August 29, 2021 Madlin Mekelburg - El Paso Times
Texas could soon double the state’s spending on border security initiatives under a new proposal approved Tuesday by a House committee.
House Bill 9, drafted at the request of Gov. Greg Abbott, would spend $1.8 billion over the next year to deploy more state law enforcement officers to the U.S.-Mexico border, increase prosecutions of migrants arrested for misdemeanor offenses and complete portions of permanent and temporary physical barriers along the border, amid an ongoing surge of migrants crossing the border.
If adopted, the proposal would be an unprecedented investment in border security by the Legislature, where lawmakers have debated for more than a decade what role state dollars and resources should play when it comes to border security — an issue largely under the jurisdiction of federal law enforcement.
The money would be in addition to nearly $1.1 billion approved by Texas lawmakers in May for border security initiatives for the next two years, including the hiring of more than 100 new state troopers and funding Operation Lone Star, a mission launched in March to reduce the smuggling of people and drugs into the state.
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/08/texas-house-panel-approves-1-8b-spending-proposal-for-border-security/
