TEXAS — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday announced an additional $495.3 million has been approved to be transferred from state agencies to Operation Lone Star, the governor’s Texas-Mexico border enforcement program.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas leaders on Friday approved an additional $495.3 million in funding for Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas-Mexico border enforcement program

  • Of that, $465.3 million will go directly to support the Texas National Guard

  • The money will come from the budgets of other state agencies. The allocation comes as the Biden administration prepares to end the Trump-era Title 42 border policy on May 23

  • Democrats as well as organizations including the ACLU have called for investigations into Operation Lone Star. Among the claims is that it is unconstitutional and overburdens local justice systems

That’s on top of the $3.9 billion already appropriated for the program. Of the $495.3 million approved Friday, $465.3 million will go to the National Guard.

The money will come from the budgets of the Health and Human Services Department, the Department of Public Safety and the Department of State Health Services, among others, a letter states.

“Texas will not sit on the sidelines as President Biden continues turning a blind eye to the crisis at our southern border,” Abbott wrote in a news release. “Texans’ safety and security is our top priority, and we will continue fighting to keep our communities safe. This additional funding ensures the Lone Star State is fully equipped to provide Texans the border security strategy they demand and deserve.” 

The allocation comes as the Biden administration is preparing to rescind the Trump-era Title 42 policy, which limits the number of migrants permitted to seek asylum at the border in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. The policy is currently slated to end May 23.

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Operation Lone Star is a controversial program that has the Texas Department of Public Safety and members of the Texas National Guard patrolling cities near the Texas-Mexico border.

It is the subject of a recent lawsuit filed on behalf of migrants arrested under it and Democrats have called on the Department of Justice to investigate it. In January, 50 Texas House Democrats called for an investigation following reports that some members of the National Guard weren’t being paid and are unclear about the mission and their role in it.

A letter to the DOJ from Democrats claims the operation violates the U.S. Constitution and is overburdening local justice systems.

“Operation Lone Star uses state criminal law to target Black and Latino migrants,” the letter reads. “Texas has arrested more than 2,681 people on these misdemeanor trespass charges, and has created a separate criminal prosecution and detention system that makes a mockery of due process rights foundational to our nation’s judicial process.”

In October 2021, a group of Democratic lawmakers, in a similar move, called on the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security to investigate what they called Abbott’s attempt to “establish a separate state immigration policy.”

Launched in March 2021, Operation Lone Star directed Texas DPS and Texas National Guard to the Texas-Mexico border with the goal, according to the governor’s office, of combating “the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas.”