New Texas border strategy expected from Gov. Greg Abbott in Eagle Pass on Thursday

By Karen Brooks Harper | Dallas Morning News (TNS)

DALLAS — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott heads to the Texas border on Thursday to announce a plan he said will “deter migrants from making the dangerous journey to illegally cross” into the state.

The new effort comes as the state buys ranch lands for potential mass deportation sites and Abbott eyes nearly $3 billion next legislative session for border initiatives.

Abbott will unveil the plan at a privately owned ranch in Eagle Pass, less than a month before the Legislature begins debate over the state budget – including the governor’s request for $2.9 billion in new money for his Operation Lone Star border security initiative, which has already cost taxpayers $11 billion.

He will be joined by Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin, Adjutant General of Texas Major Thomas Suelzer, Texas Association Against Sexual Assault CEO Rose Luna, and private ranch owners Kimberly and Martin Wall.

The 1 p.m. event will be livestreamed on Abbott’s Facebook page.

Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021, deploying National Guard soldiers and state troopers to the border with Mexico after saying he was frustrated with President Joe Biden’s policies related to immigration enforcement.

The goal was to make border crossings more difficult by installing razor wire and other physical barriers along the Rio Grande. Law enforcement began arresting suspected undocumented migrants for trespassing and other state criminal charges as part of the operation.

For the upcoming legislative session, which starts in January, Abbott wants the new money to cover those border security operations through 2027 — including busing, barriers, migrant-processing centers and one full-time employee to manage the funds, according to his budget request.

Critics of the governor’s initiatives say the funding request — which would park the money in Abbott’s disaster fund — would give him too much discretion over too much tax money to spend on programs that are dangerous and ineffective.

However, officials from Abbott’s office point to drops in the number of crossings as evidence of his programs’ successes.

This week’s announcement comes after the state bought a ranch in Rio Grande City on the Texas-Mexico border. Texas officials offered it as the site for detention facilities to help the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump with proposed mass deportations. Portions of a border wall have already been built at the site.

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham has said the state is searching for additional land to aid the federal effort.

©2024 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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