Abbott has renewed his border disaster declaration at least 69 times, including 21 under Trump, as crossings fall

Gov. Greg Abbott renewed his border security disaster proclamation again last month, saying illegal crossings at the Texas-Mexico border "posed an ongoing and imminent threat" to the state, even as the Trump administration says crossings have dropped to historic lows, according to a ProPublica and Texas Tribune report published Thursday.

Abbott first issued the declaration in 2021, early in President Joe Biden's term, when monthly Border Patrol apprehensions on the southwest border topped 180,000. Apprehensions this year have averaged about 8,000 a month. The report counts at least 69 renewals or amendments since then, including 21 after President Donald Trump returned to office. It is his longest continuously running emergency declaration.

What the declaration allows

Disaster declarations let a Texas governor move money between agencies, suspend regulations and award contracts without competitive bidding. Since January 2025, two agencies central to border enforcement, the Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department, have handed out over $5 million in no-bid contracts citing the emergency, the report says. The purchases range from apartments and rifles to a Ford F-150 pickup.

One was a contract of more than $2 million with Texas-based CTC Gunworks for rifles and pistols.

A DPS spokesperson said the agency sticks to best practices even when the declaration allows faster buying, and that the purchases in question ran through existing state contracts.

Lawmakers from both parties filed bills last year that would have required legislative approval to extend a disaster declaration. None passed.

The two sides

Abbott's office did not answer specific questions for the story. Deputy Press Secretary Madeline Waschak said in a statement that the damage from "four years of failed border policies under Democrat rule did not disappear overnight" and that the governor would keep the tools in place while working with the Trump administration.

At an early October news conference, Abbott said the border must be secured "forever," not just for the rest of Trump's term.

State Rep. Mary González, an El Paso Democrat who is vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said border money held by the governor's office "has no checks and balances," and that interest exists in both parties to keep scaling back border spending next session.

University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus said even backers of Abbott's border policies might ask how they would feel about a governor from the other party leaning on emergency powers the same way for years.

Sources

The Texas Tribune