FIRST ON FOX: The state of Texas has taken another major step in its efforts to build a wall at its border with Mexico, acquiring a 1,400 acre ranch along the Rio Grande in a key area that officials say has seen human trafficking, as well as weapons and drug smuggling.
The Texas General Land Office (GLO) has acquired the ranch in Starr County, in Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Sector, which saw some of the highest levels of migrant traffic. The state will now use that land to build additional border wall.
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.
BATTLEGROUND STATE RANCHER ‘OUTRAGED’ BY BIDEN STOPPING WALL CONSTRUCTION AS MIGRANTS POUR INTO US
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham told Fox News Digital that the Texas Facilities Commission, responsible for building the wall, requested the property. It now means that the GLO owns two pieces of land on the border in Starr Country encompassing more than 4,000 acres.
"They said, ‘Look, it's in the main area of where we're seeing the traffic across the border. We have terrible things happening on this piece of property. The current owner is not only blocking the border wall, but she is blocking law enforcement's access to that property,'" she said. "'And to really get complete operational control of the border, we really need to control this piece of ground.’ So we made her an offer. We found a way to purchase her ranch from her."
Buckingham said the state has already been out with bulldozers on the property, and she believes construction will begin quickly.
While it is one piece of a broader border security effort, Buckingham said there has been "a massive amount of human traffic" on the property. Her office said the acquisition includes trees that have served as "rape trees," where migrants would display women's clothing as trophies after abuse.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
"It's at an area of great impact, it's in an area where we see lots of people coming across all of the time, not only seeing the people coming across, but seeing those women and children who are abused and victimized. We're seeing drugs. We're seeing weapons. We're seeing all kinds of things coming across this particular part of the border," she said. "In fact, when we were touring it [Thursday], lots of trash everywhere. You can tell there have been a lot of people through there. So we think that this barrier, this wall that the Texas Facilities Commission will build, will help to control that traffic and hopefully shut it down."
Buckingham noted that it’s in addition to other moves made by Texas, including a recent declaration of Fronton Island to be state property, so that the area can be secured from illegal crossings.
"But we're excited to see the progress made on this ranch. We're excited that it will have a positive impact on the mass migration that's happening across our border, and that's what we want," she said.
The move comes at a time when immigration and illegal immigration are top topics for the presidential election. Former President Trump has promised to restart border wall construction if re-elected. Vice President Kamala Harris has put her support behind a Senate border bill introduced this year that would include funding for border agencies, including some limited border wall construction.
Fox News' Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.
