Texas Republicans waste billions on border theatrics often saved for when Democrats are in power
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ProPublica and Marshall Project’s new joint investigation reveals that Texas Govs. Rick Perry (remember him?) and Greg Abbott cumulatively spent billions in taxpayer funds on supposed border initiatives over nearly two decades, without much of anything to show for it.
But wait, that’s not exactly true. The joint report reveals the launch of these initiatives “often coincided with their gubernatorial campaigns or times when they were considering bids for higher office,” or when Democrats controlled parts of the federal government.
Case in point: Stephen Miller’s anti-asylum Title 42 policy, invoked under false pretenses in March 2020, created a spike in apprehensions at the southern border during the insurrectionist president’s term. But did Abbott launch his multibillion dollar Operation Lone Star scheme at that time? Nope—he waited until a year later when Joe Biden was in office.
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The joint ProPublica and Marshall Project investigation said that from 2005 on, the governors “persuaded the Texas Legislature to spend billions of dollars on border security measures that included at least nine operations and several smaller initiatives.” While Perry’s spending was certainly not chump change in the least—like the $110 million allocated for the border in 2007—it pales in comparison to Abbott’s spending.
The joint report said that the deployment of soldiers alone as part of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star scheme is costing taxpayers more than $2 million a week. “The Texas Military Department estimates that the current deployment of 10,000 National Guard members will cost an additional $2 billion a year, nearly five times what the Legislature had budgeted for the deployment,” the report said.
These deployments have been hugely unpopular among soldiers themselves, who have described “chronic underpayment issues,” “lack of proper equipment and sleeping facilities,” and a general question of “What the fuck are we doing here?” There have also been a number of tragic suicides among soldiers linked to the scheme.
ProPublica, Marshall Project, and The Texas Tribune have previously noted that Abbott’s office has touted Operation Lone Star as a success, but has steadily fought records requests that would back up that claim. They noted that Texas boasted of drug seizures by counties that weren’t even receiving Operation Lone Star funds. ProPublica and Marshall Project in the new report say Perry also publicized drugs seized through his Operation Strong Safety II despite the fact that it “contributed to less than 10% of the operation’s drug seizures.”
Like Abbott, Perry used vile rhetoric to justify his own measures, claiming without proof that brown gang members were “torturing, kidnapping and murdering citizens on both sides of the border,” the report said. It also noted that Perry falsely claimed in 2008 that hundreds of people with “terrorist ties” had been stopped at the Texas border since 2006.
”A 2021 report by the Cato Institute, a libertarian organization in Washington, D.C., found that between 1975 and 2020, just nine people who were later convicted of planning a terrorist attack had entered the country illegally,” the report continued. Of these nine, three arrived through the southern border. Perry just flat-out lied and claimed more than 430 suspected people in a two-year period alone. Bad dancer, even worse liar.
“Billions of dollars have been spent trying to ‘secure’ the border,” tweeted RAICES. “You could argue that this money was spent on ‘border security theater’, militarizing the border, for political gains, and not much else.” Meanwhile, Abbott further hurt Texans through the disastrous inspections he ended after blowback. “Abbott’s chaos at the border just cost the Texas economy $4.23 billion,” tweeted Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke. “All so he could get 3 minutes and 20 seconds with Tucker Carlson.That’s a $1.27 billion a minute campaign ad—paid for by the people of Texas.”
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