Texas defunds border wall initiative, building only 8% of proposed length

Barbed wire on top of a chain link fence. (Image: Adobe Stock)

According to local reports, the decision came in the final hours of the state’s 2025 legislative session, with no new funding allocated for wall building in the state’s US$3.4 billion border security budget. Lawmakers did not debate the move publicly.

More than $3 billion was said to have already been spent on the Texas wall effort, which has faced legal, logistical, and geographic constraints. For instance, nearly all land along the Rio Grande is privately owned, and the state legislature prohibited the use of eminent domain for wall construction. At present, the wall consists of fragmented segments largely built on rural ranchland where landowners agreed to participate.

The Texas Facilities Commission, which oversees the programme, reported in April that only enough funding remained to reach 83 miles, well short of its 100-mile goal by the end of 2026. Wall construction will continue on already contracted segments, but no new projects will begin.

US-Mexico border wall construction shifts to federal overview

The broader concept of building a wall between the US and Mexico border (the majority of which is in Texas) was a hallmark of US President Donald Trump’s first term. The idea has taken up considerably less bandwidth during Trump’s second term, however.

Meanwhile, federal border wall efforts are showing signs of restarting. In March, US-based Granite Construction announced it had secured the first border wall contract of Trump’s second term. The $258 million design-build contract, awarded by the US Army Corps of Engineers, covers seven miles of new barrier construction in Hidalgo County, Texas. Work includes wall segments, roads, lighting, gates, and CCTV infrastructure, with completion expected by June 2026.

While Texas declined to use eminent domain (the power of a government to take private property for public use, even if the owner does not want to sell, with the requirement of just compensation) in securing land for its state-funded border wall, the federal government has continued to use eminent domain to acquire land for border projects.

Granite wins first border wall construction contract of Trump’s second term Granite Construction has won the first border wall construction contract of US President Trump’s second term in office