Abbott calls for $3B for border security
Gov. Greg Abbott is seeking $1 billion to fund the early stages of constructing a barrier that could cover over 700 miles of the Texas-Mexico border, part of a broader spending plan that would more than triple the state’s border security budget if approved by lawmakers.
The plan, which is advancing through the Republican-controlled Legislature, would carve $1.8 billion out of the state budget to fund a surge in troopers to the border, outfit state detention centers to house the growing number of migrants jailed under Abbott’s border initiative, and pay for at least part of the border wall envisioned by the governor.
If approved by lawmakers, the spending package would boost Texas’ border security budget to nearly $3 billion over the next two years, with more than $1 billion already earmarked in the spring. The most recent two-year budget contained about $800 million for border security operations.
Abbott, with the support of Republican legislators and some Democratic sheriffs in border counties, says the ramp-up in spending is necessary to handle the increased number of migrants crossing the border. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported more than 212,000 encounters along the southern
border in July, the highest total for that month in 21 years.
The governor, who is being portrayed by his primary foes as insufficiently tough on border issues, has largely blamed the surge on President Joe Biden’s policies while accusing Biden’s White House of doing nothing to address the issue.
“The failure of the federal government to maintain a lawful process has opened the door for evil actors like cartels and dangerous gangs. It’s enticed vulnerable individuals and families to embark on a dangerous path, putting innocent lives at risk,” Sarah Hicks, Abbott’s policy and budget director, told the House Appropriations Committee earlier this week as she explained the need for the funding. “It’s clear that the current state of affairs is unsustainable, which has led to this request.”
Framing the situation as a “crisis,” Abbott has focused much of his ire on Biden’s decision to end a Trump-era policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are adjudicated. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the White House to reinstate the policy Tuesday, which Abbott said will “reduce the record number of migrants entering our country illegally.”
Democrats criticized several parts of the proposed spending during the committee hearing earlier this week, arguing the barrier — along with Abbott’s overall plan to enforce stiffer criminal penalties on migrants by charging them with trespassing and other state charges — would do little to accomplish Abbott’s stated goal of deterring migrants from crossing the border.
They also accused Abbott of proposing the new spending to court the support
of primary voters who were disappointed that former President Donald Trump largely failed to construct his promised border wall along the Texas border.
State Rep. Alex Dominguez, D-Brownsville, also criticized Abbott’s office for approving a $250 million “down payment” to begin construction on the barrier in June without approval from the Legislature. Hicks noted that the top budget writers in both chambers signed off on the plan, though it did not go through the full body.
“I’m sorry, did the Texas House or the Texas Senate approve either of these spending measures during the 87th regular session?” Dominguez said.
Still, the governor and Republicans in the Legislature are pushing ahead with the new spending plan.
Of the $1.8 billion, $750
million would go toward the construction of a barrier along the Texas-Mexico border, which spans more than 1,200 miles. Hicks said the Department of Public Safety has identified up to 733 miles of border “where some kind of barrier may be
necessary.”
Another $250 million would pay the Texas Department of Criminal Justice back for the funds Abbott and other top Republicans essentially borrowed from the agency in June to start working on the border
barrier.
Hicks acknowledged the costs of the project would likely grow.
“I don’t think $1 billion takes care of the entire border, but I think that’s what, at this time, we think is a reasonable place to start,” she said.
For now, officials are planning to construct a patchwork barrier of temporary fencing as they wait for the permanent border barrier to go up, Hicks said.
The governor’s spending request would fund the deployment of an additional 1,800 National Guard troopers — on top of the 700 troopers already funded by the budget approved during the spring — to oversee construction of the temporary fencing.
The Department of Transportation, which is already building what Hicks described as a “semi-permanent barrier” covering a heavily trafficked 2-mile stretch in Maverick County, is leasing machinery and equipment for the temporary fence construction.
The proposed border wall spending, first reported by the Dallas Morning News, would cover parts of eight border counties starting around the Rio Grande Valley and running all the way to Hudspeth County near El Paso.
The spending plan would otherwise carve out funds to hire new judges, legal counsel for migrants and interpreters to speed up a backlog in the courts, while also providing a pot of money to train county prosecutors to handle border security-related charges.
It would also devote $170 million to establish and staff three new processing and intake centers near the border, and, amid growing concerns about capacity issues, set aside additional funds to convert existing state detention centers so they can house detained migrants.
The state is currently sending migrants to a detention facility in Frio County with a capacity of about 1,400. There were 488 inmates at the center Wednesday, according to a TDCJ spokesman.