New Mexico Senator-elect Anthony "Ant" Thornton has expressed his views on the necessity of completing the southern border wall from Texas to Arizona. He articulated his stance in a December 17 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Guess what happens when the Texas Border wall reaches the New Mexico border," said Thornton, State Senator-Elect. "We have a 180-mile open border with Mexico that we need to secure as well. Tom Homan, we need $4.5 Billion of federal money to seal our southern border from Texas to Arizona."

Thornton shared an update from Texas Governor Greg Abbott regarding Texas' progress on the border wall. Abbott said, "Construction on the Texas border wall continues in Maverick County. Texas is building a wall at the border to protect our nation from the dangers created by the Biden Administration’s open border policies."

Screenshot of Sen.-elect Ant Thornton's Dec. 17 post on X | X

According to Thornton, one of his primary objectives is securing New Mexico's southern border. In a December 9 interview with the New Mexico Sun, he emphasized his commitment to legislation that would fund the construction of 180 miles of border wall. "New Mexico shares a 180-mile southern border with Mexico which is presently insecure," he said. Thornton believes that this legislation will help reduce illegal crossings into New Mexico and address issues related to human smuggling and drug trafficking. He further mentioned that "the Biden Administration has already admitted that we have a humanitarian crisis at hand by losing track of 325,000 children brought into our country illegally."

Thornton's proposed bill for the border wall includes an appropriation of $4.5 billion in general revenue over four years. He suggests that some costs could be recouped through reimbursement from the Trump Administration. Additionally, another proposed bill aims to criminalize illegal reentry into New Mexico, creating a new offense with penalties of up to 20 years in prison for offenders.

Thornton was elected to the New Mexico State Senate in the 2024 general election. His background includes service as an Army veteran, experience as a former aerospace engineer, and tenure as a corporate director of strategy. According to Ballotpedia, he holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University and a graduate degree from Stanford University.