Border security funds await Border Council report

Since the October hearings, some local officials say they have been forced to put border operations on hold while they wait for the state to act. Cmdr. Claudio "Tony" Morales with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said his agency is waiting for additional state funding to continue its border programs. He said his department does not have the money to participate in multiagency border security initiatives, and that could mean more crime in the El Paso area.

Castle said the governor's Homeland Security Department has only spent a few million dollars of the money appropriated by the legislature, mostly to fund Operation Border Star, a cooperative program by federal, state and local agencies to battle criminal activity along the border.

She said the Governor's Office did recently change from a policy of reimbursing border law enforcement agencies for overtime spent on border security to allowing them to apply for grant money in advance so they could budget for those activities.

Donald Reay with the Texas Border Sheriffs' Coalition said while some agencies have maintained border security patrols with federal grants, others have had to cut back on overtime pay for officers working the border beat. He said it is crucial for the state to issue the money as soon as possible.