Border

Traditionally Democratic and overwhelmingly Latino voters on the Texas-Mexico border favored Trump in last November's election, giving him 12 of the Texas borderlands' 14 counties, up from just five in 2016. But now, at the crucial 100-day mark into Trump's 2nd term, that support is waning.

The White House said Tuesday it would expand a move to authorize military control of federally owned border land to include more than 90 miles of land in Texas. Administration officials have so far declined to say where that land is, but most federal border land within the state is located in Big Bend and a complex of South Texas wildlife refuges.

According to the U.S. Army, soldiers won't be arresting people suspected of being in the country illegally, and instead will offer "logistical support" to Border Patrol agents.

The federal government will begin collecting detailed information about who's making cash transactions of $200 to $10,000 at money exchange businesses in several South Texas counties. The effort is part of the Trump administration's plan to go after drug cartels and other criminal groups.

Next step will be action in the state House, where budget writers have different plans for distributing property tax help.

Big Bend area officials say the U.S. military has in recent weeks discussed the possibility of housing 200-300 troops at small county-owned airports near Marfa and Presidio, though the county’s top elected official says the idea is “not etched in stone.”

U.S. Customs and Protection said Friday that military personnel will be sent to Border Patrol stations in Alpine, Van Horn and Presidio to “assist agents with surveillance, intelligence gathering and logistical support.”

Up to 3,000 additional troops have been ordered to the U.S.-Mexico border by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the latest in President Trump's efforts to prevent illegal crossings.

The order Tuesday to stop work left 26,000 children, some only months old, in legal limbo without representatives. Friday's decision leaves a wake of anxiety about future battles.

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.