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“historically eagle pass has been a haven for horse thieves...”

These two towns have historically been relatively quiet from the really big drug and human smuggling operations though.

That has been changing, as the historically major cartel-dominated corridors are being blocked (San Diego, the Rio Grande Valley and Yuma). In 2019, the Del Rio Sector (which includes the towns of both Del Rio and Eagle Pass) saw the largest percentage increase in illegal traffic (although from a very low baseline).

Those two towns are the crossing points for the major roads in the area, on both the American and Mexican sides, and their counterpart cities on the Mexican side (Ciudad Acuña and Piedras Negras (Black Rocks)) are four to five times larger in population. The Eagle Pass Port of Entry moves a lot of freight, and is a big area for hydrocarbon production (fracking).

They are among the most suitable alternative routes, after the already funded Rio Grande and Laredo Sector barrier gets completed (next year), so they would likely be in for a troubling wave of violent criminal cartel activity, coming into their relatively small communities (~30K populations).

So these new barriers, although not many miles, will strongly wall off those small urban areas (30 feet high, with patrol road, lights, alarms and cameras), and divert any new traffic out of town into rural areas, where Border Patrol will have an easier time handling them, and the citizens (and local politicians and police) will be safer from cartel violence and corruption.

If this year’s Military Construction funds ($3.6 billion) are finally transferred from DoD (as announced, but not actually done yet), I would expect some more mileage in the Del Rio Sector (possibly 100 miles), to further strengthen the fortifications there, against becoming a new main corridor. Their favorable geography (terrain) puts them at high risk of becoming the easiest route left, as Trump-style Super Wall System shuts the traditional routes up tight.