McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Dozens of Republican Texas lawmakers are asking the federal government to reimburse the Lone Star State for years of immigration enforcement costs.
Twenty-seven GOP lawmakers from Texas on Friday sent U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem letters asking that the state be reimbursed for $11.1 billion the state spent since 2021 on border enforcement operations through Operation Lone Star.
“The State of Texas bore the heaviest burden, incurring $11.1 billion in costs over four
years. We respectfully request that the departments prioritize Texas in disbursing these funds,” says the letter.
The lawmakers, led by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, cite the $13.5 billion in authorized reimbursement funds appropriated through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to repay states for immigration-related costs.
“President Biden’s open-border policies imposed a substantial cost on communities in Texas, through increased fentanyl trafficking, crime, and even stress on local emergency response services,” the letter says.
Since March 2021, Texas has spent state funds on immigration enforcement including:
- Building miles of state-funded border wall.
- Spending $1 million for a 1,000-foot span of border buoys in Eagle Pass in the Rio Grande.
- Thousands of National Guard troops sent to the border.
- Prosecution of those suspected of crossing into the state illegally from Mexico.
- Dispatching of thousands of Texas state troopers to patrol border roads, especially in South Texas.
“Texas’s actions through Operation Lone Star were absolutely vital to ensuring the safety and security of Americans across our great country. However, our State should not have had to bear alone the costs of securing the border,” the lawmakers say. “We therefore respectfully ask that, as the Departments prepare to disburse the funds set aside in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the State of Texas be fully reimbursed for the costs incurred to protect Americans from illegal immigration and drug trafficking.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.