In mid-2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a plan for the state to build a border wall. To date, the program has raised a little more than $55 million in donations and completed 900 feet of wall. The state has committed $1 billion to the project. According to the Texas Tribune, as of December 31, the state has enough money to build about 52 miles of wall along the 1,254 mile-long Texas-Mexico border.
Since Abbott announced his plan, state officials have been in “discussions” with private property owners along the border to encourage the owners to donate land for the wall. Abbott hasn’t said what will be done if the owners don’t voluntarily donate land, but we can make a very educated guess. Abbott defended the use of eminent domain to seize private property when the federal government was building the wall. If owners don’t donate land, Abbott will likely force them to “donate” land—he will resort to the use of eminent domain.
Abbott wants to build more than 730 miles of border wall. At an average cost of $20 million per mile, Abbott’s wall will cost almost $15 billion. At the current rate of donations, it will take nearly 150 years to raise the money through donations. For Abbott to build his wall, he will have to force Texans to pay for it. Abbott’s advocacy for the wall is nothing more than political posturing. Building a wall plays well to his conservative base.
Conservatives make many claims in defending their desire to stop immigration from south of the border. One of the most prominent is the burden that these immigrants place on schools, hospitals, the welfare system, and taxpayers. Accepting altruism—that we are our brother’s keeper—conservatives argue that we must stop so many brothers from entering the country. They refuse to question their basic premise.
If we reject the premise that we are our brother’s keeper, then immigrants pose no threat to schools, hospitals, the welfare system, or taxpayers. If we reject the premise that we are our brother’s keeper, then we would abolish government schools, government control of health care, and the welfare state. And that would remove the burden from taxpayers.
Until conservatives question and reject altruism, they will continue to posture on the wall.