Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked Congress on Thursday to give the state $11 billion in taxpayer money to reimburse it for what it’s spent in recent years plugging gaps in the border left by the Biden administration.

Mr. Abbott said the state erected more than 100 miles of its own border wall, placed 200 miles of razor wire and has kept National Guard and state troopers deployed for years.

They helped with arrests of more than 500,000 illegal immigrants, including 50,000 criminal arrests, and seized more than a half-billion doses of fentanyl.

“In short, Texas stepped up where the federal government refused and in doing so protected all Americans from President Biden’s dangerous policies,” Mr. Abbott said in a letter asking for repayment.

He said the state acted after Mr. Biden halted wall building and began catch-and-release programs that spurred an unprecedented border crisis.

Sen. John Cornyn, Texas’s senior Republican senator, said he backed the governor’s request and will fight to get a rebate for the state.

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“Texas taxpayers who have been financing Operation Lone Star for four years cannot be forgotten,” he said. “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.”

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.