Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the Texas governor’s race Tuesday. She has not said whether she will keep Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, which she has been a critic of.
The border security program has seen Texas create its own border wall with Mexico and has sent more than 10,000 members of the National Guard to assist with security. It has cost Texas more than $11 billion since its launch in 2021, two months into former President Joe Biden’s term, according to Nexstar’s Border Report.
Abbott conceded Tuesday night after calling to congratulate Hinojosa. Border counties that moved strongly to Trump in 2024 made up a large majority of the votes that swung Texas toward Democrats this year.
What has Gina Hinojosa said about Texas’ Operation Lone Star?
Hinojosa voted against the first round of appropriations for Operation Lone Star and has criticized Abbott for wasting taxpayer money to “grandstand” with it, according to Border Report, though she has not laid out an exact plan for its future.
“As governor, I’ll put in the work to secure the border, not waste working Texans’ money on political theater,” she said in a news release.
What has Hinojosa said about immigration?
She’s been clearest on her stance on the border wall plan for the Big Bend region, calling it unnecessary at a campaign stop in Presidio. Construction for the federal project is currently tied up in the courts.
Hinojosa has praised President Donald Trump for his immigration policy slowing illegal border crossings, while also criticizing ICE.
“Texas is the only state to detain little children and their parents because Greg Abbott made it happen,” she said in a release. “Now we’re seeing the deadly consequences of Abbott’s corruption: American citizens killed by federal agents, law-abiding immigrants flown to Texas in violation of court orders, and children fed contaminated food in facilities that exist because Abbott chose profits over people. As governor, I will never offer up Texas as a staging ground for operations that terrorize families and enrich his donors.”
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What Texas’ next governor has said about the border, illegal crossings