Gov. Greg Abbott: Texas will set up private fund to pay for state border wall
AUSTIN — The state of Texas will establish a state-operated fundraising account where private donors can contribute to the effort to build barriers along the Rio Grande to help thwart unauthorized immigration, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday.
"We need the wall. The wall works," Abbott said on the conservative podcast. Ruthless. "Law enforcement understands that it works. The residents understand that it works. The local officials in the region understand that it works."
Abbott, a Republican who plans to seek a third term next year, announced last week in the border city of Del Rio that he wants the state to pick up where the Trump administration left off after the 2020 elections and continue the border wall project.
He plans to lay out the specifics of his plan later this week. But he offered a preview in the podcast interview. He said his office will host a weblink "for everybody in the United States, everybody in the entire world that wants to help Texas build the border wall, there will be a place on there where they can contribute to Texas building the border wall."
He did not announce a fundraising goal, nor did he say if state taxpayers' money would be used to help cover costs associated with his project.
Abbott said the weblink would be transparent so the public could see how any money raised is spent.
Last year, Trump associate Steve Bannon was charged with siphoning money from a private wall-building fund. Bannon was pardoned late in Trump's term and the indictment was dismissed as moot in late May.
Abbott's embrace of a state-built wall comes after his likely 2022 GOP primary opponent, former state Sen. Don Huffines of Dallas, called for similar action. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggested to Trump on the campaign trail that Texas could help fund the federal wall project, not put on hold by the Biden administration.
Patrick has endorsed Abbott's call for a state-built barrier.
Abbott said public safety has been compromised because of illegal border crossings.
"It's a Third World country where these farmers and ranchers are living, where their lives are on the line every single day," Abbott said, "Somebody has to step up for these people, and that's the governor of Texas."
Tricia Cortez, a Laredo resident who is part of the No Border Wall Coalition, said Abbott is mischaracterizing life in South Texas.
"If that were true, why are all of these farmers and ranchers filing lawsuits against the federal government to stop the confiscation of their lands?" Cortez said. "A place like Laredo moves commerce for the entire country. It's not a Third World country."
Abbott said the state will be adding fencing to the existing structures installed by the federal government. Since the fencing will be state-owned, anyone who defaces the fencing or trespasses onto private property can face state charges, Abbott said.
The goal, he added, is to have a mechanism for state prosecution if federal authorities choose not to pursue charges.
"These people will be subject to immediate jail time," Abbott said. "We will be putting these people in jail for a long time because of the crimes they committed.
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