Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that the state's Public Safety Office will spend $30 million more on border security, according to a press release from his office.
The funding will go toward Abbott's Operation Lone Star. Launched in September 2021, the program provides grants to Texas cities and counties seeking to combat criminal activity related to border crossings.
At its start, roughly $100 million in grants were made available for local governments, with $58 million already distributed and $42 million yet to be used, The Texas Tribune reported.
According to the governor's office, $14 million of the latest $30 million in allotments will be made available for border-adjacent counties starting on Sept. 1, with the other $16 million accessible for any county or city starting next week.
"While the Biden Administration has abandoned border communities, the State of Texas will support them and help them respond to the disaster that President Biden has caused on the border," Abbott wrote in a statement connected to the release.
"Operation Lone Star grant funding has played an integral role in our mission to keep Texans safe and support local communities. I encourage local governments to apply for these funds as we work together to prevent illegal immigration and the smuggling of people, illegal weapons, and deadly drugs like fentanyl from Mexico into Texas."
The news comes as local officials have pushed Abbott to take drastic action on border security, including declaring the surge an "invasion" amid record numbers of illegal crossings under the Biden administration, per the Tribune.
In May, Customs and Border Protection made 239,416 arrests along the Mexico border. That's a 2% increase from the month before and the highest level ever recorded, The Washington Post noted.
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