WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded $711,415 in federal grant funding to the Kaufman County Courthouse for the hiring of prosecutors to investigate and combat fraud, drug and human trafficking, and other crimes committed by illegal aliens. The funding comes from the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) FY 2026 Special Attorneys Program and was made possible by Sen. Cornyn’s Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide (BIDEN) Program. The BIDEN Program was authorized through a provision led by Sen. Cornyn as part of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which also included a total of $13.5 billion in funding to reimburse states like Texas for stepping up during the Biden administration to try and secure the border.

“Texas taxpayers deserve to be made whole for the costs incurred while protecting and defending the southern border when Joe Biden abdicated his federal responsibility and failed to do so,” said Sen. Cornyn. “I’m glad to see the DOJ award Kaufman County this funding that was made possible through the BIDEN Program I created, which will help law enforcement prosecute criminal illegal aliens who never should have been allowed in our country in the first place.”

Background:

Senator Cornyn has led the fight in Washington to secure federal reimbursement for Texas and eligible states by:

• Swiftly backing Governor Abbott’s request for Texas to be reimbursed for the taxpayer dollars spent on Operation Lone Star;
• Calling attention to the ongoing reimbursement effort on the Senate floor;
• Meeting with Governor Abbott and members of the Texas congressional delegation to discuss the legislative strategy for the reimbursement push;
• Holding ongoing meetings and phone calls with Governor Abbott, Senate and House leadership, and congressional colleagues regarding the effort;
• Leading legislation in the Senate to set aside $13.5 billion in funds to reimburse states for costs they were forced to incur to secure the border as a result of the Biden administration’s disastrous immigration policies;
• And leading a letter with members of the Texas congressional delegation to the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) urging them to prioritize the release of funds set aside in the One Big Beautiful Bill to reimburse the State of Texas for the more than $11 billion spent on border security efforts.

More information on the Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide (BIDEN) Program can be found here. Sen. Cornyn secured $13.5 billion in funding as part of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act to reimburse states like Texas for stepping up during the Biden administration to try and secure the border. The Department of Justice is overseeing the $3.5 billion portion of the expected border reimbursement funding, and the Department of Homeland Security is overseeing the remaining $10 billion portion of the border reimbursement funding, both of which opened for applications in June.