SOUTH OF SAN BENITO — Governor Greg Abbott visited the Valley once again to unveil a new section of the state’s border wall and its latest addition to the governor’s growing border policies — the state’s first ever border czar.
Work halted at the construction site of a state-built fence erected in southern San Benito’s Treviño Road as the governor held a news conference to continue his campaign rhetoric criticizing “President Biden’s refusal to enforce the immigration laws of the United States of America,” he said.
The wall will be about 1 1/2 miles in length when it’s completed and represents a continuing project the governor first announced in June 2021 at a large community meeting in Del Rio. The state then began its border wall construction in the Valley through a project initiated in December 2021 in Starr County.
The wall sits about one-third of a mile away from the Rio Grande and is near the Los Indios Port of Entry.
“The reason why this wall is located here — and the reason why you will see other segments of walls placed in different locations around the state — is because we’re putting a wall up where we get the land rights from the land owner to be able to build a border wall,” Abbott said.
The Texas Facilities Commission works with property owners to facilitate the process of land acquisition. The governor is hoping other landowners will collaborate with the state to allow the building of more miles.
The cost on average per mile is about $25 million to build one mile of a border wall. It can vary depending on location, material expenses and the cost of acquiring the land, he said.
A San Benito resident who lives near the wall said it was a waste of money. Although he admitted there was a problem with human smuggling in that area years ago, he felt it was largely addressed by Border Patrol agents patrolling that area.
While state officials, including Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, and Texas Military Department Major General Thomas Suelzer were present, local government representatives, namely San Benito’s mayor, Ricardo Guerra, were notably absent.
Guerra said he wasn’t invited to the event, but he would be open to holding discussions with any state officials working to improve the Rio Grande Valley.
“I’ll go out and listen,” the mayor said.
The governor said his new border czar, Michael Banks, will be tasked with reaching out to communities like San Benito.
“He knows, because we’ve already talked about this, one of his first responsibilities is to work with the mayor in this community to make sure that we’re addressing their safety needs,” Abbott said, referring to Banks.
Banks is a 23-year veteran of law enforcement, serving his first 10 years in the U.S. Navy — 2 1/2 as a U.S. Air Marshal — and the rest with the U.S. Border Patrol.
“For me, the number one priority is to make the state of Texas the least desirable place for illegal immigration to cross,” Banks said.
As an agent, Banks worked in Arkansas, California, Washington D.C. and Texas.
Specifically, in the Valley, Banks was the patrol agent in charge of the Border Patrol stations in McAllen, Brownsville, Rio Grande City and Weslaco. He retired 10 days ago and the next day he was hired to return to Weslaco DPS Headquarters working under the Office of the Governor as border czar.
“I think that I would consider myself a subject matter expert in border security,” Banks said. “But I think what makes me the most qualified or I think what, I like to say is the best quality that I have, is that I listened to the troops on the ground. I listened to my border patrol agents. I listened to the troopers. I listen to the military that is out here.”
Banks said he won’t let any animosity between the federal and the state government muddy communications.
“I think that the relationships I’ve built with 20-plus years in the Border Patrol will help because those that know me in the Border Patrol know that I’m very sincere and that I don’t have a political aspiration,” Banks explained. “For me, it’s about border security.”
Notably absent from the press conference was any mention of Vice President Kamala Harris who Biden named as his border czar at the infancy of his administration.
