“Texas’ top elected official suggests Texas may cut border spending after Trump takes office” in Public Policy, Politics, Government, Statewide Issues Originally published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs and speaks to Texans about the state of Texas. .
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Since President-elect Donald Trump’s victory last week, the state’s top two elected officials, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have announced potential cuts to the state’s historic spending on border security. It shows a new desire to see what is possible.
During his campaign, Trump vowed to crack down on illegal immigration by reimposing policies from his first term and launching new ones, including mass deportations.
Abbott told reporters last week that Texas should continue its border security measures as a “stop-gap measure” until President Trump implements border and immigration policies. But Abbott said once those are in place, Texas will be able to repurpose state funds poured into Operation Lone Star, a multi-pronged effort that Abbott launched in 2021 shortly after President Joe Biden took office. “This will give us an opportunity to consider it,” he said.
OLS has cost $11 billion so far, and Abbott’s office has asked lawmakers to approve an additional $2.9 billion in the next Congress. Abbott now says OLS money could be used for things like property tax relief and education.
“President Trump will provide more secure borders than any president in the history of the United States,” Abbott said the day after the election. “I’ve been talking privately with the president, and he’s going to come out even stronger and better at border security than he was in his first term, when he was very strong and effective.”
Meanwhile, Patrick also said a Trump victory could mean a shift in the state’s spending priorities.
“We had to do everything we could to protect the public,” Patrick said in an interview with Dallas’ WFAA-TV published Sunday. “We will now be able to put that significant amount of money back into the taxpayers for roads, water, education, health care and all the things that we need that Joe Biden forced us to do,” he said. Because they were forcing millions of people to cross the border. ”
The exact breakdown of the state’s border spending is unclear, but the money is being used to rush Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and the Texas National Guard to the border. Send buses full of immigrants to Democratic-run cities. And it will use those funds to support local governments that participated in OLS efforts through grants, including sheriff’s offices that hired deputies.
Despite the state’s increased spending on border security, polls show that Republican Texans are willing to allow the state to spend more to secure its 1,254-mile border with Mexico. It is shown that there is.
James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said Trump’s victory now “provides a tremendous amount of political cover” to cut spending. And because the effort costs so much money, he says, “I can’t help but feel like there’s room for some cuts.”
“When you spend government money, you create a constituency among that money. That’s one reason it’s difficult to cut spending,” Henson added.
Other lawmakers have also suggested it may be time to cut border security spending at the state level.
“I don’t know if we’ve gotten much benefit from some of the policies,” state Rep. Gary VanDever, a Republican from New Boston who has supported border enforcement, said at a Texas Tribune event this week. . “I believe it’s time to scale back and start using those resources for infrastructure and needs within the state. And I believe we need to send a bill to Congress for the money we’re spending. ”
Two public policy experts told the Tribune that even with Trump in the White House and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, Texas remains He said it was unlikely that the federal government would cover border spending. Money is always tight in DC.
Abbott credits the state’s efforts with reducing illegal immigration into the country through Texas this year. But those who study migration say multiple variables contribute to migration patterns, including violence and poverty around the world.
The bigger “losers” from border security spending cuts will be DPS, the National Guard and local agencies “that often rely on this additional funding,” said Tony Payan, director of the U.S.-Mexico Center. Ta. The Baker Institute is a nonpartisan policy research organization based at Rice University in Houston.
“I think it’s an opportunity for the Abbott administration, because the Republican trifecta in Washington clearly means Washington will invest additional resources on border issues,” Payan said. “So if this program were to go away, it would save every penny for all of us in Texas who pay taxes and see it as political advancement.”
Disclosure: Rice University has financially supported the Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization funded in part by contributions from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. See the complete list of them here.
This article originally appeared in the Texas Tribune (https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/15/texas-border-security-funding-potential-cutback/).
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