Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is asking the federal government to reimburse the state for the more than $11.1 billion in taxpayer money it spent to secure the southern border during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Abbott sent a letter to U.S. lawmakers on Thursday, saying the Biden administration’s “refuse to live up to its responsibilities over the past four years” has allowed the crisis at the southern border to spread to other parts of the country.
“President Biden’s policies leave Texas and the rest of the United States defenseless against unprecedented infiltration by violent criminals, known terrorists, and other hostile foreign actors, such as the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua,” the governor wrote. ability.
House Republicans introduce bill to repay Texas for billions spent on border security
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is asking the federal government to reimburse the state for more than $11 billion in taxpayer funds spent on border security over the past four years. (Reuters/Callaghan O’Hare)
In response to the federal government’s lack of action at the border, Abbott personally took action and launched “Operation Lone Star” in March 2021, deploying the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to the U.S. Mexican border.
Abbott said Operation Lone Star has reduced illegal immigration in Texas by 87% over the past four years, proving “the effectiveness of President Donald Trump’s border measures,” adding that he efforts to bring the crisis to national attention.
The governor outlined that the operation also arrested more than 500,000 illegal immigrants, prevented more than 140,000 attempts to illegally enter the United States, resulted in more than 50,000 criminal arrests, seized more than 500 million lethal doses of fentanyl, and built Built more than 240 miles of border barriers and established the only National Guard base along the Texas-Mexico border.
“In short, Texas is taking action where the federal government refuses, and in doing so, protecting all Americans from President Biden’s dangerous policies,” Abbott wrote.
House Republicans renew push to reimburse Texas for cost of Operation Lone Star border security operation
While Abbott is proud of the operation, he noted that its success came at a high cost of more than $11.1 billion, money that has been paid for by Texas taxpayers that “should have been paid by the federal government.” Responsible”.
Prior to the Biden administration, Texas spent about $800 million every two years to supplement federal efforts at the border, Abbott said in a document detailing costs.
Illegal immigrants pass through loops of barbed wire as they cross the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, in March 2024. , the Army placed barbed wire fences to prevent migrants from crossing into Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)
“The burden our state is bearing is a direct result of the federal government’s refusal to do its job,” Abbott wrote. “The work Texas has done through Operation Lone Star has protected and will continue to benefit the entire nation.”
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House Republicans have introduced bills in the past that would have required Texas to repay billions of dollars spent on border security, but the legislation never passed.
