Published
The federal government will send Texas $7.5 billion to cover part of what the state spent securing the border with Mexico, Gov. Greg Abbott announced September 18.
The money comes from the State Border Security Reinforcement Fund, which Congress created in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025. Abbott said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed the award in a call the day before. “Texas held the line when Washington would not,” Abbott said.
The award covers part of the bill. Texas has spent more than $11 billion on Operation Lone Star since the governor launched it in 2021, and the state sought reimbursement for about $10 billion of those costs, The Texas Tribune reported. The federal fund held $10 billion for every state that applied, and Texas received three-quarters of it. The state is also applying for part of a separate Justice Department fund for immigration-related law enforcement.
The payment took time. Congress authorized the reimbursement in July 2025, but the Department of Homeland Security did not post the notice states needed to apply until June 2026, with a final deadline of September 18. The award came 14 months after the law passed.
Under the Constitution, securing the international border is Washington’s job. For five years, Texas did much of it anyway, paying for National Guard soldiers, state troopers, barriers and technology out of the state budget, with no promise it would ever be repaid. The Tribune reported that the operation’s apprehensions topped 530,000 and its criminal arrests reached 54,000.
The Legislature will fold the $7.5 billion into the state budget when it convenes in January.
Texas paid for a federal job before Washington agreed to pay for any of it, and it will get back about two-thirds of what it spent. The rest stays on Texas’s books.
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