CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Congressman Vicente Gonzalez announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is awarding the State of Texas over $37 million to increase security along the border.
Dist. 34, which includes Kleberg County will receive $11 million for the 2023 fiscal year.
The funding is part of Operation Stonegarden, a mission to protect border states and their territories by increasing collaboration with local, state and federal agencies, such as the United States Border Patrol.
Stonegarden is considered a federal grant program administered by the FEMA.
Agencies must apply for a grant to receive the funding. Of the $11 million coming into the states 34th district, Kleberg County will receive $600,000 to better equip the county's efforts in border protection. Kleberg County Sheriff Richard Kirkpatrick said the funds will benefit multiple Kleberg County agencies, such as the Kingsville Police Department, sheriff's department and the Kleberg County Narcotics Task Force.
"When the grant gets awarded, the money is split amongst those agencies for various equipment such as police vehicles, cars, radio communications equipment that sort of thing," he said.
In some cases, the money can also go toward overtime pay for any officer or individual involved in border security efforts. Kirkpatrick said that there is a long application process that comes before receiving any grant money from Operation Stonegarden, but it's something the county has no problem applying for because of the importance of giving each Kleberg County what they need to best protect the area.
"You know, it's one of those things that we desperately need. It takes a lot of money to run these operations and these types of things. Again, you know, any type of assistance that we can use is always, always welcome," he said.
Kirkpatrick said that the county has been able to use Operation Stonegarden's funds before and is grateful for Gonzalez's continued efforts in advocating for the county to receive the help that they need.
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