Homeland agrees to reimburse Texas $7.5B for border security

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has approved reimbursing Texas $7.5 billion for costs incurred by the state’s border security operations during the Biden administration’s border crisis.It’s the first time Texas has received such a reimbursement, thanks to a new federal law.
Gov. Greg Abbott said he spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, “who confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security will be sending Texas $7.5 billion as part of the federal funding to reimburse Texas.
“Texas held the line when Washington would not. Texas taxpayers spent billions to stop illegal crossings, catch criminals, and seize deadly drugs. This reimbursement is a victory for those taxpayers,” Abbott said, thanking the president and Mullin.
Abbott also said Texas is also applying to the U.S. Department of Justice for reimbursement for a portion of an additional $3 billion the state spent on border security, which he says will “fully reimburse Texas for costs incurred due to the Biden Administration’s refusal to enforce federal immigration law.”
The DHS reimbursement comes from a State Border Security Reinforcement Fund within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, secured. The governor’s office submitted Texas’ application to DHS for reimbursement in June.
The announcement comes 20 months after Abbott first asked Congress to reimburse Texas for more than $11.1 billion spent on border security efforts, The Center Square reported. Cornyn and his colleagues delivered.
During the Biden administration, the Texas Legislature allocated more than $11.6 billion to border security efforts, the most in the state’s history. That’s more than multiple state fiscal year budgets and more than what the Trump administration allocated to federal border security efforts in Texas, The Center Square reported.
Last year, Texas Senate and House budget proposals allocated more than $6 billion to border security efforts over a two-year period, The Center Square reported.
Abbott first launched OLS in March 2021, in response to an unprecedented number of illegal border crossers and crime within the first couple of months of the Biden administration.
From March 2021 through February 2026, OLS officers apprehended 538,141 illegal foreign nationals, including those referred to Border Patrol. They also deterred 157,112 illegal entries, according to OLS data obtained by The Center Square.
Through OLS, thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers were deployed to the border. Dozens of sheriff’s offices also beefed up operations participating in an OLS Task Force.
OLS efforts include constructing Texas’ own border wall, building concertina wire and marine barriers, expanding technological capabilities to stop illegal crossings and drug interdiction. They also include new brush teams, canine and equestrian units as well as a range of interdiction efforts through targeted traffic enforcement, The Center Square reported.
These efforts are ongoing. Operation Lone Star is in its fifth year.
Although illegal crossings at the southwest border have dropped by more than 95% under the second Trump administration, crime is ongoing and cartel networks are embedded throughout Texas and nationwide. OLS 2.0 is targeting them and criminal actors designated as foreign terrorist organizations such as Tren de Aragua.
As TdA crime spread to dozens of states, in September 2024, Abbott expanded OLS operations to eradicate TdA, The Center Square reported. Since OLS began, more than half a million Venezuelan nationals have been apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Texas after they illegally entered the U.S.
OLS officers are also targeting South American Theft Groups and commercial vehicle crimes statewide. Last September, Texas DPS began suspending issuing CDL licenses in several categories. Targeted CDL enforcement actions are ongoing.
Since March 2021, OLS officers have record amounts of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine and heroin and enough fentanyl to kill nearly one tenth of the world’s population, according to data obtained by The Center Square.
Law enforcement officers argue continued funding for OLS is needed as national security threats persist. Funding is also needed for prosecutors, jails and transportation.
“Just because the bodies quit coming, we still have this massive cleanup to do,” Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe told The Center Square. “We still need funding for jail facilities and transportation.”
“Many people overlook the fact that successful prosecutions are more important than arrest numbers in achieving justice and creating a deterrence for those who commit crimes,” Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith told The Center Square.
Prosecuting crimes and sending people to jail is the deterrence that is needed to enforce the law, he argued.
“The underlying reason why millions of illegal aliens invaded our country during the Biden administration is quite simple: people do not follow laws unless they are enforced,” Smith said. “The only reason most people obey the law is the deterrence of punishment that results when it is violated. This is the fundamental basis of our legal system.”

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