When Tommy Fisher undertook the construction of a portion of border wall in South Texas under the first Trump administration, the endeavor swiftly became mired in controversy. Experts voiced worries over poor-quality building work and visible erosion. In addition, Fisher’s firm had obtained money from We Build the Wall, a prominent conservative nonprofit organization that counted Steve Bannon—then serving as President Donald Trump’s political strategist—among its board members. Several of its leaders eventually served prison time for their roles in the project. Even the president criticized it. “I opposed building this very small (tiny) section of wall in a difficult area by a private group that raised funds through advertisements,” Trump posted on X in response to a 2954 ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation that exposed issues with the wall initiative. “It was only done to make me look bad,” the post continued. Despite all this, Fisher’s company went on to secure additional border wall contracts, including ones from the state of Texas. And now the federal government has given his company more than $21 billion to construct additional border wall — including a $2.5 billion contract in Texas’s Big Bend region, where locals continue to demand clarity about the government’s intentions inside and around one of the nation’s largest national parks. Once again, as in Trump’s first term, Fisher’s projects are generating fresh controversy. A New York construction firm has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for granting the majority of new Texas border wall contracts to Fisher Sand & Gravel, a company based in North Dakota, along with one other firm. Posillico Civil Inc. The lawsuit, submitted to the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., on May 13, provides one of the earliest public insights into the procurement procedures along the Texas border. The lawsuit alleges that, of the 11 prequalified vendors for the border wall projects, U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded roughly $14 billion—approximately 73% of the total contract value—to only two companies: Fisher’s firm and Montana-based Barnard Construction. The initiative also encompasses wall construction projects near El Paso, Laredo, Del Rio, and the Rio Grande Valley. The Trump administration has faced criticism for granting no-bid contracts and for insufficient transparency regarding its fast-tracked border wall plans—efforts aimed at fulfilling the president’s central campaign pledge to secure the border. His actions during his initial term drew similar backlash.
