the border wall, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley, should be completed.
Complete the border wall, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley.
Occurrences
the border wall, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley, should be completed
Evidence
"the border wall, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley, should be completed."
CBP has more than 100 miles of new border wall and waterborne barrier funded with prior year appropriations in various stages of planning and construction. These projects are located within... the Rio Grande Valley Sectors.
Secretary Kristi Noem has signed a waiver to ensure the expeditious construction of approximately five miles of new 30-foot-tall border wall in Starr and Hidalgo Counties in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas.
The PATROL Act ensures that states like Texas have the legal authority to construct physical barriers—including walls, fences, and floating barriers—without interference from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
DHS waived environmental and preservation laws for border-security construction in Big Bend, and the article says CBP still described adjacent-area plans as being in the planning stages rather than finished work.
Laredo approved expanded right-of-entry access for CBP, but city officials said the permission was limited to surveys, soil sampling, and geotechnical/appraisal work and did not allow construction or material storage.
Laredo only approved a limited right-of-entry for surveys and an independent study of the proposed wall and buoy system; the city kept authority and did not approve construction.
CBP awarded a $1.2 billion contract for 34.1 miles of primary border wall in Starr and Hidalgo counties, including the National Butterfly Center and other Rio Grande Valley sites.
Assessments
Cloud explicitly promised to complete the border wall, especially in the Rio Grande Valley, but the evidence shows that as of 2025 and into 2026 Rio Grande Valley wall segments were still in planning, contracting, waiver, survey, or construction stages rather than finished. That means the promised outcome was not delivered during the relevant period. Cloud does receive effort credit because he materially pursued the goal through legislation such as the 2025 PATROL Act, but that effort did not produce completion of the wall.
The promise was to complete the border wall, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley. The supplied CBP/DHS evidence shows that, as of August 26, 2025, Rio Grande Valley wall projects remained in planning or construction, including a new waiver for about five additional miles in Starr and Hidalgo Counties. That is incompatible with the promised outcome being delivered. Cloud did introduce the PATROL Act to facilitate border-barrier construction, which is a serious legislative effort, but it did not itself complete the wall.