In the past three years, Texas has spent $3.1 billion to build 50 miles of wall scattershot along the border. State officials have kept many details of the program confidential.
The Texas Tribune has for the first time identified where Texas has built its border wall. 🧵
The Texas Tribune has for the first time identified where Texas has built its border wall. 🧵
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It’s been constructed in dozens of fragmented sections, some a city block wide and others more than 70 miles apart. https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/texas-border-wall-greg-abbott-landowners/
Of the 94 land agreements the state has secured so far, less than one-third are in the 20 most populous border cities.
But border security experts say the priority should be urban centers where people sneaking across can easily disappear into safe houses or waiting vehicles.
Officials cannot seize private land for the wall like they can for other public infrastructure projects because the Legislature prohibited the use of eminent domain for the wall program.