Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initiated a program on Thursday to compensate landowners along the Texas-Mexico border for damages to their property that may have been the result of illegal border crossers, smugglers, and drug traffickers.
The Landowner Compensation Program for Texans will reimburse property owners on agriculture land up to $75,000 for repairs not covered by other sources and caused by trespassers in connection with border crime.
"Illegal aliens crossing the Texas-Mexico border at Joe Biden's invitation leave behind a trail of destruction that harms Texas agricultural land," said Attorney General Ken Paxton in an official statement. "This program will provide needed relief to Texans whose property is damaged by foreign aliens waved into the country by the federal government. I am glad to help the farmers and ranchers on our borderlands who bear the costs of Biden's destructive policies."
According to Paxton's office, Texas taxpayers pay over $850 million a year on various services to deal with illegal immigration. That figure does not include suspected property damage to those living near the border.
Texas has been front and center for the illegal immigration debate with Paxton making multiple moves to give the state some autonomy in dealing with the massive influx of migrants. The controversial Senate Bill 4 was initially blocked by a federal judge in February. While the state appealed that decision, the Supreme Court allowed Texas to enforce the law briefly before an appeals court put it back on hold mere hours later. The bill allows Texas police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border.