McALLEN, Texas (Texas Tribune) — The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to build a border wall “along the entire southern border,” including in the city of Laredo, Mayor Victor D. Treviño announced Monday.
City officials were notified during a regular meeting with officials from U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Treviño said DHS discussed a proposed timeline for border wall construction.
A news release from the city did not provide more details on the time. The South Texas city has long resisted building a barrier along the border.
The official notice to the city comes after DHS awarded $4.5 billion in contracts for the construction of 230 miles of a “smart wall,” which includes steel barriers, waterborne barriers, patrol roads, lights, cameras and detection technology.
A map of the proposed smart wall shows plans to construct a barrier in the Laredo area, though construction contracts there have not been awarded.
In light of the plans, the City Council approved an invitation to President Donald Trump to play golf at their municipal golf course, which sits along the Rio Grande. The invitation was the subject of lengthy discussion among the council members, with some disagreeing on how to handle it.
“We have very limited options as a city,” said Council member David King. “When you have a federal government with $46 billion it has passed in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act in July of this year, that’s $46 billion that the federal government has and then legally, they have eminent domain where they can come in and take property so at the end of the day, our legal options are limited.”
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo, spoke out against plans for border wall construction.
“Border walls are a 14th-century solution to 21st-century problems, Cuellar said in a statement. “Border crossings are already down, and Laredo continues to be one of the safest places to live in the United States. This was accomplished without additional border wall being added, but through enforcement of the law and investing in resources at our border.
Unlike his first term, most of Trump’s immigration agenda has been focused on deportation.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
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