Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Announcement Makes It Official: Nearly One Year After Joe Biden Halted Border Wall Construction, Texas Resumes Building New Boundary

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott noted on Friday that promised new border wall construction in his state has begun.

“Texas has officially started building its own border wall,” Abbott tweeted.

“Biden allows open border policies and refuses to enforce laws passed by Congress to secure the border and enforce immigration laws,” the GOP governor added. “Texas is stepping up to do the federal government’s job.”

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin posted the first pictures on the new boundary on Twitter.

“Texas has officially started building its own border wall. The first wall panels have gone up in Starr County in the RGV. State land, state money. This particular contractor was building Trump’s wall until Biden cancelled them. Now they build for ,” he wrote.

In another update, Melugin noted that the Biden administration will not sell Texas the steel previously purchased to build the border wall under former President Trump.

“The federal government will not sell Texas the steel that was already bought and paid for President Trump’s wall. The metal continues to sit around, going to waste. TX is sourcing its own steel for its border wall,” he posted.

The Daily Wire added:

On Thursday, the Texas Military Department (TMD) and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) held a briefing to update Texans on Operation Lone Star.

“Anyone attempting to enter Texas illegally by crossing these fences will be arrested for criminal trespassing,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said during the hearing. “Catch and release is not part of Operation Lone Star’s mission.”

USA Features News reported in September:

The plan is to build an additional 700 miles of wall, according to a post on the website of the Texas Facilities Commission.

The agency announced that it had selected an engineering and design firm to oversee wall construction.

“The Texas Facilities Commission, which oversees state contracts, said in a statement it anticipates awarding the border wall project with more than $1 billion in available funding by mid-September,” the Washington Examiner added.

“The commissioners must vote on the decision before the contract for a program manager can be awarded, and the final monetary amount has not yet been determined. The program manager will handle the budget and determine where to build,” the outlet continued.

In addition, the landowners have “agreed to let the state put up a barrier, which will allow Texas to avoid the lawsuits that held up the Trump administration’s efforts to seize private land for construction,” the Examiner noted.

“While securing the border is the federal government’s responsibility, Texas will not sit idly by as this crisis grows. Texas is responding with the most robust and comprehensive border plan the nation has ever seen,” Abbott said in an earlier statement.