MARFA — On Tuesday morning, the Presidio County Commissioners Court voted to approve an application for state funding via Operation Lone Star that would provide new fleet vehicles and upgrades for the sheriff’s office, to the tune of $760,809. The agency will set aside a chunk of that funding to purchase two single-wide trailers for deputy housing, in a bid to boost applications for open positions on the force. “We’re having a hard time recruiting deputies,” explained Chief Deputy Joel Nuñez.
Law enforcement entities in the Big Bend have long struggled with recruitment and retention, and the Presidio County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) is no exception. With average home prices on the market hovering around half a million dollars in Marfa, attracting talent on a county salary can be tough. Existing department staff saw a boost in 2023, when SB 22, a bill passed during the last legislative session, gave Sheriff Danny Dominguez a substantial raise and nearly tripled humble constable salaries — but there’s still room to build out incentives for potential employees.
The PCSO believes that providing housing is a major step in the right direction. Nuñez said that Solitaire, a Presidio-based maquiladora that manufactures homes in Ojinaga and ships them all over the region, offered “a really good discount” to get the project up and running. Commissioners supported the idea and discussed potential locations for the deputy housing on county-owned land — near the rodeo arena in Antelope Hills seemed like a promising location, but the final plans have yet to be set in stone.
The PCSO has received funding off and on from Operation Lone Star since the program’s inception in 2021. After witnessing record highs of migrant apprehensions in late 2020 and early 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott set aside state funding to help supplement the cost of law enforcement and court proceedings in border counties. Most law enforcement entities in the Big Bend have benefitted from the funding, with the exception of school law enforcement, which is excluded from the program.
Applying for Operation Lone Star funds requires an extensive reporting process. Counties hoping to receive money from the program must also pass a “disaster declaration” about the state of the border, following procedures similar to when counties solicit help from the state from natural disasters or public health crises. The state’s own declaration stresses that “the surge of individuals unlawfully crossing the Texas-Mexico border pose[s] an ongoing and imminent threat of disaster for a number of Texas counties and for all state agencies affected by this disaster.”
In July 2022, then County Judge Cinderela Guevara first issued a disaster declaration for Presidio County that included language about an “invasion” of migrants — a term that has drawn ire from advocacy groups, who believe that militarized border rhetoric has sparked hate crimes like the 2019 Walmart shooting in El Paso, committed by a person radicalized by the thought of a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” (The new document does not include this language and instead refers to “unprecedented levels of illegal migration.”)
Presidio County will likely continue to benefit from the program in the years to come. Operation Lone Star has been making national headlines this month as the state seeks reimbursement for the $11 billion spent on the program since 2021. Supporters argue that that spending was only necessary because the Biden administration did not adequately address immigration issues. “It is time Texans are repaid for footing the bill for Biden’s failures at the border,” wrote Congressman Roger Williams, who filed a bill on the subject on Tuesday.