Gov. Greg Abbott on the border, school vouchers and betting in Texas

AUSTIN - Texas Governor Greg Abbott joined FOX reporters Steven Dial, Greg Groogan and Rudy Koski to talk about several issues that are top of mind for Texans, including border security, school vouchers, tariffs and legalizing online betting.

Gov. Abbott on the Border

This week, Texas and Customs and Border Protection reached a deal to allow Texas National Guard members to make immigration arrests.

Under the deal, Texas National Guard troops would be able to arrest people in the country illegally as long as there is an U.S. immigration officer or Border Patrol agent present.

Abbott met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday where the two discussed a number of topics, including the border wall, Texas offering land in Starr County for deportation facilities and an offer to use 4,000 state prison cells across the state to house people arrested during immigration efforts.

The governor said he also discussed his request for more than $11 billion from the federal government to reimburse Texas for its efforts to secure the border.

What they're saying:

Greg Groogan, FOX 26 Houston: "Why was the memoradum of understanding allowing the Texas Guard to make arrests of illegal immigrants on the border necessary?"

Gov. Abbott: "It was necessary because of the unprecedented number of illegal immigrants to cross the border. 11 million [illegal border crossings] in 4 years. There's nothing in the history of the United States of America that even approaches that. But, even worse than that, it's not just 11 million people. A large volume of those people are criminals, known terrorists, people who pose an existential threat to the safety and the future of Texas and the United States. We as a country and we as a state have to step up and do everything we can. Two-thirds of the border between the United States and Mexico is Texas, and so Texas is ground zero for this. The Trump administration is shorthanded as it concerns ICE agents, Border Patrol agents and other personnel. This is needed to be able to arrest and detain and deport these people who are crossing the border illegally. This is a force multiplier for the Trump administration to make sure we're going to do a lot more effective job at denying illegal entry and deporting those who do come across illegally."

Steven Dial, FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth: "DPS told me last month that illegal border crossings are down 80% compared to this time last year. You've said before in a gaggle that you would consider scaling back if the administration changed with the new focus on the border. Why are things ramping up instead of scaling back if the situation is getting better?"

Gov. Abbott: "They will be deploying more military through the National Guard. They will be working with Congress to get a budget passed that will provide more ICE agents, more Border Patrol agents. Those two areas, Border Patrol and ICE, they were decimated under the Biden administration. So, while we're waiting for Congress to pass budgets that will provide the funding for the Trump administration, Texas is a gap filler for the Trump administration at this time."

Groogan: "Governor, you've asked the president to reimburse Texas $11 billion for border security expenses. Did you read his book The Art of the Deal first before you made that ask?" 

Gov. Abbott: "I did not. But listen, this is something that the Trump administration has been talking about before, about helping to reimburse the state of Texas. Something that the Texas congressional delegation is all in. I'm going to be going back to Washington, D.C. next week to work with the Texas congressional delegation and also meet with some other members of Congress that are key in the budget writing process to make sure that we're going to be on a pathway where we will be able to get a reimbursement."

Gov. Abbott on Tariffs 

Soon after taking office again, Trump ordered tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

An agreement was made at the last minute to put a month-long pause on the tariffs for each country.

For Mexico, the deal included sending 10,000 troops to the border to help against immigration and to prevent fentanyl from entering the U.S.

The first of those troops made their way to the border this week.

What they're saying:

Rudy Koski, FOX 7 Austin: "President Trump is somewhat of a Teddy Roosevelt ‘big stick’ diplomat. He loves to basically say, 'I'm going to do this if you don't do this.' The tariffs scare a lot of people, especially with our trade with Mexico. Have you spoken to him and do you support how he is doing that?"

Gov. Abbott: "In our conversations, we have not talked about tariffs, but the way that I saw them happen in his first term as president is the same as what happened this past week. He imposed a tariff on Mexico and Canada. Before they went into effect, Mexico and Canada talked to the parent to address the concerns of the President."

Koski: "You have used that big stick too."

