Feds reimburse Texas for $7.5 billion in border spending, ending delay
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
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Feds reimburse Texas for $7.5 billion in border spending, ending delay
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has awarded a long-awaited $7.5 billion to Texas as reimbursement for the money the state spent on border security during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Administration approved the grant Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday.
Release of the funds comes 14 months after Congress first authorized border reimbursement in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a key priority for Texas’ Republican delegation and Gov. Greg Abbott, who in the first week of President Donald Trump’s term publicly requested the federal government repay state border costs.
“I spoke with Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin yesterday, who confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security will be sending Texas $7.5 billion as part of the federal funding to reimburse Texas,” Abbott said. “Texas held the line when Washington would not. Texas taxpayers spent billions to stop illegal crossings, catch criminals and seize deadly drugs. This reimbursement is a victory for those taxpayers. I thank President Trump and Secretary Mullin for this action.”
Texas spent over $11 billion on border security through Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, funding border wall construction and river buoys, fencing and Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety personnel who were sent to the region. Abbott wrote in January 2025 that the state sought reimbursement in full for the amount spent.
As negotiations over Republicans’ tax-and-spending megabill played out in the first half of 2025, Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. August Pfluger, R-San Angelo, led the effort to include a border reimbursement fund. The ultimate product — signed into law in early July 2025 — contained $13.5 billion in grant money for state and local governments to apply for.
The long wait for the executive branch to disperse the funds frustrated some in the delegation, including Cornyn, who told The Texas Tribune in August that getting the money out the door had felt akin to “pulling teeth.”
In November, Cornyn, Pfluger and Sen. Ted Cruz led a letter from Texas Republicans to DHS and Department of Justice leadership urging the agencies to move forward and provide Texas with the full $11.1 billion it had spent.
“Texas’s actions through Operation Lone Star were absolutely vital to ensuring the safety and security of Americans across our great country,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, our State should not have had to bear alone the costs of securing the border when former President Biden intentionally failed to do so.”
DHS finally posted a notice of funding opportunity in June for a $10 billion pot of money available to state governments, which Texas applied for, and then extended the application deadline, adding to the dispersal timeline. Thursday was the final day for states to apply.
Texas, which was expected to receive the lion’s share of the funding, will receive $7.5 billion, or three-quarters of the pot. Cornyn told the Tribune in August that Abbott had negotiated the amount with Mullin.
A second fund, run by the Department of Justice, is providing $3.5 billion in grants for immigration-related law enforcement activities, including reimbursement for spending during Biden’s time in office. The department has already begun awarding grants, including to Kendall County.
The $7.5 billion grant will factor into the budget state lawmakers pass when the Texas Legislature convenes in January. The comptroller’s estimate of state revenue also typically arrives in January — and with the grant now finally awarded, the money can be included in the projection.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
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