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The president-elect asked Biden to stop selling off unused border wall panels purchased under Trump’s first term.
President-elect Donald Trump called on President Joe Biden to stop selling unused portions of the border wall while Texas considers purchasing auctioned panels and giving them back to the new administration.
“We’re going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on building the same wall we already have,” Trump said. “It’s almost a criminal act.”
Trump mentioned he had spoken with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about a potential restraining order.
“I’m asking today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall,” Trump said.
Closing the border and deporting illegal immigrants were major campaign promises by Trump during the presidential race.
Under the Biden administration, almost 11 million illegal immigrants have entered the country, most at the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
Meanwhile, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has publicly criticized the Biden administration maneuver while announcing that Texas was ready to buy usable materials.
“This isn’t just a fight against the incoming president—it’s a fight against the American people,” he wrote.
The Republican governor backed the creation of Operation Lone Star.
The multibillion-dollar program includes building a state border wall and placing barriers, such as razor wire, along the Texas–Mexico border to stop illegal immigration and drug and human trafficking.
TFC said the materials up for sale were “mostly junk, with most panels covered in concrete and rust,” according to Patrick’s post.
“There were a few panels that might be usable but not worth the cost of shipping to Texas from Arizona,” he wrote.
Patrick said that Texas would buy any panels that made “economic sense” and give them to Trump when he takes office.
“Gov. Abbott, the state legislature, and I all stand ready to help President Trump quickly secure our southern border,” he stated.
Francoise Luca, a spokesperson for TFC, said in an email to The Epoch Times that the agency had not purchased panels via the GovPlanet auction this month after the controversy began.
When asked if Texas would be reimbursed for any materials bought for the Trump administration, Luca said that would be a policy decision.
In February 2022, the Texas agency received about 1,700 metal surplus panels through the General Service Administration’s Federal Surplus Program (FSP).
TFC applied and qualified through the FSP to receive the donated panels, which were transported to Texas from California at a cost of $2 million for 246 truckloads of panels, according to the website.
Texas received its border wall panels noted on its website before the act was signed.
The Department of Defense said all the excess border wall material has already been distributed.
Most of the materials were provided to other federal agencies and state governments, and the rest were sold to GovPlanet.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.