With an international border that stretches nearly 1,240 miles and over 350 miles of coastline, Texas needs to lead the charge for border security. With this in mind, the legislature increased the funding last session for border security by $108.1 million. This additional money will help make sure Texas law enforcement agencies are properly staffed, trained and equipped to detect and deter threats before they affect our citizens.

The increased funding will greatly aid municipalities in their border security operations, provide the means to hire more Department of Public Safety officers and provide additional aviation support for our border's security. More training and equipment has allowed multiple law enforcement organizations including local, state and federal agencies to work more effectively toward shutting down our borders to illegal drug trade and illegal immigrants.

A perfect example of this coordinated effort is occurring in Zapata County. Zapata County contains Falcon Lake which extends 20 miles along the Rio Grande River, is three miles wide in some spots and totals 87,000 surface acres. Texas Parks and Wildlife is working with the Zapata County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, U.S. Border Patrol Agents, U.S. Coast Guard, and Texas Rangers to shut down the lake as an avenue for illegal drugs and illegal immigrants to come into our country.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) game wardens are well known for enforcing hunting and fishing laws, but they have now become an integral part in the fight to secure our borders from criminal elements. Last session $4.2 million was appropriated to the Law Enforcement Division at TPWD and that money is being used to put more wardens along the border and to provide them with equipment they need to assist with securing our border.

With coordination between all of these agencies, massive amounts of illegal contraband and many illegal immigrants have been captured before making it into the country. Through a series of joint operations, criminal activity along the border has been reduced by between 25 and 85 percent. These are results that we can be proud of and build upon.

Mike Jackson serves as Chairman of the Senate Nominations Committee and is a member of the Senate State Affairs, Government Organization and Natural Resources Committees and the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Coastal Resources. He represents Texans in portions of Harris, Galveston and Brazoria Counties.