The state of Texas is committing nearly $1 billion of its own funds to help address the current border crisis, even as Congress – the federal governing body tasked with appropriating money to this exact issue – sits on its hands.
As hundreds of thousands of migrants stream across the U.S. border illegally, overwhelming border agents and maxing out detention and processing centers, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a video posted to social media Monday that his state is directing nearly $1 billion in funding out of its state budget to help federal authorities deal with the problem.
"Securing the border is the federal government's job, but Texas is stepping up to help out," Abbott said on the Twitter video. "We dedicated almost a billion dollars in our budget to secure our border."
Texas is dedicating almost a billion dollars to help secure the border.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 17, 2019
We’re funding the National Guard & Department of Public Safety to help Border Patrol.
We’re adding boats & planes to detect & deter cartels that try to smuggle people into Texas. #txlege pic.twitter.com/70deqMnZmI
The money will reportedly go to the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to help support border patrol efforts, as well as boats to help patrol the Rio Grande and planes to help detect drug traffickers.
While it’s a large sum of money, Abbott admits it’s not nearly enough to solve the current crisis.
"There's a lot more that must be done, but we will not solve the border crisis until Congress finally steps up and passes immigration reform and fully funds border security," the Texas governor added.
Of the roughly about 2,000 miles of border between the U.S. and Mexico, about 1,200 of it is in Texas.