds like an excellent ROI for everyone except the voters who wanted this product in the first place and the voters who didn’t want it at all. But hey, it’s quite a sight to see corrupt capitalism working…for itself.

    • Lucky_777@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      They probably took alot of money but 64 miles of wall on the border is quite the build. Not 3 billion dollars worth though!

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        “Promises made, promises kept” is an actual thing they like to say to each other, LOL.

        I’m sure the dim bulbs will tell each other this kind of thing even as donvict tHe pEaCe pReSiDeNt leads us into a war with Iran just because Israel tells him to…

  • solsangraal@lemmy.zip
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    15 hours ago

    i’ll never forget all the inbred bumpkin morons who were 100% convinced that “mexico’s gonna pay for it”

      • CalipherJones@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        Haitians eating cats and dogs really lowered the bar for conservatives. Like it was low, and then that dropped and there were no more excuses for them in my mind.