Texas Governor Launches Texas Border Wall Construction With Donations, $250 Million Down Payment

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that Texas would build its own border wall with a $250 million down payment from Texas' Department of Criminal Justice to begin. “Building the wall in Texas has officially begun,” Abbott said during the press conference, saying construction was going on “as we speak.” Abbott said the wall will be partly funded by donations, and would be built on a combination of "volunteer land", or privately donated property, and state land. Abbott also encouraged people to donate to a website to help fund the border wall. This comes after President Joe Biden halted the southern border wall construction shortly after he took office; more than 450 miles of wall, including in Texas, had been built under the Trump administration. On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump said he “accepted the invitation” from Abbott to tour Texas' border wall on June 30. Last month, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 180,000 encounters with migrants along the southern border. 

The story received coverage from across the spectrum. Coverage from the right and center tended to focus on the details of Abbott's plan and the history of border wall construction in recent years. Some outlets on the left tended to highlight comments from advocacy groups calling the border wall "immoral" and criticizing Abbott for asking for donations and focusing on the border wall instead of helping Texans recover from the winter storms earlier this year.