In 2020, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that his state would be the first to build its own border wall, intended to cover some 800 miles. But, several years and more than $3 billion into the project, the wall barely exists.
On top of that, the latest Texas state budget allocates another $3 billion for border security, but none of that is earmarked for wall construction.
Zach Despart, an enterprise and investigative reporter at The Texas Tribune, reported on the various problems that have derailed the wall and joined The Show to discuss.
Full conversation
SAM DINGMAN: So it sounds like Texas barely has a border wall to speak of. As you report, the wall is only 8% complete, and what exists consists of, it sounds like what, a series of disconnected segments.
ZACH DESPART: Yeah, we did an investigation at the end of last year because Texas does not reveal where it has built border wall, and our investigation found that of the 50 miles that they had built then, they're up to 65 now. The wall, it's not one singular structure. It is, several dozen wall segments, mostly in rural areas like sprawling ranches.
DINGMAN: I see. Well, speaking of which, one of the more intriguing details in your story is that where the wall does exist, it seems like those parts of the state, those ranches you were referring to are not particularly effective at deterring people from crossing the border. Why is that?
DESPART: Yeah, well, what we found that what was driving that is the state's struggles with land acquisition. Texas purposely made a decision not to use eminent domain for the border wall, so they're not forcing anyone to give up their land. But what happened as a result of that was about a third of landowners they were approaching were saying no.
So we found that the state could most easily acquire land in rural areas on those ranches where you can get really big pieces of land with negotiating with only a few landowners. The problem with that in talking with border security experts is that should not, in their view, be the highest priority for border wall.
Urban areas should be because that is historically where migration is more likely to occur illegally. Also migrants and smugglers can most easily get across the border and disappear into homes or into waiting vehicles.
DINGMAN: So that's why they said you should do that instead, right? And I would have to guess, please correct me if I'm wrong, that it's also vastly more expensive to build wall in dense urban environments.
DESPART: It is for a couple of reasons. One, you have to get many more individual parcels, so you're spending a lot more time talking with landowners on individual negotiations, and also the cost of land is just more expensive obviously in cities than in rural areas.
DINGMAN: So you reported last year that as a result of these and other expense factors, it would take, I think the figures are 30 years and $20 billion in order to complete this wall. And it really seems from your reporting like the state was not prepared for how expensive or or complicated this project would be. Was there public support for the project at the time and has that eroded?
DESPART: There is generally public support for more intensive border security efforts. Republican primary voters, who are the most important for the Republican-controlled Legislature, almost always cite border security as their most important issue that they vote on. So the wall is part of that, that they support.
What we tried to outline in our investigation last year was exactly that challenge that you had brought up, was that in order to finish this project, one, they may not ever get enough landowners to agree. And two, the Legislature, every session would have to commit billions of dollars for the next 10, 20, 30 years to finish it. So it was a daunting task for them to repeatedly do. And that political will might not always be there.
DINGMAN: Yeah, well, I, I mean, speaking of political will and public support though, there was also a pretty remarkable detail in your piece, which is that Gov. Abbott's office had a crowdfunding link on its website to try to get voters, I guess, to contribute to the project?
DESPART: He did, yeah, especially when he launched the program in 2021. They only got about $50 million in private donations. So compared to the $3 billion in taxpayer dollars they put in, that part was really insignificant. It was sort of more of like a, a public relations thing than an actual funding mechanism.
DINGMAN: I see, I see. So presumably that money has now been spent on what construction has happened so far.
DESPART: Yeah, they have spent almost all of the $3 billion. They have enough money left over to build another 10 to 15 miles of wall before they're completely spent, but again, they won't be able to close the gaps that currently exist in the wall.
DINGMAN: Well, you also report that some state leaders there in Texas have suggested that the federal government should intervene, but if I read the details right, the meager progress that the state has made over the last few years is actually even faster than what the administration was able to do, the Trump administration was able to accomplish in Texas during his first term.
DESPART: Yes, that's correct. I mean, both Republican and Democratic federal administrations over decades have built a wall in Texas, but historically they're much slower at doing it than Texas was.
The first Trump administration, and remember, like building a wall was among the most important campaign promises when Trump first ran. They only built 21 miles of wall in Texas. That's only about a third of what Texas has done in the past four years.
So yes, Gov. Abbott here is saying, well, the feds can pick up where they left off essentially under the first Trump administration. But based on that history, they won't pick it up quickly and it's also not as much of a priority for the Trump administration now.
DINGMAN: So just about a minute left here, Zach, speaking of priorities now, what is this some $3 billion that's been allocated for border security going to instead if it's not going to go into the wall project?
DESPART: Yeah, it will keep funding the other parts of Operation Lone Star, which is Gov. Abbott's border security initiative. So that is largely state police and state guard members, paying to send them down to the border to physically patrol it. Essentially it's just a shift away from the actual barriers like the wall and more just on having humans patrol the border with state money.
