Austin – Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard are continuing to work together to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas; and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal behavior between ports of entry.
Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 336,000 migrant apprehensions and more than 23,000 criminal arrests, with more than 20,000 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 354 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.
Texas has also bused more than 8,700 migrants to our nation’s capital since April, over 4,500 migrants to New York City since August 5, more than 1,500 migrants to Chicago since August 31, and more than 520 migrants to Philadelphia since November 15.
Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden’s open border policies.
As directed by Governor Abbott last month, the Texas National Guard is deploying all available resources and strategies to deter the record influx of illegal immigration. More than 400 soldiers have been mobilized at the El Paso border crossing to prevent illegal immigrants from entering our country. The Texas National Guard also deployed equipment such as armored vehicles and concertina wire to establish a military presence, repel illegal immigrants, and secure the border.
“We’re putting the wire out as a barrier to drive the deterrence message home,” said Major General Win Burkett, Operation Lone Star director of operations. “You cannot just cross anywhere you want. We’re focused on deterrence, on demonstrating that we can be where we need to be anywhere on this border. We can surge in a very short amount of time.”
