# Plain Language Summary: Lone Star Reimbursement Act

This bill would pay Texas $4.4 billion in federal money to reimburse the state for costs it spent running "Operation Lone Star" during 2022 and 2023. Operation Lone Star is a state-led border security initiative where Texas deployed National Guard troops and state law enforcement to the Texas-Mexico border. The bill would take $2.2 billion from the Department of Defense budget and another $2.2 billion from the Department of Homeland Security budget to send to Texas as reimbursement for what the state already spent on this operation.

The bill includes findings that highlight what Operation Lone Star accomplished, according to its supporters. These include over 348,000 apprehensions of people crossing the border illegally, more than 24,000 criminal arrests (with over 22,000 felony charges), and the seizure of over 361 million lethal doses of fentanyl. Congress's stated position in the bill is that Operation Lone Star has been effective at addressing illegal immigration and border security.

In practical terms, this is essentially Texas asking the federal government to pay back money the state spent on border enforcement activities. If passed, it would redirect billions of dollars that were already budgeted for the Defense and Homeland Security departments toward reimbursing Texas instead. Supporters argue this is fair since border security is traditionally a federal responsibility, while critics might question whether this is the best use of federal defense and security funding or whether it sets a precedent for states to expect federal reimbursement for other law enforcement activities.

Lone Star Reimbursement Act

Lone Star Reimbursement Act This bill requires the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to each provide $2.2 billion to the state of Texas as reimbursement for the costs of Operation Lone Star incurred in FY2022 and FY2023. (Operation Lone Star is a border security operation initiated and carried out by the state of Texas.)