Texas wants a massive payback from the federal government after the state shelled out billions on border security measures amid the Biden administration’s relaxed immigration policies.
On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) sent letters to top government officials requesting reimbursement for more than $11 billion Texas spent on Operation Lone Star, the border security initiative the state launched in 2021 after it accused former President Joe Biden of “refusing to enforce federal immigration law and pursuing reckless open-border policies.”
“Biden’s policies left Texas and the rest of America defenseless against an unprecedented infiltration of violent criminals, known terrorists, and other hostile foreign actors, like the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua,” Abbott wrote in the letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), among other congressional leaders.
The weighty cost of carrying out Operation Lone Star to combat such threats, Abbott wrote, “fell squarely on the shoulders of Texas taxpayers but should have been the federal government’s responsibility.”
During the Biden era, Texas spent the bulk of Operation Lone Star’s hefty $11.1 billion price tag on funding a wall at the southern border, distributing local border security grants to counties and cities, processing criminal trespass arrests, and relocating migrants out of Texas towns, according to the governor’s office. The state also allocated $3.62 billion toward deploying National Guard troops to crack down on illegal immigration and $2.25 billion on using Texas state troopers to target illegal immigrants and arrest transnational gang members, cartel members, human smugglers, and human traffickers.
Abbott and the Biden administration often sparred over the state’s position on border security, with Texas facing multiple legal changes over Operation Lone Star’s policies from the Department of Justice.
The battles came after Biden took office in 2021, ending several Trump-era border directives, including “Remain in Mexico” and Title 42. As the leader of the largest state on the southern border, Abbott accused Biden of setting policies that spurred mass illegal immigration without giving Texas the tools to combat undocumented entry.
When President Donald Trump took office on Monday, he immediately signed a slew of executive orders reversing Biden’s policies, including measures that reinstated Remain in Mexico. He also declared an emergency at the southern border.
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As president, Trump will likely have the final say in whether or not to grant Abbott’s request for a full reimbursement.
The two men share a friendly relationship, with Abbott attending Trump’s inauguration and the president calling the Texas leader a “very popular” and “unbeatable governor” during remarks on Monday.