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A Texas city has ripped down a 'Defund the Wall' border mural after Governor Greg Abbott threatened to strip more than $1 billion in road funding. On Monday, officials in Laredo voted to tear down a painted mural along the southern US-Mexico border, making it the latest American city to scrub political artwork from its roadways after pressure from President Donald Trump's administration. Stretching across the pavement outside the city’s federal courthouse, the massive mural screamed 'Defund the Wall' in bold yellow letters, with 'Fund Our Future' splashed beside it. Weeks after Gov. Abbott threatened to yank $1.6 billion in road funding, city crews moved in on Tuesday evening to erase the artwork for good, according to Associated Press. 'Texans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, not advance political agendas on Texas roadways,' Abbott said in a previous statement. Trump jetted to the Texas border to pitch his $5.7 billion wall plan back in 2019, arriving as federal teams began surveying the land for construction set to begin within the month. But landowners, environmental groups and locals pushed back hard against the new 215-mile wall plan - many even lawyering up to stop it. In 2020, amid lawsuits and protests, the 'Defund the Wall' mural made it to the streets thanks to private funding. By 2021, federal officials had canned all Laredo wall contracts, stopping the project dead in its tracks. US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy then hit every governor with a letter in July, warning that intersections and crosswalks must stay distraction-free under a new 'nationwide roadway initiative.' 'Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,' Duffy reiterated in a statement. On October 8, Gov. Abbott fired off an order to TxDOT: check every city and county in Texas and make sure they’re following all federal and state rules. 'To keep Texans moving safely and free from distraction, we must maintain a safe and consistent transportation network across Texas,' Abbott said in a statement. 'Any city that refuses to comply with the federal road standards will face consequences including the withholding or denial of state and federal road funding and suspension of agreements with TxDOT.' Under the guidelines, any non-standard markings, signs, or signals that don’t directly control traffic are 'strictly prohibited' - symbols, flags or messages pushing social, political or ideological agendas included. During a City Council session earlier this month, Houston Mayor John Whitmire blasted Abbott’s directive, though he acknowledged the city’s chances of winning a legal fight were slim. Abbie Kamin, a Houston City Council member, added that tearing it down would send the wrong signal to people exercising their constitutional rights, according to AP. 'If we do not find ways as a city to take a stand, what’s next?' she said. 'When something is erased like this that means so much to so many, there is a real toll on the community.' The fight only hit a tipping point on Monday when Laredo’s City Council, amid tense debate, gave the green light to take down the mural. Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño said the funding threat - over $1 billion on the line - forced his hand, and he didn’t want the community to suffer the consequences. 'We’re not going to devastate our community for what is considered one particular vantage point on our public roads, even if this speech may be popular or well received,' he said. But Elsa Hull, who has long opposed the wall, told the council the state’s order was nothing more than 'bullies threatening our city.' 'This mural enabled the people to unite and stand against injustice and allowed us to keep our land, our homes and our river from being taken away from us,' Hull told Laredo officials. 'This is part of our history,' she added. 'Don’t erase our voices completely.' The Laredo mural is the latest casualty in a string of removals and bans under Trump-era pressure to defund the arts and reshape history. Under Gov. Abbott’s orders, a rainbow crosswalk in Montrose - a historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood - was also removed this month, according to AXIOS Houston. Federal funding cuts under Trump have hit the nation’s cultural backbone, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to national museums, with grant payments to arts groups now on hold due to a government shutdown. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, crucial for independent news and education in rural America, is now facing systematic dismantling, according to TIME. Trump seized the chairmanship of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, clearing out its bipartisan board along the way. In August, the Smithsonian came under fire as the president ordered a full review to purge 'divisive' or 'ideologically driven' language, citing his 'Restore Truth and Sanity to American History' directive. The shocking move appeared to be tied to a White House initiative aimed at making Smithsonian exhibits, materials and operations reflect the president’s version of American history. Trump himself has stated that museums across the nation focus too much on 'how bad slavery was.' Also in August, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis allegedly ordered the state's Department of Transportation to paint over a LGBTQ rainbow sidewalk in Orlando. The sidewalk was located next to the site of the Pulse nightclub, where 49 'mostly LGBTQ' individuals were killed during a shooting in 2016.
