{"id":110491,"date":"2021-03-25T00:37:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T00:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=110491"},"modified":"2021-03-25T00:37:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T00:37:29","slug":"fact-check-texas-operation-lone-star-isnt-finishing-border-wall-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/fact-check-texas-operation-lone-star-isnt-finishing-border-wall-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact check: Texas’ ‘Operation Lone Star’ isn’t finishing border wall construction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The claim: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s ‘Operation Lone Star’ will finish construction on Trump’s border wall<\/h2>\n

One of Joe Biden\u2019s first acts as president was to end construction of a wall former President Donald Trump promised on the 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico. But, no, Texas hasn\u2019t picked up the baton to finish it.<\/p>\n

The idea that Texas would build the wall instead of the federal government spread on social media soon after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched what he called \u201cOperation Lone Star\u201d to address problems on the border.<\/p>\n

A post proclaiming \u201cTexas has launched \u2018Operation Lone Star\u2019 to finish the Border Wall themselves. I love Texas\u201d was shared widely across Facebook.<\/p>\n

But Abbott\u2019s office told USA TODAY that the plan does not include any border wall construction, and none of the announcements from the Republican governor mention the wall that Trump promised during his 2016 campaign.<\/p>\n

A Facebook user who shared the post did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Border wall construction stopped<\/span><\/h2>\n

One of the first documents Biden signed after his presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 was a proclamation that stopped construction of the border wall.<\/p>\n

Biden terminated the declaration of a February 2019 national emergency Trump used to fund it and ordered construction to stop, according to the proclamation on file with the Federal Register.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats. But building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution,\u201d the proclamation reads. \u201cIt is a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his 2016 campaign, Trump said the wall would be about 1,000 miles, with natural barriers covering the other half of the border, though he \u201cbegan to move the goal posts\u201d to smaller distances after he was elected, according to PolitiFact.<\/p>\n

Fact check: <\/strong>A valid passport is required to cross U.S.-Mexico border in most cases<\/span><\/p>\n

Before Biden\u2019s proclamation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, still operating under Trump\u2019s administration, said about 450 miles of the wall already had been completed, The Arizona Republic reported.<\/p>\n

But most of the new wall \u201creplaces barriers that had been put in place by previous administrations,\u201d Reuters reported, \u201cwith only 80 miles of primary and secondary barrier in areas where there were previously no structures.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of 2020, the Trump administration had spent about $16 billion on the wall, none of it paid for by Mexico as Trump promised, according to The Arizona Republic.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A Border Patrol unit drives by the construction site of a new section of the border wall between the US city of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on August 17, 2020. (Photo: HERIKA MARTINEZ, AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n

So is Texas going to finish it?<\/h2>\n

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection map shows that hundreds of miles of border wall are under contract but not completed.<\/p>\n

On March 6, Abbot launched what he called \u201cOperation Lone Star\u201d to slow the flow of migrants and drugs into Texas, according to a press release, blaming Biden administration policies for creating a \u201chumanitarian crisis.”<\/p>\n

Under that plan, the Texas Department of Public Safety would work with the Texas National Guard. The operation \u201cdeploys air, ground, marine and tactical border security assets to high threat areas to deny Mexican Cartels and other smugglers the ability to move drugs and people into Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott expanded the operation on March 17 to include a crackdown on human trafficking.<\/p>\n

None of those announcements mentioned the border wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does not include wall construction,\u201d said Madi Biedermann, a spokeswoman for Abbott\u2019s office, in an email to USA TODAY.<\/p>\n

A Texas lawmaker introduced legislation for the state to pay for border wall construction, but the state Legislature has not voted on the bill. That bill is unrelated to “Operation Lone Star.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

March 21, 2021: A migrant child looks through the U.S.-Mexico border wall as a group is processed and taken into custody while trying to sneak across the border in Abram-Perezville, Texas. (Photo: Julio Cortez, AP)<\/span><\/p>\n

Our rating: False<\/h2>\n

The claim that Texas is going to finish former President Donald Trump\u2019s border wall through “Operation Lone Star” is FALSE, based on our research. A Texas lawmaker has introduced legislation to pay for border wall construction, but it is unrelated to “Operation Lone Star” and has not received a vote in the Texas Legislature. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s office confirmed that the operation does not include wall construction.<\/p>\n

Our fact-check sources:<\/h2>\n