AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas Senate’s Committee on Border Security heard testimony from state and local officials regarding their border enforcement efforts Tuesday morning, part of the upper chamber’s work to monitor the implementation of new laws before the next legislative session begins in January.

Among key questions on current priorities and the efficacy of recent laws, senators probed the sustainability of Operation Lone Star – Texas’ unilateral efforts to patrol the border, fortify barriers, and station state troops in what they describe as negligence from the Biden administration. The operation has cost more than $11 billion.

“If we maintain current funding and the administration in Washington does not change, Director, how long can we do this,” State Sen. Brian Birdwell, the chair of the Senate Border Security Committee, asked DPS Director Steve McCraw.

“We’ll do it as long as we’re instructed to do, plain and simple,” McCraw responded.

Director McCraw told Nexstar after his testimony that his department will need to hire more troopers in order to keep up with the combined demand of Operation Lone Star and typical public safety needs elsewhere in the state.

“The bottom line is, everywhere you put a trooper, it’s safer. And everywhere you take a trooper from is going to be less safe… it’s Law Enforcement Physics 101,” he said. “With an ever-growing state… 287,000 miles of area to cover and 313,000 miles of roadway, we need more troopers. We need more special agents and we need more Texas Rangers.”

“A lot of it has to do with money,” Sen. Birdwell said. He alluded to the possibility of a reduction in the state budget, at which point “the legislature will have some very difficult decisions” as it relates to Operation Lone Star. The implication: inevitably, lawmakers will either need to scale back the operation or find the money from other areas.

Jessie Fuentes, an Eagle Pass native who sued Gov. Abbott last year over the state’s buoy barriers in the Rio Grande, testified against the state’s actions.

“It’s a failed policy. And at what cost? We don’t have access to our park. Now, there’s an 80 acre military base there,” Fuentes told Nexstar. “There’s millions of dollars being invested, but I’d rather have it spent on infrastructure. I’d rather spend on health care, on education, on learning institutions, instead of housing soldiers.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tasked the committee of three Republicans and two Democrats with three broad interim charges:

• “Securing the Texas-Mexico Border”: Reviewing state and local agencies’ participation in border security, examining the impact of organized crime, and making recommendations to “combat criminal enterprises.”
• “Support for Border Security Personnel”: Examining how Operation Lone Star has impacted the wellbeing of DPS troopers and National Guard members stationed on the border.
• Monitor specific legislation passed in the 88th legislature last year, including the establishment of a border operations training program for local police and an initiative to compensate property owners for damage caused by criminal activity relating to the border.

The committee will meet again to review the implementation of more legislation and consider recommendations for next session, which will begin in January.