MISSION, Texas (Border Report) — The galvanized steel of the 18-foot-tall privately built border wall reflects light off the Rio Grande in this peaceful and quiet part of the border in South Texas.
It’s been five years since Tommy Fisher, CEO of Fisher Sand & Gravel Company, built the 3.5-mile border barrier along a section of sugar cane fields donated by a local farmer.
This week, Steve Bannon, a former political strategist for President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in a nationwide crowd sourcing campaign — called “We Build the Wall” — that was launched to privately fund the construction of this section of border wall, as well as another smaller segment in Sunland Park, New Mexico.
Prosecutors say Bannon duped donors who gave to the effort because the majority of the $25 million in funds collected never went for border wall construction.
A state judge in New York gave Bannon a three-year conditional discharge with no jail time.
When he was building the South Texas wall in January 2020, Fisher told Border Report it cost $42 million. He said he only received $2 million from the “We Build the Wall” campaign.
He said he took out a personal loan of $22 million to fund the project.
On the other hand, Fisher won several lucrative federal border wall contracts later, including one worth over $1 billion out West.
His South Texas border wall was the subject of numerous lawsuits and settlements, including a suit by the federal government that feared it was too close to the international river, for which the United States and Mexico have a water treaty.
When he built it, Fisher told Border Report he used galvanized steel he so that it would not rust like other federal wall segments.
And it hasn’t.
Other changes noted in a visit to the site this week include the removal of the 10-foot-tall sugar cane crops. They have been replaced with row crops.
This is something U.S. Border Patrol agents have been advocating for because they said human smugglers would hide in the thick sugar cane brush.
Now, agents can park vehicles over half a mile back near the federal border wall and still have a clear view of the river, and the grazing livestock on the other side.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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