LINCOLN- Two border deployments ordered by Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen have cost a combined $1.27 million. The state says it paid most of this using interest from the second wave of the federal pandemic relief funds set aside for rental assistance, and taxpayers paid the remaining cost, over $70,000. The cost was requested by the media a year after he spent almost $1 million in pandemic-related funds and general funds on similar deployments.

Some lawmakers, namely State Senators Carol Blood of Bellevue and Megan Hunt of Omaha, are disgruntled with the decision and have stated the funds should have gone to more pressing, in-state issues. "This spending is political and partisan," Hunt said. Many have been vocal in their criticism of Pillen's spending, but others are rallying behind his decision.

Pillen has previously declined to answer questions about the cost-effectiveness of his decision but has stated that his efforts do help reduce the number of people and substances being illegally trafficked across the southern border. All of Nebraska's congressional delegation has emphasized the importance of border security as a top issue for voters. Immigrant advocacy groups are concerned about the possible fearmongering that this spending could result in.

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