Hidalgo County approves application for Operation Lone Star grant despite public opposition

Hidalgo County Commissioners Court voted March 18 to authorize submission of an application for fiscal year 2026 Operation Lone Star grant funds from the Office of the Governor, Homeland Security Division, and to designate County Judge Richard F. Cortez as the grantee’s authorized official.

The decision came after more than a dozen members of local advocacy groups urged the court not to accept Operation Lone Star money, saying the state program has militarized the border and diverted resources from infrastructure and social services. Opponents urged the court to seek alternative funding for colonia infrastructure and other local priorities.

The county’s emergency-management director, Belinda Alvarez, presented the item to the court, telling commissioners the application and related resolutions are standard grant-administration steps for the period of Sept. 1, 2025, through Aug. 31, 2026. “This is for emergency management, not for the sheriff’s department,” a commenter pointed out during discussion; Alvarez and staff framed the request as an emergency-management funding action.

Organizers with La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) and allied groups spoke during the public forum. Joaquin Garcia, director of organizing for LUPE, asked the court to reconsider taking the funds and argued Operation Lone Star has been an expensive, ineffective policy. “This operation… has wasted more than $11,000,000,000 in the past 3 years,” Garcia said. Tania Chavez, LUPE’s president and executive director, told the court the program “does not work” and estimated the program’s cost at ‘‘$25,000,000 each week’’ during her remarks. Michael Mireles, also with LUPE, said approving the application would signal agreement with the state’s emergency declaration and could lead to stricter local obligations with state and federal enforcement partners.

Supporters of applying said the grant would be used by the county’s emergency-management office for response and preparedness activities. Belinda Alvarez handled the presentation and asked the court to approve the application and related authorizations. The court approved the application and then approved two related resolutions: one designating County Judge Richard F. Cortez as the authorized official to sign required documents and another authorizing the county judge to e-sign the application in eGrants.

Motions to approve the application and the accompanying resolutions were moved and seconded; the court recorded the motions as carried. The meeting transcript records the motions as approved by voice vote.

The approval drew immediate public reaction: speakers from LUPE, ARISE and other neighborhood groups said county resources should prioritize colonia infrastructure such as lighting, roads and parks rather than a state border operation. County staff and some commissioners responded that the application pertains to the emergency-management office and that accepting the application does not by itself commit the county to law-enforcement deployments.

For now, the county has authorized submission of the Operation Lone Star application and empowered the county judge to sign the application and related grant documents. The transcript shows staff said further actions tied to any awarded funds would follow standard grant acceptance and appropriation procedures.