Safer Texas

Securing the Border

Texas continues to take historic action to fill in the dangerous gaps created by President Biden’s open border policies.

In response to President Biden’s reckless open border policies and refusal to do his job to secure the border, Governor Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to combat the record-high levels of illegal immigration, weapons, and deadly drugs like fentanyl surging into our communities. The brave men and women serving Operation Lone Star work day and night to respond to this crisis.

Under this historic border mission, Texas has done more than any state in American history to secure the border and provide support to local border officials, including:

• Deploy thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers
• Seize more than enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States
• Designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
• Bus migrants to sanctuary cities Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia to relieve overwhelmed border communities
• Build the Texas border wall, becoming the first state in history to do so
• Hired Texas’ first-ever Border Czar
   

During the 88th Legislative Session, Governor Abbott made securing the border an emergency item for lawmakers to address. Working with the Texas Legislature, Governor Abbott recently signed into law several key initiatives to keep Texans safe, including:

• Securing increased funding of over $5 billion to enhance Texas’ border security mission, bringing the state’s total border security funding to over $9 billion
• Codifying the designation of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
• Granting local law enforcement personnel and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel access to border security training and expertise from the Texas Department of Public Safety
• Compensating Texas landowners for damage to their property caused by illegal border crossings, drug cartel activity, or human smuggling
• Authorizing specially trained members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel to enforce Texas law
• Allowing the Governor to coordinate and execute an interstate compact among interested states without congressional approval for joint action to combat the border crisis
   

Fighting the Fentanyl Crisis

As the deadly fentanyl crisis grips Texas and the nation, Governor Abbott has taken unprecedented action to protect Texans as the Biden Administration turns a blind eye from the lethal opioid flooding across our southern border, including:

• Launching the statewide “One Pill Kills” public awareness campaign in collaboration with state agencies
• Hosting the One Pill Kills summit in Austin to raise awareness and discuss policy solutions to save innocent lives
• Launching a new $10 million multimedia awareness initiative with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to educate Texans on fentanyl’s lethality and prevalence
• Distributing lifesaving NARCAN to all 254 Texas counties
• Signed a law in 2021 during the 87th Legislative Session to enhance criminal penalties for the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl
• Designating Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations for trafficking hundreds of millions of lethal doses of fentanyl into Texas and the nation
• Directing Texas state agencies to ramp up efforts to respond to the fentanyl crisis
   

Governor Abbott made fighting the fentanyl crisis one of his emergency items during the 88th Legislative Session. The result is landmark legislation Governor Abbott signed into law to combat the devastating crisis, including:

• Classifying fentanyl deaths as poisonings
• Prosecuting an individual for murder if they distribute fentanyl or drugs laced with fentanyl that kill someone
• Enhancing the criminal penalty for the manufacturing or delivery of fentanyl
• Increasing the supply of lifesaving NARCAN and allowing for its distribution on college campuses to increase availability for Texans exposed to fentanyl
• Designating October as “Fentanyl Awareness Month”
   

Reforming a Broken Bail System

Governor Abbott has worked diligently toward creating safer and more secure communities for all Texans throughout his time in office. After naming bail reform an emergency item during the 87th Legislative Session in 2021, the Governor signed into law the groundbreaking Damon Allen Act to make it harder for dangerous criminals to be released on bail.

Named after Trooper Damon Allen, who was murdered in the line of duty in 2017 by a violent criminal out on bond, the law includes key provisions to protect innocent Texans:

• Prohibits violent offenders from being released on personal bond while awaiting trial
• Requires judges to set or deny bail withing 48 hours of arrest and consider criminal history before setting bail
• Requires mandatory training for magistrates on bail specific education
• Requires bond conditions be reported to give law enforcement the ability to apprehend offenders out on bail who are violating court orders

Governor Abbott made ending revolving door bail an emergency item during the 88th Legislative Session to continue building on these efforts and keep dangerous criminals behind bars. Working with the Texas Legislature, the Governor delivered critical reforms, including:

• Holding district attorneys accountable by clarifying the policy or practice of refusing to prosecute an offense constitutes official misconduct
• Requiring the appointment of a judge from outside a prosecutor’s district for removal proceedings resulting from official misconduct
• Creating a criminal offense for parolees who tamper with or remove an ankle monitor as part of their condition of release

Supporting Law Enforcement

Nothing is more important than the safety and security of Texans. Governor Abbott has always supported – and will always support – the brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to keep their fellow Texans safe.

During his time in office, Governor Abbott has signed into law critical measures to support Texas law enforcement and safeguard Texans across the state, including:

• Defunding cities that defund their police
• Increasing penalties for criminal activities that interfere with or harm law enforcement
• Enhancing tools to fight online sex trafficking
• Tackling the rape kit backlog in Texas by requiring the audit of untested kits, establishing timelines for results to be submitted, and extending the statute of limitation

Governor Abbott prioritized public safety during the 88th Legislative Session, and as a result signed into law key pieces of legislation to protect Texans, including:

• Increasing penalties for criminals who remove ankle monitors while out on bail
• Enacting harsher penalties for dangerous illegal street racing and catalytic converter theft
• Enhancing criminal penalties for aggravated assault crimes that result in irreversible, traumatic injuries for the victim
• Holding accountable prosecutors who refuse to uphold laws by declining to prosecute certain classes of crime