AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is spending billions of dollars to support Gov. Greg Abbott’s border protection plan called Operation Lone Star. Texas lawmakers Tuesday questioned why so much is being spent, and what impact it is having.
The price to support Operation Lone Star keeps growing, with the governor allocating an additional $30 million earlier this month to the billions already allowed.
“Over $4 billion has been authorized on a state level to support these efforts for the current biennium,” said Senator Joan Huffman, R-Houston. “This is in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars the Texas legislature has provided over several sessions to bolster border security.”
But at Tuesday’s hearing, senators questioned how this money is securing the border. DPS Director Steve McCraw said they’ve apprehended about 30,000 migrants a week recently in Texas.
Sarah Hicks, the governor’s director of budget and policy, said 319 million doses of the often-fatal drug fentanyl have been seized.
However, Senator John Whitmire requested a concrete solution to the problem, besides throwing money at it.
“I conceded at the beginning it’s a broken policy. It’s a crisis,” said Senator John Whitmire, who represents Texas Senate District 15. “We don’t have an endless supply of money. And as we address the problem with this budget, we should be looking for [another path].”
McCraw said the money could be used to build more physical barriers, such as putting up Concertina wire
“If they destroy it, or harm it in any way in that regard–cut it, for example–then we file for criminal mischief. And if they cross it, we charge criminal trespassing,” McCraw said.
He suggested this might stop cartels from smuggling humans and bringing drugs into the U.S. through Texas.
“It’s not just migrants. It’s really contraband. Cocaine, methamphetamine, heroine, fentanyl. There’s other illicit substances,” McCraw said. “We’re talking about weapons going south, people being smuggled and being preyed upon on both sides of the border… We’re really talking about a number of different criminal activities that are going on and that’s what we want to secure our state and our country from.”
McCraw stressed that the U.S. can solve this problem.
“I’m not ready to submit to failure quite yet,” McCraw said. “At any given time, we can succeed. This is Texas, and this is America. And the United States can excel and exceed at anything it wants to accomplish. It just takes leadership and resources.”
Lawmakers said they will decide on additional funding before September, when the next fiscal year begins.