In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, perhaps nothing divided Republicans and Democrats

more than the idea of a border wall stretching along America's southern border with Mexico.

I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I'll build them very inexpensively.

I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.

Mark my words.

More than a decade on, those sentiments have now shifted sharply during the second presidency

of Donald Trump.

Do Democrats want the wall or do Republicans want the wall? I hadn't found either side that

wants a wall. So it's a unified consensus. I mean, I would say, best I can tell from people

I've talked to, 99.9%. I haven't found anybody yet that wants a wall down here.

That was Starlight Theater restaurant owner Bill Ivy, a three-time Trump voter and Texan through and through.

It turns out that Nimbism runs deep in the Big Ben region of Texas, a place where the majestic Rio Grande swirls its way through jagged canyons.

For many here, Republicans and Democrats alike, the idea of a Big Ben border wall is now being met with a resounding, not in my backyard.

Thank you. met with a resounding, not in my backyard. Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt.

I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Friday, April 3, 26.

2026.

USA Today national news reporter Lauren Villagran traveled to Big Ben, Texas to listen to the concerns of those who feel threatened by the president's plan to spend billions on a border wall in the region. So good to have you back on the excerpt, Lauren.

Thanks, Dana. Lorne, as I mentioned, you were just there speaking with people in the area. What's the mood in Big Ben right now?

Well, Dana, it is fired up, is how I would describe it. I don't think I met a single person in

four days in the region who didn't have something to say about President Donald Trump's

plans to build a border barrier in that region.

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