Operation Lone Star border security mission may run out of funds, Senate committee says

For months, Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration have been trading blame for the record number of migrants crossing the southern border with Mexico.

The crisis is ongoing even with Texas spending billions of dollars on border security. Now, the Texas Legislature is getting nervous about spending any more money.

While the surge of border-crossers continues, Republicans and Democrats on the State Senate's finance committee are wondering how long they can continue spending billions of dollars on the problem. 

Abbott has made border security his top priority during his re-election bid.  He and the legislature approved about $4 billion for border security.

Migrants walk along the Rio Grande River before being apprehended by US Border Patrol officers in Eagle Pass, Texas, US, on Sunday, May 22, 2022. A Louisiana federal judge blocked the Biden administration on Friday from ending Title 42a pandemic-rela

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Thousands of DPS Troopers and Texas National Guard members have been deployed to the border for more than a year.  And now some in the legislature both Republicans and Democrats are worried about funding. 

Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flour Mound) expressed some frustration Tuesday.

"Believe me, I would much rather use that border money for all the other things we need to pay for like education, healthcare and everything else," she said. "But we can’t not protect our border."

Gov. Abbott's policy and budget director Sarah Hicks updated the Senate finance committee this week about concerns that the National Guard's border mission may run out of money. 

"We anticipate making another $38 million payment to the Guard this month, which will cover their operations through the end of this fiscal year. That will leave a little less than $4 million in the fund," she said.

The fiscal year ends in September.

Major General Thomas Suelzer, the Guard commander, acknowledged the cost to fund Operation Lone Star is a major investment. 

"The price for the Texas Guard participation in this multi-agency effort is not small, but the return on investment have been significant," he said.

There were no proposals made about how to continue to fund Operation Lone Star in the committee hearing. But on multiple occasions, the governor has moved funding from other areas like health and human services and the Texas prison system to support the border efforts.

FOX 4 reached out to the governor’s office to see if there is a plan for the operation after the money runs out. We are still waiting for a response.