Is Texas the only state in U.S. history to construct segments of its own barrier along the Southern Border?

While Texas was the first state to start building a barrier along its border with Mexico, it’s not the only one to have done so. In 2022, Arizona’s then-Gov. Doug Ducey had hundreds of defunct shipping containers repurposed into a makeshift border wall. The barrier was constructed partially on national forest land without federal authorization, and the Biden Administration ultimately succeeded in forcing the state to remove the crates.

Texas expects its border wall to eventually cover 805 miles of the more than 1,200-mile boundary it shares with Mexico. Fifty miles of barrier have been completed since construction launched in 2021, with a goal to complete another 50 by the end of 2025.

Physical barriers are one of several tactics used by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to prevent illegal crossings. The agency also uses aerial and land patrols, sensors and other surveillance technology.