Governor Abbott Announces Over $36.4 Million In Funding For Operation Lone Star Initiatives In Texas
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that his Public Safety Office (PSO) will award more than $36.4 million in grant funding for law enforcement and prosecution activities in direct support of Operation Lone Star (OLS). As part of the FY22-23 General Appropriation Act and the House Bill 9 supplemental appropriations bill, these grant funds will assist local law enforcement, prosecutors, jail administrators, medical examiners, and court administration officials in the execution of coordinated border security operations.
"Operation Lone Star is critical to our efforts to secure the border, and we will continue to invest in this operation in order to keep Texans safe," said Governor Abbott. "The grant funding provided through House Bill 9 ensures that our local partners along the border have the resources and support they need to respond to the border crisis."
The grants recently announced include, but are not limited to, funding for the following:
Border Prosecution: 31 awards totaling $22.3 million for projects that prosecute border crimes and provide prosecution resources for District and County Attorneys along the Texas-Mexico border and for counties that are significantly affected by border crime.
Operation Lone Star Frontline (Border Adjacent) Counties: 12 awards totaling $14 million to enhance interagency border security operations supporting OLS, including the facilitation of directed actions to deter and interdict criminal activity as well as detain and prosecute individuals arrested for state crimes related to the border crisis. This initial round of funding is directed to border adjacent counties that have issued local disaster declarations due to the imminent threat of disaster concerning border security.
• Brewster County: $926,771
• Culberson County: $424,518
• Dimmit County: $370,973
• Hudspeth County: $1,071,362
• Jeff Davis County: $235,280
• Kinney County: $3,185,272
• Maverick County: $1,578,743
• Presidio County: $822,721
• Terrell County: $339,851
• Val Verde County: $2,843,994
• Webb County: $1,676,618
• Zapata County: $523,894
Texas Border Sheriff Coalition: 1 award totaling $100 thousand to provide training, technical assistance, and coordination of multi-jurisdictional planning activities to border sheriffs in support of Operation Lone Star.
The Governor’s PSO is responsible for administering the OLS Grant Program. Local units of government that are interested in learning more about this program can view the funding announcement via https://egrants.gov.texas.gov/fundopp.aspx. Applicants can also contact PSO via egrants@gov.texas.gov or at 512-463-1919.
Governor Abbott has taken significant action to secure the border in the wake of the federal government’s inaction. Those actions include:
- Signing laws that provide $3 billion in funding for Texas' border security efforts
- Launching Operation Lone Star and deploying thousands of National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers
- Creating a system to arrest and jail illegal migrants trespassing or committing other state crimes in Texas
- Signing a budget authorization to build the border wall in Texas
- Signing a law to make it easier to prosecute smugglers bringing people into Texas
- Signing 9 laws cracking down on human trafficking in Texas
- Signing a law enhancing penalties for the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl
- Issuing a disaster declaration for the border crisis
- Issuing an executive order preventing non-governmental entities from transporting illegal immigrants
- Taking legal action to enforce the Remain in Mexico and Title 42 policies in Texas