Texas Poised to Spend $6.5 Billion More on Border Security—Even as Crossings Plummet

Texas has already spent nearly $18 billion"strengthening" its southern border under Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, and state lawmakers are now poised to add $6.5 billion more over the next two years, per the Texas Tribune—even as border crossings slow and Trump promises a sweeping federal immigration crackdown.

For rural sheriffs like Thaddeus Cleveland in Terrell County, the money has been a lifeline. Thanks to state funding, he hired five deputies and bought new patrol vehicles. "It kept us alive," Cleveland, a former Border Patrol agent, told the Texas Tribune. But even he's starting to question the price tag, especially with Trump back in office pledging massive federal deportation efforts.

"With President Trump being in the White House, I would foresee the federal government spending more money. The state Legislature surely shouldn't have to spend that much more money," he noted.

Despite the slowdown in illegal crossings and Trump's renewed focus on federal immigration enforcement, Texas lawmakers are doubling down. According to the report, the new funding would make Texas' post-2021 border security budget five times what it spent in the previous 14 years combined.

So why keep spending so much? Politics, experts say.

"Good governance and fiscal responsibility don't carry much weight compared to the politics of immigration," Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin told the Texas Tribune. His recent polling showed that while 45% of all Texans think the state spends too little on the border, that number jumps to 63% among Republicans.

Abbott insists the mission is unfinished. In June, he declared, "Texas will not stop until we gain full operational control of the border." But not everyone's on board.

Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos, a Democrat from Richardson, proposed using some of the $6.5 billion to boost teacher pay instead. Her amendment was shot down. "We could give you a trillion dollars, and you would still cry with this red meat nonsense," she said during the debate.

Others, like Sen. Sarah Eckhardt of Austin, pointed to rising costs tied to new state policies, like banning bail for undocumented immigrants accused of felonies. Those costs could fall on local jails and counties.

Even Selene Rodriguez, a border expert at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, supports increased safety spending—but wants better oversight. "If you don't need 5,000 Guardsmen at the border, maybe don't have them there," she said.

Two bills calling for audits of Operation Lone Star have been introduced, but as of mid-April, neither has even gotten a hearing.

Customs and Border Protection informed that there were fewer than 8,500 border crossings in February, the lowest amount for any month in recorded history.

The concrete figure was 8,347, a 94% drop compared to the same month of last year. It comprised a little over 2,100 in El Paso, 1,650 in San Diego, and 1,285 in the Rio Grande Valley. Yuma, Arizona, saw 243 crossings and El Centro, in California, 162.

"President Trump and Secretary Noem have sent a clear message: if you cross the border illegally, you will be deported without the possibility of trying it again the next day or in a few hours," CBP said in a statement. "As a result, the number of encounters between CBP and undocumented migrants has decreased drastically."