A provision offered by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) to reimburse border states — primarily Texas — with $12 billion for costs incurred to secure the border under the Biden administration, passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Republicans’ reconciliation package.
The provision, made through a manager’s amendment on May 22 to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R. 1, would set aside $12 billion in grants for states’ “costs associated with actions taken after Jan. 21, 2021, to assist the federal border security missions,” according to the text. The bill is under consideration in the U.S. Senate.
“I’m extremely proud to have helped secure this provision, which sends a strong message to our border states that America has not forgotten the sacrifices they made,” Rep. McCaul said on May 23. “With these funds, Congress says ‘thank you’ — both to Texas’ leadership … and to Texas’ taxpayers, who should never have been on the hook for President Biden’s dereliction of duty.”
Most of the funds are expected to reimburse Texas, which through Operation Lone Star spent $11.1 billion on border security, including $5.87 billion on personnel costs associated with border security and $4.75 billion on border wall barriers, according to Rep. McCaul.
“It’s the federal government’s job to secure the homeland, yet the Biden/Harris administration abdicated its duty and abandoned our states on the frontlines of the border crisis,” the congressman said. “As Texans know, our state bore the brunt of that abject failure, both societally and financially. Four years of chaos and suffering later, Congress is doing the right thing: paying Texas back.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott thanked the U.S. House and the Texas congressional delegation for including the provision in the reconciliation package.
“[It] will help Texas in its response to the unprecedented illegal immigration in Texas,” he said. “This is a national issue that Texas was proud to address, and we are grateful for the allocation that reduces the financial burden that Texas incurred.”