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- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would solicit donations from the public to fund Texas' border wall.
- Abbott said he would welcome financial support from around the world.
- The governor announced last week that Texas would begin building its own border wall.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told a podcast host on Tuesday that he would solicit donations from the public to fund the construction of Texas' border wall.
Abbott said he would formally unveil the effort later this week and welcomed financial support from around the world.
"I will also be providing a link that you can click on and go to for everybody in the United States – really everybody in the entire world – who wants to help Texas build the border wall, there will be a place on there where they can contribute," Abbott said during an interview on the podcast "Ruthless."
The governor announced last week that Texas would begin building its own border wall after President Joe Biden stopped most construction of the barrier when he took office in January. The governor also said his state would step up its arrests of migrants illegally crossing the border.
"Only Congress and the president can fix our broken border," Abbott said during a speech at border security conference in Del Rio. "But in the meantime, Texas is going to do everything possible, including beginning to make arrests, to keep our community safe."
The governor provided few details about how he would collect and spend the donated money, but said it would go to a fund "overseen by the state of Texas in the governor's office" and pledged "great transparency."
A different effort to raise money to build the border wall ended in scandal. During Trump's presidency, Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage and former top Trump advisor Steve Bannon raised more than $25 million for a border wall fund Kolfage created called We Build the Wall. Bannon, Kolfage, and two of their associates were arrested and charged with fraud. Bannon was pardoned by Trump shortly before the ex-president left office.