Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday praised a joint operation between state and federal authorities to secure the southern border, saying the collaboration has led to large seizures of drugs and criminal arrests and the busing of migrants to Democratic cities.
Operation Lone Star was launched as a border security initiative in March 2021 in response to an increase in illegal border crossings through Texas and President Joe Biden's immigration policies. The measure deployed troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard members to the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration's refusal to secure the border," a news release issued by Abbott's office said. "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."
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Since operations began, there have been 308,700 migrant apprehensions and more than 20,200 criminal arrests, with more than 17,900 felony charges being levied, Abbott said in the news release.
In addition, troopers have seized more than 336 million doses of fentanyl, which has become more common along the border as Mexican drug cartels have become more committed to smuggling the synthetic opioid into the United States.
Texas has also bused more than 8,100 migrants to Washington, D.C., since April, over 2,900 to New York City since Aug. 5 and more than 870 migrants to Chicago since Aug. 31, Abbott said. The Republican governor has characterized the transportation of migrants to Democratic-led cities as a necessity to relieve overwhelmed border communities.
Most recently, investigators with Operation Lone Star caught several illegal immigrants boarding a small plane bound for Houston and found a kidnapped migrant baby who was being held for ransom.
