Texas has handed out the biggest contract yet for its border wall project to a construction firm run by Tommy Fisher, arguably the most notorious border wall builder during the era of former President Donald Trump. Fisher waged a political influence campaign that won over the president and secured more than $2 billion in federal border wall contracts.
Fisher and his company, Fisher Sand & Gravel, also drew national attention for constructing a private border fence in South Texas that was part of a fraudulent crowdfunding scheme called We Build the Wall. The 3-mile steel fence that Fisher built prompted federal lawsuits and is reportedly at risk of collapsing into the Rio Grande.
At a Texas Facilities Commission meeting Wednesday, commissioners unanimously approved a $224 million contract with Fisher Sand & Gravel to build just over 9 miles of wall along the border in Webb County—a cost of $24 million per mile. Contract records indicate that the planned wall segment will stretch south from the outskirts of Laredo through the small border towns of El Cenizo and El Bravo.