Gov. Greg Abbott: "It is important to use all tools that are available to you to achieve the goals that you're trying to achieve. For Trump, this has repeatedly worked out, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same remains true here with one change, that is what Trump wanted to achieve certain outcomes to make our border more secure or to reduce fentanyl coming into the United States. That happens with Canada and Mexico. His goal with regard to China may be different. I couldn't tell you exactly what he's trying to achieve there. I think we kind of have a feel, but tariffs are a tool to achieve certain goals for President Trump."

Gov. Abbott on School Vouchers Bill, Teacher Pay Raises

Abbott has long been a proponent of school choice and school vouchers.

During the last session, a bill made it through the Senate before being held up in the House after rural republicans joined forces with the Democrats.

Abbott found primary challengers for those Republicans and now believes he has the votes to get it passed.

On Wednesday, the Senate went late into the night to pass Senate Bill 2 which would provide $1 billion to fund the program. The bill now heads to the House.

What they're saying:

Steven Dial: "The focus (for Education Savings Accounts) is to have 80% for low income and special needs families. That poverty cap is about $160,000. Do you think some truly lower income kids will get left in the gaps because that gap is so high?"

Gov. Abbott: "Not at all. This is a very important point about all this, because the Democrats who are opposing this say this is a giveaway to millionaires, people who can afford to send their children to private schools. Instead, 80% of this is going to people who cannot afford some of those private schools. And what it provides, as you pointed out, is that 80% of these funds will go to people who fall into the category of five times the poverty level or less. That should make up about 80% of all the students receiving the school choice option. This provides, whether you're at 1%, 2%, 50%, whatever the case may be, of the poverty level, you're going to now have a chance to be on the same level as a wealthy person and be able to choose the school that's best for your child."

Greg Groogan: "Is the teacher pay raise a 100% factor this session?"

Gov. Abbott: "I don't know what you mean by 100% factor. I did make it an emergency item. I laid out three pillars to make sure that we are putting our kids on a pathway to rank number one in the United States for education. One is we must attract and retain and pay the best teachers. The other is academic excellence and the other is parental empowerment. Some people think, well, we can pick and choose one or the other of all those. If we do one or two, we're really not helping our kids. We need all three of those elements to ensure that Texas children truly will be on a pathway to the best education."

Gov. Abbott on Expanding Medicaid

What they're saying:

Rudy Koski: "If we're trying to help low income families by spending $1 billion, why not go ahead and expand Medicaid? It's going to cost less than what we're spending for Senate Bill 2."

Gov. Abbott: "If you expand Medicaid, what you get yourself into is a spending loop that will spiral out of control."

Koski: "It hasn't yet with a lot of the other states that have done it."

Gov. Abbott:  "If we opt in to Medicaid expansion, we will be stuck in there forever. If we ever said, well, we're going to ratchet it back, they can cut us off completely of Medicaid. The one way we can control our budget is making sure that we will not lose control of it by getting stuck into a federal government program that will cost taxpayers more and more. That said, we are seeing hints of reforms through DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] that are looking at Medicare and Medicaid that may make it a more responsible, more effective, more efficient government agency if they're able to make that more efficient and put controls on it. It could be something that we take a look at." 

Gov. Abbott on Sports Betting in Texas

Abbott appears to be having a change of heart about sports betting and casinos.

Legalizing gambling in the state would require a constitutional amendment which would require a two-thirds vote in each chamber before the people could vote on it.

What they're saying:

Rudy Koski: "You mentioned in a previous interview that you're in favor of online betting. The Texas GOP wants to get rid of the state lottery. How does that reconcile?"

Gov. Abbott: "First, to be clear about something, that is what I believe about online gaming. That would expand gaming in the state of Texas. It requires a constitutional limit. What I'm in favor of is giving it to the voters and let the voters decide."

Steven Dial: "Do you think voters should decide on something like casinos as well?"

Gov. Abbott: "I want to make sure that every mom and pop or grandma or somebody who doesn't have a lot of income is not able to go down to a local 7-Eleven or convenience store and lose money. They need to be spending on food or clothing or other items like that. So we need to make sure that if there is anything like this that happens, that expands gaming, that we're not leading people down to a pathway of poverty. So there needs to be some guardrails put on it, even if it is presented to the voters."

Quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity.

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