The Department of Homeland Security has approved $7.5 billion to reimburse Texas for Operation Lone Star border-security costs, potentially returning to state coffers much of what Texas leaders say they spent doing work the Biden administration left undone.
The award would cover about 75% of the nearly $9.985 billion Texas documented in its federal application and no more than about 68% of the broader $11.1 billion the state said it had spent or committed across the 2022-2025 budget cycles. The reimbursement would replenish state resources, not automatically reduce taxes, and federal taxpayers, including Texans, ultimately fund the grant.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced the approval Friday after a call with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
“I spoke with Secretary Mullin yesterday, who confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security will be sending Texas $7.5 billion as part of the federal funding to reimburse Texas,” Abbott said.
“Texas held the line when Washington would not. Texas taxpayers spent billions to stop illegal crossings, catch criminals, and seize deadly drugs. This reimbursement is a victory for those taxpayers,” he added.
Neither DHS nor FEMA had posted a public award announcement or award package as of Saturday. Hearst Newspapers reported that it reviewed a DHS letter supplied by the governor’s office confirming the approval. No public federal award or disbursement record for Texas was located in FEMA or USAspending data, though those systems can lag.
Texas sought nearly $10 billion
As The Dallas Express previously reported, Abbott asked Congress in January 2025 to repay more than $11 billion in state border costs. Later coverage tracked the reimbursement provision as it moved through Congress.
Congress created the State Border Security Reinforcement Fund in federal law enacted in 2025. The law placed $10 billion in DHS for lawful completed, ongoing, or new border-security activity occurring on or after January 20, 2021, with the money available through September 30, 2034. FEMA’s funding notice listed $9.985436 billion for grants after administrative costs, with no state matching requirement.
The fund covers four broad purposes: walls, fencing, barriers, buoys, and related ground work; detection and interdiction of illicit drugs and people who entered unlawfully and committed crimes; referral or transfer to DHS; and relocation of unlawfully present migrants from small population centers to other U.S. locations. FEMA rules allow documented personnel, Texas National Guard, surveillance, patrol, transportation, fuel, training, and temporary holding costs. They exclude weapons, ammunition, land purchases, legal services, indirect costs, and unrelated housing or surveillance.
Texas’ June 24 application sought $9,985,435,910: $7.099 billion for detection and interdiction, $2.607 billion for border infrastructure, $267.1 million for relocation, and $13 million for Carrizo cane eradication and ground preparation. That total was just $90 below the entire amount FEMA listed as available nationwide. The $7.5 billion approval leaves $2.485 billion of the Texas request uncovered. Public records do not identify which requested expenses DHS accepted or reduced.
Abbott’s office also credited Operation Lone Star with reducing illegal crossings by more than 80%. Friday’s release did not provide the claim’s baseline, time period, or methodology, so the figure remains the state’s attribution rather than an independently established causal finding.
Approval is not a deposit
The governor’s office told Hearst that the money could become available to the Texas comptroller within days. The comptroller created a federal-funds account on September 18 to receive State Border Security Reinforcement Fund and Justice Department reimbursement grants, but the public record lists no balance or deposit.
FEMA’s August notice still projected selections no earlier than October 15 and awards no earlier than October 30. That public calendar had not been updated to reflect the September 18 approval. Under FEMA’s rules, Texas must receive and accept an award package through FEMA GO, clear any conditions, and request a drawdown before payment by electronic transfer. Unless the nonpublic DHS letter supersedes that process or schedule, ‘within days’ remains a state estimate rather than a guaranteed payment date.
A second federal claim remains
Texas is separately applying for a share of $3 billion the Justice Department is offering through the Bridging Immigration-Related Deficits Experienced Nationwide Reimbursement Fund. Congress authorized $3.5 billion through September 30, 2028, while DOJ’s fiscal 2026 solicitation makes $3 billion available for qualifying criminal-justice and law-enforcement costs. The same expense cannot be billed to both federal programs, and no Texas award from the DOJ fund has been announced.
Abbott and other Texas Republican leaders have argued that Operation Lone Star filled federal enforcement gaps during the Biden administration. DHS approval gives that argument a substantial financial result, but the final state taxpayer impact depends on how much Texas can accept and draw down. As of Saturday, $7.5 billion had been approved, not publicly shown as deposited.
