(The Center Square) – Texas Republicans in the U.S. Senate and House have filed a bill to establish funds for the federal government to reimburse Texas and other states for border security operations.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn filed the State Border Security Assistance Act on Thursday; Sen. Ted Cruz is a cosponsor. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy filed companion legislation in the House.
“For four years, Governor Abbott and Texas taxpayers were forced to bear the brunt of the Biden-Harris border crisis,” Cornyn said. His bill will “reimburse Texas for its historic efforts to secure the southern border” when “the Biden-Harris administration abdicated its federal duty.”
The Texas legislature allocated more than $11.6 billion to fund Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, which he created in 2021 in response to Biden administration policies that opened a floodgate of illegal border crossers into Texas and the U.S. Through OLS, Abbott constructed Texas’ first border wall and marine barrier system, surged National Guard and other resources to the Texas-Mexico border. He also created task forces to target cartel and gang violence stemming from the border crisis.
Texas’ OLS budget totals more than multiple state fiscal year budgets and more than what the first Trump administration allocated to federal border security efforts in Texas, The Center Square first reported. Federal appropriations for border security in Texas during the first Trump administration totaled $1.6 billion, state Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, who helped craft Texas’ budget to fund OLS, said.
As Congress continued to allocate billions of dollars to secure other countries’ borders, and as Democratic governors and mayors called on the Biden administration to provide financial assistance to deal with an influx of illegal foreign nationals, Texas taxpayers solely funded OLS – with no reimbursement from the federal government.
This year, the Texas Senate and House allocated another $6.5 billion to fund OLS for another two years, The Center Square reported. Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas National Guard, Texas Rangers and local law enforcement continue to implement border security measures working with the Trump administration, The Center Square reported.
Cornyn’s bill would create the State Border Security Reinforcement Fund within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State Criminal Alien Prosecution and Detention Fund within the Department of Justice. It would appropriate funding authorizations to assist states, state agencies, and local governments implementing border security.
The DHS fund assists states with construction/installation of border barriers along the southwest border, associated material and personnel costs and maintenance costs; information-gathering and surveillance for interdiction efforts; and relocating illegal border crossers. If approved by Congress and signed by Trump, it would allocate $11 billion for the fund through Sept. 30, 2034.
The DOJ fund would assist with apprehending illegal border crossers; intelligence and information-gathering to encounter gang activity; investigating and prosecuting illegal border crosser and drug and human trafficking crimes; temporary detention costs; vehicle maintenance, logistics, transportation, and other law enforcement support. It would allocate $3.5 billion for the fund through Sept. 30, 2034.
States, agencies and local governments may apply for grants including for costs they incurred after Jan. 20, 2021, according to the bill language.
“For four years, Texans stood in the breach of the worst border crisis in recent American history. Joe Biden and [former DHS Secretary] Alejandro Mayorkas’s dereliction of duty led to an invasion of lawlessness, crime, danger, and drugs, putting Texans, and every American in harm’s way,” Roy said. “The states like Texas that stood on the front lines to defend our nation when the federal government would not, deserve to be reimbursed by the very federal government that should have done its job in the first place. It’s critical states like Texas have these resources to ensure adequate law enforcement funding to partner with the Trump administration to secure our border.”
The bill greatly expands on one filed last year by U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Republican from north Texas, The Center Square reported. It also responds to Abbott’s years-long request for Texas to be reimbursed.
Throughout the border crisis, Texas was inundated with the greatest number of illegal border crossers in the country, The Center Square reported. Over a four-year-period, OLS officers apprehended more than 533,100 illegal border crossers and made more than 53,400 criminal arrests, with more than 45,100 felony charges reported. They also seized more than 691 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill everyone living in the U.S., Mexico and Canada combined, according to the latest data from the governor’s office.
At the height of the border crisis, 25 Republican governors came to Texas’ aid and sent resources and law enforcement at their taxpayers’ expense, The Center Square reported. They called on Biden to shut down the border and enforce federal immigration law and received no response.
That changed on Jan. 20, 2025. On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he declared a national emergency at the southwest border, declared an invasion and later directed U.S. military and federal agency resources to be surged to implement a range of border security measures, The Center Square reported. Since then, illegal crossings have plummeted to historic lows, but Texas border security efforts continue as illegal border crossers continue to be arrested throughout the state.
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