Preparations are underway in the Rio Grande Valley to coordinate a visit from President Donald Trump.
According to the White House, the president will be visiting Alamo on Tuesday for a ceremonial trip regarding the border wall.
“President Trump is expected to travel to Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday to mark the completion of more than 400 miles of border wall — a promise made, promise kept — and his Administration’s efforts to reform our broken immigration system,” a White House official stated in an email.
The president is expected to land in Harlingen on Tuesday, according to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar. The Laredo-based congressman shared an email with The Monitor titled “VIP Notice – Rio Grande Valley.”
“Expect VIP movement January 12, 2021 in the vicinity of the Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Pilots can expect temporary airspace restrictions in conjunction with this VIP movement,” the email states.
A federal law enforcement source also confirmed that government vehicles seen in McAllen on Saturday, at McCreery Aviation and fueling up at a local convenience store on South 10th, belonged to the Secret Service.
Cuellar said he confirmed the ongoing preparations with officials on the ground. The plan includes a visit to tour the border wall.
A ceremony to mark the 450th mile of border wall construction Thursday was canceled, but the goal to complete the project was central to the president who campaigned on the promise to build it.
A trip Tuesday could fall on the same day the House of Representatives may be voting to impeach President Trump, Cuellar said, noting the vote could also fall on Wednesday. If an impeachment is successful, he would be the first president in history to be impeached twice.
Cuellar noted that although the plan to visit is underway, there’s a possibility that it may be canceled.
Articles of impeachment against Trump were drafted earlier this week for inciting a deadly insurrection of the Capitol as senators and representatives, Cuellar and fellow Valley Congressmen Vicente Gonzalez and Filemon Vela included, worked to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s November election victory, drawing bipartisan calls for Trump’s removal or resignation from office.
If plans for Trump’s visit move forward, it’ll be the second time he visited the Valley after a January 2019 trip to tour a section of the U.S.-Mexico border. Joined by Sen. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Trump visited Anzalduas Park in Mission on Jan. 10, 2019, amid a partial government shutdown at the time over border wall funding.
