- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has proposed leasing or selling 100 miles of borderlands to the federal government. He seeks $11 billion to cover Operation Lone Star costs.
- The offer includes border walls, easements, jail cells and military beds built under the state’s border security initiative during the Biden administration.
- Abbott says he is confident in securing federal payment, while some Democrats remain skeptical of the deal’s outcome.
Full Story
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is proposing to lease or sell more than 100 miles of borderlands to the federal government. Abbott’s proposal is part of an $11 billion deal to cover the state’s border security costs under Operation Lone Star.
Border security assets on the table
Abbott’s offer includes over 50 miles of constructed border wall, 20 miles of planned walls and 100 miles of easements and materials for future construction. Additionally, the state would transfer 4,000 jail cells used for detaining migrants and 2,000 military beds for deployed troops.
What Gov. Abbott told reporters
Abbott said these resources were built under Operation Lone Star. However, he believes Texas should not bear the cost of securing the U.S.-Mexico border. He is asking Congress and the federal government to pay $11 billion for the infrastructure.
“This is not really a reimbursement,” Abbott told reporters. “This is a payment for real estate assets and improvements provided by the state of Texas as payment for services rendered by the state of Texas that benefits everybody in the United States of America.”
Democrats and Republicans respond
Some state Democrats doubt Texas will see the money and argue the funds should have gone to veterans or public schools.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, called Abbott’s request a “reimbursement for a complete and utter failure.”
Gonzalez told The Texas Tribune that Operation Lone Star has been ineffective in curbing migrants and that the governor was engaging in “political grandstanding” at the expense of tax dollars that could go to veterans or public schools.
Republican lawmakers disagree.
“$11 billion came out of the pockets of Texans,” Rep. Chip Roy. R-Texas, said. “That’s money that could be used for roads, for schools, for DPS, who should have been in Austin and Dallas and Dallas and San Antonio and Houston and not down on the border. They were doing the job the federal government was supposed to do.”
Abbott expressed confidence after meetings in Washington that the state will receive the payment. Republican said they could get the funds approved as early as April.