AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott signed a border funding bill today that nearly triples the amount the state can spend on border defense over the next two years.
"It is the federal government's job to secure our border, but the Biden administration has failed to do its job," Abbott said at a news conference in Fort Worth where he signed the bill. “So Texas is stepping up and doing what the federal government is supposed to.”
The measure directs $1.8 billion to different agencies and initiatives, including about $750 million for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. About $311 million will be used for the deployment of additional law enforcement officers to border communities.
Democrats have criticized the effort for lacking accountability measures to track success.
Abbott, who's up for reelection next year, made border security and building a border wall his central focus this year.