HARLINGEN, Texas (Border Report) — The State of Texas is putting a pause on new border wall projects but will complete the ones that have already started as it hopes for reimbursement from the federal government for border security costs.

During a meeting on Wednesday in Austin, the Texas Facilities Commission, which oversees contracts and construction of the state-built border wall, indicated that it was approaching a cap in funding and border miles.

“Two-point-five billion dollars is our wall. That’s the cap that we can spend,” TFC Executive Director Mike Novak told commissioners Wednesday.

That is money previously approved by the Texas Legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, and that should run out once they build out 83 miles of border barrier, likely sometime next summer.

“Wall mileage beyond the 83 miles will depend on pending policy decisions,” Novak said.

Part of those decisions revolve around requests by Texas to the Trump administration for federal reimbursement for money the state has spent on the Operation Lone Star border security initiative.

Reimbursement funds have been proposed as part of President Trump’s budget bill that is pending in Congress. Texas is listed among other states that would receive money, if approved.

Since 2021, Texas has spent over $11 billion on Operation Lone Star, which includes building border wall along the state’s 1,200-mile-long border with Mexico.

The state has built 66.4 miles of border wall so far, and Novak says there are “major construction activities occurring simultaneously at 15 different locations in 6 border counties: Cameron, Starr, Zapata, Webb, Maverick and Val Verde.”

Border Report asked Abbott’s office whether Texas will continue to build border wall. In a statement, spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said: “Thanks to President Trump’s bold leadership, the federal government is finally fulfilling its obligation to secure the southern border and deport criminal illegal immigrants. Because of these renewed federal assets in Texas, our state can now adjust aspects of state-funded border security efforts. Specialized units within the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Military Department will carry on their missions both at the border and throughout Texas. Thanks to the Trump Administration’s border security efforts, total border security posture will remain at similar levels. Texas will continue to maintain a robust presence with our federal partners to arrest, jail, and deport illegal immigrants.”

A state official told Border Report that wall construction continues on all active contracts but at this time no new projects will begin.

The vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee, state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, told Border Report that although no new border wall money was appropriated this past legislative session, he said there still are existing funds from previous budgets to complete wall segments.

Before the legislative session ended, lawmakers approved over $3 billion dollars more for border security that the state can use as needed for border security, he said.

TFC Chairman Brian Bailey told commissioners: “There’ll be a lot of things happening in next six months as we complete the wall that we’ve been paid to complete.”

The wall segments that the state has built are not connected and in some cases are separated by hundreds of miles. The border barrier is built from the same design as the federal government’s wall pattern and the State of Texas even purchased border bollards from the federal government during the Biden administration.

Abbott has said the state’s wall is to help fill in the gaps of the federal border wall.

During Trump’s first term his administration constructed about 450 miles of new border wall across the Southwest border, including Texas.

On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that she had waived environmental regulations in order for her agency to build 17 miles of new border wall in the Rio Grande Valley. This is the fifth waiver she has signed to expedite border wall construction.

DHS also announced they had awarded a contract to build about 27 miles of new border wall in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, outside Tucson.

The $309.4 million contract was awarded to Fisher Sand & Gravel Company, the same builder who constructed a private border wall in Mission, Texas, in 2019, and also has the highest-paying border wall contract issued to date, exceeding $1 billion for a segment out West.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.