law in Texas that would allow local law enforcement to ask lawfully-stopped individuals about their immigration status and would make it a state misdemeanor to be present in Texas as an illegal immigrant. As Lieutenant Governor, Patrick moved to keep National Guard troops sent to the Texas-Mexico border during the illegal immigration surge of 2014 indefinitely, rather than until March 2015, as originally planned. Patrick's 2015 budget in the Texas Senate called for spending $815 million on border security, which he said was more than the previous seven years combined. Governor Greg Abbott signed the measure—for about $800 million—into law. In a June 2018 interview on Fox Business Network, Patrick estimated that 30 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. LGBT rights In 2014, after a federal court ruled that Texas' ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, Patrick expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage, and vowed to fight such court decisions should he be elected to the Lt. Governor's office. He argued that if the state ban was removed, then it would lead to the legalization of bigamy, pedophilia and incest. Patrick strongly opposed HERO, an unsuccessful Houston ordinance intended to establish legal protections for gay and transgender residents along with some other classes, as he claimed that the ordinance would lead to sexual predators being freely able to enter women's restrooms. He has stated that if necessary, he would support legislation to require people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender listed on their birth certificates. Hours after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Patrick tweeted a picture of the Bible verse, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7." An adviser released a statement that the tweet had been pre-scheduled, and it was later deleted. He issued a statement on the incident, again stating that the tweet was pre-planned and that "I didn't pull down the FB post & tweet because God's word is wrong. His word is never wrong ... I took it down to stop the hateful comments and the misinformation being spread of God's message to all of us- straight or gay." In May 2016, Patrick criticized the Obama administration after it released a directive stating that all public schools must allow transgender students to use the bathroom and locker facilities that correspond with their identified gender, stating that, on the prospect of the federal government