Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

Members of the Texas Congressional delegation are demanding the federal government reimburse the state for the $11.1 billion it spent tackling the Biden administration’s “open-border abdication.” 

The lawmakers, including both senators and House members, made the request Friday in a three-page letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, directly blaming the previous administration for saddling Texas with the bill. 

The Republican lawmakers pointed to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which provides $13.5 billion in reimbursement funds to states that dealt with the massive influx of illegal aliens during former President Joe Biden’s tenure. 

“President Biden’s open-border policies imposed a substantial cost on communities in Texas, through increased fentanyl trafficking, crime, and even stress on local emergency response services,” they wrote. 

The lawmakers highlighted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, a statewide effort launched to secure the border “when the federal government would not.” 

Through the operation, Abbott ordered the deployment of state police to arrest individuals accused of state crimes and led the construction of new miles of border barriers and buoy defenses. 

Texas reported that at least 535,724 illegal aliens have been detained since the operation’s launch. Border crossings in Texas dropped 87 percent. 

“Texas’s actions through Operation Lone Star were absolutely vital to ensuring the safety and security of Americans across our great country,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, our State should not have had to bear alone the costs of securing the border when former President Biden intentionally failed to do so.” 

They continued, “We therefore respectfully ask that, as the Departments prepare to disburse the funds set aside in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the State of Texas be fully reimbursed for the costs incurred to protect Americans from illegal immigration and drug trafficking under former President Biden’s disastrous leadership.” 

The letter was signed by the following lawmakers: Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, along with August Pfluger, Pete Sessions, John Carter, Michael McCaul, Randy K. Weber, Roger Williams, Brian Babin, Jodey C. Arrington, Michael Cloud, Dan Crenshaw, Lance Gooden, Chip Roy, Pat Fallon, Tony Gonzales, Ronny Jackson, Troy E. Nehls, Beth Van Duyne, Jake Ellzey, Monica De La Cruz, Wesley Hunt, Morgan Luttrell, Keith Self, Brandon Gill, Nathaniel Moran and Craig Goldman.