Gov. Greg Abbott and other officials have approved to transfer $495.3 million in funding for Operation Lone Star and critical border operations at other state agencies.
The funding aims to address immediate border security needs, according to Abbott. $465.3 million of the funds will support the deployment of the Texas National Guard.
Read the joint approval letter from the Governor and state leadership.
Abbott said he has taken the following action to "secure the border in the wake of the federal government’s inaction":
- Securing $4 billion in funding for Texas' border security efforts
- Launching Operation Lone Star and deploying thousands of National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers
- Arresting and jailing illegal migrants trespassing or committing other state crimes in Texas
- Allocating resources that include acquiring 1,700 unused steel panels to build the border wall in Texas
- Signing a law to make it easier to prosecute smugglers bringing people into Texas
- Signing 15 laws cracking down on human trafficking in Texas
- Signing a law enhancing penalties for the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl
- Issuing a disaster declaration for the border crisis
- Issuing an executive order preventing non-governmental entities from transporting illegal immigrants
- Taking legal action to enforce the Remain in Mexico policy
- Taking aggressive action to secure the border as President Biden ends Title 42 expulsions, including busing migrants to Washington, D.C.
- Signing memoranda of understanding between the State of Texas and the States of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to enhance border security measures that will prevent illegal immigration from Mexico to Texas
