Bill tripling Texas’ border security budget and allocating $750 million to wall construction...

(09 17 21) Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a nearly $2 billion border security funding bill that will almost triple the amount the state spends on border defense in the next two-year budget cycle.

About $750 million of the bill will go toward the construction of the planned “border barrier.” Abbott’s office has said it identified 733 miles of border that may need some type of barrier.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have encountered more than 1.4 million immigrants at the Mexican border this year, including more than 212,000 in July — the most immigrants encountered in a single month in 20 years. The number of repeat crossers officials encountered was as high as 34% in June.