Lt. Gov. Patrick Tells Trump Texas Will Help Build Border Wall

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The state's lieutenant governor told Donald Trump on Thursday that Texas will help build a wall along the U.S. southern border so long as the federal government reimburses the state, according to reports.

Trump revealed the conversation with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during the presidential visit to McAllen, Texas, orchestrated to drum up support for constructing the barrier. The city of McAllen is located on the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, just across from the city of Reynosa, Mexico.

A spokesperson for Patrick confirmed the offer when contacted by media outlets, reiterating Texas would help build a wall "...wherever it is needed." However, the spokesman demurred on details, such as exact location for construction or its cost.

“One of the things that Dan Patrick suggested, which I thought was very interesting, was give the state of Texas a relatively small amount of money,” Trump told reporters during his McAllen stop. “They’ll build the wall themselves because they want to build it. And I thought that was not the worst idea I’ve ever heard. I still think I can do it cheaper than you.You do things very well in Texas, and I like that idea, so we’ll take a look.”

The federal government is currently shut down in an impasse between Trump and the Democratic party over financing for the wall — the president's biggest campaign promise to his base while on the stump — which he insisted Mexico would pay for. The chant of "build the wall!" became a standard rally at campaign stops during Trump's presidential campaign, often sparked by Trump himself in energizing the crowds.

Now, Trump is seeking Democratic approval for a $5.7 billion earmark in taxpayer money for his pet cause following Mexico's recalcitrance in paying for its construction. Trump also has floated the idea of diverting funds reserved for victims of natural disaster in Texas, California, Florida and Puerto Rico to pay for wall construction. Like the new financing pathways now being sought, the shape of the proposed wall also has become malleable — now envisioned as made of steel rather than concrete or comprising a series of steel slats, as Trump has recently stated.

Critics of Trump's plans contradict his assessment of a border crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border as justification to build a wall, a contrarian view buttressed by numerous studies and amid precipitous drops in immigration in recent years.

In related news, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday revealed details on his participation in a roundtable discussion related to immigration and border security. In addition to Trump and Patrick, Paxton was joined by U.S. senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz at the gathering.

“I appreciated President Trump’s invitation to participate in the roundtable, and I expressed my gratitude that the rule of law is finally returning to the southwest border under his leadership,” Paxton said in a prepared statement. “Texans know better than anybody that no one has done more to secure our borders than President Trump. Failing to secure our borders causes devastating loss to Texans and to those who come to our state illegally.”

Paxton said he shared statistics with Trump related to border security: "Between 2011 and 2018, nearly 200,000 criminal illegal aliens were booked into Texas jails and charged with committing 291,000 criminal offenses, including 539 homicides. Victims of illegal immigration crime also spoke at the roundtable, including Maria Vega. Her son, Javier Vega, Jr., a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Texas, was killed by two illegal immigrants in 2014."

During the gathering, he intimated having disabused those thinking a wall won't work in curbing illegal crossings by pointing to the example of El Paso, where a fence measuring more than 130 miles was completed in 2010. He credited the fence for the border city's low crime rate: “El Paso used to have one of highest crime rates in America,” Paxton said. “Since that fence went up, the crime rates in El Paso are now among the lowest in the country. So, we know it works.”

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>>> Photostaken during immigration/border security roundtable discussion in McAllen, Texas, provided by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton