finally allocated<\/a> $2.3 million this week to the Texas Military Department in order to save a special operation on the border, dubbed \u201cOperation Secure Texas.\u201d The department had its funding eliminated in the latest Texas state budget.<\/p>\nGovernor Abbott praised the move in a press release, saying, \u201cThe taxpayers of Texas have funded border security, a federal responsibility, for far too long.\u201d With the allocation, he added that the Texas National Guard units included in the operation will \u201ctransition to federal orders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite this positive development, the State of Texas still spends<\/a> over $400 million per year on border security, primarily through their own department of public safety. Considering that managing national borders is a federal issue, the $2.3 million grant amounts to barely more than 0.5 percent of the total reimbursement that the State of Texas should receive for doing the federal government\u2019s job. However, if the Trump administration doesn\u2019t want to send Texas half a billion dollars every year, building an improved border barrier, staffing it adequately and removing the incentives for illegal immigration would certainly lower that annual cost.