Texas Governor Greg Abbott has written to congressional leaders asking that the federal government reimburse his state for the $11 billion it spent on border security under Operation Lone Star.
Newsweek contacted Abbott’s office and the White House press office for comment on Friday via email outside regular office hours.
Why It Matters
The governor’s request may be an early test for President Donald Trump, who has praised Abbott’s efforts on border security under his predecessor but may balk at the federal government footing the bill.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott at the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024.
Alex Wong/GETTY
What To Know
In a letter dated January 23 and addressed to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, Abbott said Texas had spent more than $11 billion to “protect the nation and secure the border.”
The total included almost $3 billion constructing 100 miles of border wall and deploying floating buoys in the Rio Grande and almost $6 billion on the deployment of 10,000 Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety personnel.
In his letter to congressional leaders, Abbott said the Biden administration had “refused to enforce federal immigration law and pursued reckless open-border policies that invited record-breaking illegal immigration.”
The governor said he launched Operation Lone Star in 2021 as “a direct result of the refusal of the federal government to do its job” and was now seeking to get the program’s cost reimbursed for Texas taxpayers. Abbott said that under Operation Lone Star, more than 500,000 illegal migrants had been apprehended, with 50,000 criminal arrests and the seizure of enough fentanyl to “kill every man, woman, and child in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada combined.”
According to figures from Customs and Border Protection, there were 10.6 million encounters between Border Patrol officers and suspected illegal migrants between October 2020 and August 2024, of which more than 8 million took place on the southwest border with Mexico.
In 2021, Abbott issued a disaster declaration covering more than 50 counties on the Texan-Mexican border, allowing him to deploy National Guard soldiers to increase security. In his letter, he said about 10,000 such troops were deployed at the peak of Operation Lone Star, with the current figure at almost 4,200.
In a funding breakdown for Operation Lone Star sent alongside his letter, Abbott said that between 2022 and 2025, Texas spent $4.75 billion on border walls and other obstacles, processing criminal trespass arrests, and “the relocation of migrants out of small Texas towns.” The state spent an additional $3.62 billion on “personnel costs for the deployment of National Guard soldiers” and $2.25 billion to fund Texas state troopers.
Abbott addressed the letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
What People Are Saying
Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday: “No state has had to bear the brunt of the Biden-Harris border crisis more than Texas. I will fight to include funds in Congress‘ reconciliation bill to reimburse Texas for its efforts to secure the border as a result of the Biden admin’s complete dereliction of duty.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote on X on Thursday: “This week, Texas & Indiana National Guard soldiers installed additional razor wire barriers along the border. Razor wire is a proven strategy to deter & repel illegal immigrants. Working with President @realDonaldTrump & partner states, Texas will continue to secure the border.”
What Happens Next
During his inauguration on Monday, Trump vowed to “declare a national emergency at our southern border,” adding, “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
The president has since signed a series of executive orders restricting asylum access to the U.S., terminating an app used by thousands of migrants and revoking birthright citizenship—though that measure was blocked on Thursday by a federal judge.
Trump will have to decide whether he wants to reward Abbott by reimbursing his state’s expenses for Operation Lone Star or whether he wants to prevent the $11 billion price tag from falling on federal coffers.
