WASHINGTON — More than 100 miles of Texas’ borderlands could be leased or sold to the federal government as part of the state’s partnership with President Donald Trump to harden the border, Gov. Greg Abbott said in an interview with The Texas Tribune on Thursday.
Abbott is in Washington this week to lobby Congress for $11 billion to compensate Texas for money spent on his Operation Lone Star, to secure the border during the Biden Administration. The three-term Texas governor said he was ready to hand over more than 50 miles of constructed border wall, nearly 20 miles of planned border walls, 100 miles of easements to build more walls, over 2,000 military beds for National Guardsmen and 4,000 jail cells to the federal government.
The exchange of real estate and working border infrastructure built under Operation Lone Star differentiates this request from past requests Texas has made to the federal government for border enforcement, Abbott said.
“This is not really a reimbursement,” said Abbott during a 10 minute interview at his Washington hotel. “This is a payment for real estate assets and improvements provided by the state of Texas as payment for services rendered by the state of Texas that benefits everybody in the United States of America.”
Texas contains more of the southern border than any other state, stretching over 1,200 miles.
Abbott met with Texas Republicans and House Speaker Mike Johnson this week to make his case, as well as White House officials. Abbott also met with Trump last week.
It remains to be seen if Congress will allocate the funds or if Trump will support the move. Slashing federal spending is among Republicans’ highest priorities this year. Abbott didn’t say if his meetings yielded support with Johnson or Trump, but he described them as “very appreciative of everything that Texas did, and they thank us for Texas holding the line during the four years of open border policies under [President] Joe Biden.”
Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in 2021, saying it was in response to Biden abdicating his responsibility to secure the border by rescinding several border-related executive orders from the Trump administration. Under the initiative, Abbott installed new border barriers and sent the state’s National Guard to the border, as well as bused over 100,000 migrants to cities around the country.
Trump has vowed to take a far more hardline approach to border enforcement, including through declaring a national emergency at the border, initiating mass deportations and using military personnel to support border agents. Nearly 1,500 National Guardsmen from around the country have been deployed to the border, in addition to 5,000 Texas Air and Army National Guard members on the border.
When asked if the new tack of the administration would portend the sunset of Operation Lone Star, Abbott said it would lead “at least to a recalibration of it.”
“Under Biden, there was zero resistance about people coming across the border. Now under Trump, there is maximum resistance coming across the border,” Abbott said. “National Guard can work in tandem with Border Patrol, with ICE to make sure we are able to maintain that resistance.”
Abbott signed an agreement with the Trump administration earlier this month authorizing Texas National Guard soldiers to make immigration arrests as long as they work in tandem with federal agents. Abbott clarified Thursday that the agreement means they have the same authority as any ICE or Border Patrol agents, including “apprehending, arresting, jailing, and going through the deportation process.” He added Department of Public Safety officers have the same authority.
“Whatever action that ICE would be going through for the deportation process, the National Guard members who are doing that have those capabilities,” Abbott said.
Abbott said he would support whatever further actions Trump would take to enforce the border. He didn’t oppose when asked about Trump invoking the Insurrection Act, which would open the way for the president to deploy active duty military on the border.
“The president needs to do what he needs to do,” Abbott said, adding that Trump and Congress are currently focused on funding for additional personnel. “But the President, obviously, he was elected, primarily to secure the border, and he needs to take whatever actions are needed to make sure he's able to accomplish that goal.”
Abbott aligned himself with former ICE Director Tom Homan, whom Trump appointed to be his “border czar,” particularly on which migrants enforcement efforts should prioritize: those “who pose a public safety threat, those who pose a national security threat.”
But many migrants without criminal records have reportedly been deported. The White House has recently said that all migrants who crossed into the country illegally should be treated as criminals and deported. Abbott said he agrees with Homan, who said migrants without criminal records could be arrested when searching for migrants who do.
Abbott acknowledged the details of how the state would receive the requested $11 billion are still under discussion, whether it be through a lease agreement or a single deposit.
“But once we get all the other big pictures items done, that's going to be a piece of cake,” he said.