James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, slammed the Trump administration’s plan to build a 175-mile stretch of border wall in the Big Bend region at a campaign event in Sanderson on Monday, calling the project “corrupt.”
Talarico’s criticism of the border wall plan centered on the multiple billion-dollar construction contracts that have been awarded for the project, and the fact that the remote corner of West Texas is one of the least trafficked regions along the southern border.
“ A border wall through Big Bend would be a monument to corruption,” Talarico said to a crowd gathered at the Desert Air Motel. “The construction of this useless wall has already been filled with no-bid contracts and backroom deals.”
Talarico was on the campaign trail in West Texas for his “frontera tour” of the state's border communities, having traveled previously to El Paso and Marfa to meet with supporters ahead of the November mid-term elections.
He was joined Monday by a bipartisan coalition of residents and local officials opposing the Big Bend border wall, including Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland – a Republican and supporter of President Trump – and Democratic sheriffs from neighboring Brewster and Val Verde counties. State Rep. Eddie Morales was also in attendance.
Talarico said the “senseless” nature of the Big Bend border wall project is why elected officials across party lines have banded together on the issue.
“ In these divided times, it's rare to see that kind of consensus on a policy issue, but we have it here,” he said. “It’s why we're all speaking out. We need more people to speak out so that we can protect Big Bend. The crown jewel of Texas.”
At the event, Talarico proposed an alternative “common sense” border security plan, which involves hiring more Border Patrol agents and immigration judges, utilizing modern surveillance technology, ensuring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are focusing on deporting criminals and stopping the Big Bend border wall.
“ What most Texans, and I think what most Americans want, is a common sense approach to border security, one that ensures we have enough border patrol agents, we have enough technology, we have enough judges to be able to have an orderly, safe process on our southern border,” Talarico said.
His ongoing tour of Texas’ border towns is meant to showcase the natural beauty, rich culture and opportunities in the communities that are often overlooked in the border policy debate, he said.
“ Too often politicians come down here to demonize, to weaponize, to grandstand for their own benefit, and it hurts our local businesses. It hurts our border communities,” Talarico said. “We're trying to do the opposite with this tour.”
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Paxton is slated to hold his own border community campaign rally in the South Texas city of McAllen on Tuesday, where he’s expected to be joined by Paul Perez, head of a national union group for Border Patrol agents.
In a Facebook post after Monday’s event, Sheriff Cleveland addressed the bipartisan nature of Monday’s gathering, saying “the badge doesn’t see political affiliation, it sees people.”
“Whether someone is Republican, Democrat, Independent, or anything else, our job is the same: to serve, protect, and treat every person with fairness, dignity, and respect,” he wrote.
This reporting was made possible by generous donations from supporters like you. Please consider making a donation to Marfa Public Radio to fund the journalism you rely on.
