Texas Governor Greg Abbott is urging Congress to reimburse the state for more than $11 billion spent on border security under his Operation Lone Star initiative. Launched in 2021, the program involved collaboration between the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas Military Department, deploying state troopers, National Guard personnel, and other resources to address border challenges.
Abbott sent letters Thursday to congressional leaders and members of the Texas delegation, emphasizing the financial burden on Texas taxpayers. The letters follow his meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson last week to discuss border security measures, as reported by CBS News.
According to Abbott, Operation Lone Star has led to over 500,000 apprehensions of undocumented immigrants, 140,000 stopped attempted entries, 50,000 arrests, and the seizure of more than half a billion doses of fentanyl.
NEW: @GregAbbott_TX sends letters to Congressional leaders and members of the Texas Congressional delegation, urging them to reimburse the state of Texas for the $11.1 billion it spent to secure the border. @CBSNewsTexas pic.twitter.com/7u0zhAxnHy
— Jack Fink (@cbs11jack) January 23, 2025
"Even though the federal government has a duty to secure our nation's borders, from day one former President Joe Biden refused to enforce federal immigration law and pursued reckless open-border policies that invited record-breaking illegal immigration," Abbott wrote in his letter.
Abbott argued that the program was necessary to counter large caravans, human trafficking, and unsafe conditions for border communities. He also said that Texas previously spent $800 million per biennium on border security before Biden's presidency.
The Biden administration and Texas have filed multiple lawsuits against each other over immigration policies and border barriers, reflecting ongoing tensions over how to address the issue.
U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, voiced support for Abbott's reimbursement efforts, highlighting the financial strain on the state. "Texas taxpayers who have been financing Operation Lone Star for four years cannot be forgotten," Cornyn said in a statement. "I will fight to include funds in Congress' reconciliation legislation to reimburse Texas for its historic efforts to secure the border as a result of the Biden administration's complete and total absence and dereliction of duty."
Republican-led states, as Abbott's Texas, are preparing to assist the federal government in implementing President Donald Trump's promise of the "largest deportation operation in U.S. history." In his first week in office, Trump signed executive orders aimed at expanding immigration enforcement and stepping up deportations, including giving the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) greater authority to conduct raids in sensitive areas such as schools, hospitals, and churches, marking a major shift in U.S. immigration policy.
Both Texas and Florida are expected to play key roles in the execution of mass deportations. Florida Governor Rick Scott and Texas Governor Abbott have expressed their support for the increased immigration enforcement, with Abbott even highlighting Texas' readiness to collaborate with federal authorities. Recently, Trump criticized plans during the Biden administration to sell unused wall materials, crediting Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton with stopping such actions.
Trump has ordered the restart of border wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border, relaunching an emblematic and multibillion-dollar-initiative from his first term. The new push comes as Texas continues its independent border wall efforts, including building 50 miles of wall under the Biden administration and purchasing a 1,400-acre property in the Rio Grande Valley to support future construction.
Officials in Texas announced on Jan. 15 that construction of a 1.5-mile segment of state-built border wall was completed in Starr County. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said the property includes easements for new segments. Meanwhile, a Texas Senate proposal seeks to use eminent domain to facilitate wall construction, though resistance from some landowners has led to fragmented sections across multiple counties.
Besides, the Trump administration appointed Mike Banks, a retired Border Patrol agent and Greg Abbott's "border czar," as the new head of the U.S. Border Patrol. Banks replaces Jason Owens, a 28-year veteran of the agency, who announced his retirement effective in April.
Banks, who has advised Abbott on border matters, played a key role in Texas' Operation Lone Star, an initiative aimed at countering record levels of migrant crossings. The operation has included deploying National Guard troops, installing razor wire, and bussing thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities.
Texas has transported tens of thousands of migrants to major Democratic-led U.S. cities since March 2021, deployed the National Guard to reinforce the Rio Grande's banks with razor wire, and assigned troopers to detain migrants on criminal trespassing charges. The state also attempted to pass its own immigration law to detain and prosecute migrants suspected of entering the country illegally, but the measure remains stalled in court. As head of the Border Patrol, Banks will seek to replicate his Texas experience nationally.
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