Trump border wall is on New Mexico ranchers' wish list
As the conflict between U.S. law enforcement and the cartels continues, some New Mexico residents are hopeful that Trump will be successful in finishing the border wall to ensure their safety.
Those who remain hopeful include ranchers Brandy and Russell Johnson, who are living just outside the village of Columbus, New Mexico, on a cattle ranch that borders Chihuahua, Mexico. They say they are eager to see the restart of the border wall construction under the new Trump administration.
The couple recalled to ABC News a time in 2019, during Trump's first term, when funding came through for new construction on the border wall. The Johnsons fought to be included in the plans, with construction expected to seal up close to 9 miles of the border.
"It's Oct. 20, 2019, and I received a call today from United States Border Patrol agents advising that we had yet another vehicle drive through," Russell Johnson said. "This vehicle made its entry through the barbed wire portion of the fence that we share with Mexico. Nobody should have to deal with this kind of activity on their ranch or anywhere for that matter."
However, the Johnsons, who both have law enforcement backgrounds, never expected to become embroiled in a political conflict over the border.
Months after construction began on their wall section, former President Joe Biden was elected. He promised a more empathetic approach to immigration. By March 2021, he halted the construction project, froze funding, and terminated the emergency declaration made by the first Trump administration along the border.
According to Russell Johnson, a former U.S. Border Patrol agent, all the contractors working on the border wall found themselves in a state of uncertainty. Their equipment had been fully operational, but now the site resembled a ghost town, with all the machinery and materials abandoned.
"It's probably millions of dollars, considering the amount of steel and what steel costs, it's probably millions of dollars that's been sitting there for over four years at this point, that you know, the taxpayer paid for, and it's just been sitting out there," Russell Johnson said, referring to the border wall building materials that have been sitting on his property since December 2020.
During the Biden administration, the funding and staffing for the Department of Homeland Security were decreased.
In 2024, a bipartisan border security bill aimed at enhancing resources for the department failed to pass after Trump lobbied Senate Republicans to oppose the bill.
"As the leader of our party, there is zero chance I will support this horrible, open borders betrayal of America," Trump said at his Nevada rally in 2024. "It's not going to happen."
It's a move that Democrats have criticized as a political stunt.
"This bill would save lives and bring order to the border," Biden said at State of the Union address in March 2024. "I'm told my predecessor called Republicans in Congress and demanded they block the bill. He viewed it would be a political win for me and a political loser for him."
The Johnsons believe that limited border patrol agents in the field made them more vulnerable. Additionally, a gap in the border wall, which is less than a mile long, has increased their risk of becoming a target for trafficking.
"It's one of those deals that if you could take the politics out of it, we could have it fixed overnight," Russell Johnson said. "And that's what's been extremely frustrating to me, is I feel like we're just a political pawn down here, used by both sides at times, to push one narrative or the other."
The Johnsons are hopeful that Trump can fulfill his promise to resume construction on the border wall. However, they understand that this requires funding and bipartisan support.
"And I think if, and I've preached this to several people, if we could all just sit down at a table, there's going to be some common ground we can find," Russell Johnson said.
Trump border wall is on New Mexico ranchers' wish list originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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