<\/p>\n
National Guard stands behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and fellow Governors as they hold a press conference along the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border to discuss Operation Lone Star and border concerns on Sunday, February 4, 2024 in Eagle Pass, TX.<\/p>\n
Raquel Natalicchio\/Staff photographer<\/p>\n
Texas Republicans celebrated when they successfully tucked billions in federal funding<\/a> into President Donald Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill to reimburse the state for Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s $11 billion border security crackdown. But nearly a year later none of the money has been dispersed, and it\u2019s unclear when Texas will see any of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, the agencies overseeing the combined $13.5 billion, have yet to open applications for the reimbursements. DHS said in a statement that the agency is \u201cworking expeditiously to assess the best path forward\u201d and is finalizing the application process for the $10 billion it will dole out, but offered no more information on when that might begin. DOJ did not respond to questions about the $3.5 billion in grants it oversees. Experts say the delay is notable.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: Texas stands to get $11B back for border expenses under Trump’s megabill<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI strongly suspect that whoever was assigned this did their work in about a week and it\u2019s been stuck in the clearance process since. This is just not hard to do,\u201d said David A. Super, an administrative law expert at Georgetown University Law Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n Because of the political nature of the funding, reimbursements like this often need high-level clearance. Both agencies have seen their share of turbulence over the last year. Trump fired the heads of both agencies earlier this year. And DHS, which oversees the bulk of the funding, was shut down for weeks<\/a> as Democrats sought reforms to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cChange, shutdowns, the fact that it\u2019s got high political salience\u201d are all likely playing a factor, Super said: \u201cI\u2019m sure it keeps getting bumped up the chain of command. It\u2019s probably been to the White House and they\u2019re waiting for people there to make political judgments on what they want to do with the money.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office said it was confident Texas would get the funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cTexas has a true partner in the White House that takes border security seriously,\u201d said Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for Abbott. \u201cWe will continue working with DHS and the DOJ to ensure Texas is fully reimbursed for holding the line against the Biden Administration\u2019s open border policies.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But the delay has nonetheless created an opening for Democrats who are hoping to capitalize on what many expect to be a difficult midterm for Republicans. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa has sought to make it an issue in her campaign against Abbott.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe people of Texas are realizing yet again they\u2019re being duped,\u201d state Rep. John Bucy III, a Central Texas Democrat, said about the delay. \u201cWhat it tells us is they\u2019re all about flash, but not about delivering. Maybe they prematurely celebrated. They should\u2019ve waited until we got the money.\u201d<\/p>\n