Last Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference in Eagle Pass, the border town he has turned into a militarized staging ground for his standoff with the feds. It was his third such press conference in as many weeks. Flanked by his appointed border czar and the adjutant general of the Texas National Guard, Abbott announced that he is building a sprawling 80-acre base camp that would allow the state to permanently “amass a large army in a strategic area.”
The base camp is already under construction, he said, and when complete will house 1,800 soldiers—with the ability to expand to 2,300 if such a surge is needed. Abbott did not provide specifics about the cost of the massive military installation, saying it would be “minimal” and that it would save money in the long run by lowering other temporary lodging expenses.
That “minimal” cost is, however, a large one. The Texas Military Department will pay a state contractor $171 million to build and operate the base camp over the next nine months, according to purchase order records reviewed by the Texas Observer. That figure includes over $30 million to “mobilize” the camp and $14.5 million in monthly operating expenses.
