Austin, Texas – Texas Governor Greg Abbott held a Wednesday press conference announcing more details of his plan to build a border wall in the Lone Star State.

"The Biden administration has abandoned its responsibility to apply federal law to secure the border and to enforce the immigration laws and Texans are suffering as a consequence of that neglect by the Biden administration," Abbott said during the press conference, at which no Democrats were present. "In the federal government's absence, Texas is stepping up to get the job done."

The Republican governor said the state would make a $250-million down payment on the wall, with funds taken out of the state budget. First, the money will be moved from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice into a disaster account before it is transferred to the Texas Facilities Commission.

The announcement took many Democrats by surprise. State Senator Cesar Blanco of El Paso told the Texas Tribune he had "zero indication" of the plans to spend state funds on a border wall when voting on the legislative budget.

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Abbott also announced that the Texas Facilities Commission would begin the hiring process for a border wall program manager. It would be the manager's task to determine the length, location, and total cost of the wall.

The announcement has already been met with support from ex-president Donald Trump, who made the border wall one of his key presidential campaign promises.

Trump has accepted Abbott's invitation to visit the border together on June 30.

Estimates show the wall will cost way more than $250 million, which Abbott also acknowledged. Some reports indicate that building the wall in Texas may cost around $26.5 million per mile, with the Texas-Mexico border itself stretching 1,254 miles.

To make up the difference, the governor says the state will also be taking donations for the construction, setting up a page to collect contributions at borderwall.texas.gov.

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, nephew of ex-President George W. Bush, has given emergency authorization for building the border wall on approximately 591,595 surface acres owned by the state.

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Abbott plans to write a letter to Biden this week calling on the US government to turn over the land the Trump administration took from private property owners for wall construction.

The Biden administration ordered the US government to stop building the wall earlier this year and released on Friday plans to use the funds on other forms of border security.

It's up for debate whether Texas is legally allowed to engage in immigration regulation, which remains in the domain of the federal government, according to the Constitution.

The League of United Latin American Citizens has already threatened to sue the state on these grounds once the final plan is released.