Texas runs along roughly 1,250 miles of the Mexican border, more than any other state. In January, a new governor will take command of the sprawling enforcement effort that guards it.
That governor, Democrat Gina Hinojosa, has not said whether Operation Lone Star will survive her arrival.
Hinojosa, a state representative from Austin, unseated three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday. She will become the first Democrat to hold the office since Ann Richards.
Abbott created Operation Lone Star in 2021, with Joe Biden in the White House.
Texas taxpayers have since poured more than $11 billion into it, and the program has made the state a leading partner in federal immigration enforcement.
The money has built Texas-owned stretches of border barrier and put more than 10,000 National Guard members on assignment.
Abbott’s administration also strung razor wire, sent state personnel to the line and bused migrants to Democratic-led cities across the country.
Hinojosa opposed the program from its start. She voted against its initial funding, and she has attacked Abbott’s management of it repeatedly since.
She has not promised to shut it down.
“As governor, I’ll put in the work to secure the border, not waste working Texans’ money on political theater,” Hinojosa said.
In a later interview, she declined to name a single border-security expense she would cut.
She pointed instead to what she described as billions spent prosecuting migrants for trespassing, while taxpayers also paid for their legal representation.
“Public safety shouldn’t be a political stunt,” Hinojosa said of her approach to the border.
“I will spend the money it takes to keep our community safe, not for political theater,” she added.
Some of her positions are firm. Hinojosa opposes new border-wall construction in the Big Bend region and argues that barriers there are unnecessary.
She has also sharply criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with Texas’ cooperation in certain federal immigration operations.
She previously accused Abbott of turning Texas into a “staging ground” for federal enforcement operations that she said harmed families and benefited political donors.
Her record includes praise for the opposing party’s president, too.
NewsNation reported that Hinojosa has acknowledged that Trump administration policies substantially reduced illegal crossings.
She specifically credited President Donald Trump for policies that contributed to the decline.
Crossings have dropped sharply under Trump. Under Biden, encounters repeatedly hit record levels, and Texas absorbed much of the pressure.
Hinojosa favors a different tool: coordination. She argues that working with Mexico and federal authorities can deliver better results than some of Abbott’s state-run enforcement.
She cites a past international bridge closure as her example. She contacted the Biden administration, and federal officials then negotiated with Mexico.
Abbott dramatically outspent her during the campaign.
Hinojosa ran heavily on affordability, public education and opposition to what she characterized as excessive corporate influence in state government.
She has proposed drawing on the state’s large budget reserves to send households one-time $1,500 payments. She is also pushing for Medicaid expansion.
Republicans still control the Texas Senate, which means any change to border appropriations will require negotiation with GOP lawmakers.
Hinojosa takes office in January. She has not announced which parts of Operation Lone Star she will keep, change or end.
