New wall construction at Texas border kicks off with family of slain Jocelyn Nungaray watching
A 1,400-acre Rio Grande ranch purchase marks Texas’ latest step in border wall expansion, with a new mile-long section underway in the coming weeks.
Texas officials took another step Tuesday morning toward fulfilling their promise of continuing construction of the southern border wall, after purchasing a 1,400-acre ranch along the Rio Grande in a critical region identified by officials as a hotspot for human trafficking, as well as weapons and drug smuggling.
"It is my promise to all Texans that as land commissioner, I will do everything in my power to stop the pain and suffering that has been happening on this property," Dawn Buckingham said during a press conference with other officials Tuesday. "The previous owner would not allow law enforcement on this ranch."
Officials will construct another mile of the wall in the coming weeks, Buckingham said, as the first panel was installed Tuesday while the family of Jocelyn Nungaray, killed by suspected illegal immigrants, looked on.
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"Every day, it's a struggle. Every day it's hard. Some days are easier than others, but it never takes away the fact that she's not here anymore due to the pain of people who were let in this country to do what they did to her," Alexis – mother of Jocelyn – said during the news conference.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced in 2021 funding for a state project to continue construction of a wall after the Biden administration abruptly ended the Trump-era project. Abbott has also built a floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande. His administration has linked the barriers, and a broader effort by the state, to a drop in apprehensions.
Buckingham said she has offered President-elect Trump and incoming border czar Tom Homan use of the 1,400-acre property "to construct a facility for the processing, detention and coordination efforts of what will be the largest deportation of violent criminals in our nation's history."
Homan and Abbott greeted and served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in Eagle Pass, Texas, also on Tuesday.
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Rep. Chip Roy, also in attendance, urged his fellow Republicans to pass stricter immigration policies once Trump takes office in January.
"No excuses," he said.
"Americans are dying. That is why President Trump was swept into office. That is why Republicans were given the trifecta in Washington," Roy added.
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