Texas Mission to Combat Illegal Immigration Reaches Major Milestone

Border wall in El Paso, TX.Photo byLevi Meir ClancyonUnsplash

In March of 2021, the Texas Military Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety launched a joint mission - titled Operation Lonestar - to combat illegal immigration. The stated purpose of the operation, per the original press release, was to deploy air, ground, naval and tactical forces to areas with a high volume of human and drug trafficking and stop their entry into the United States.

Less than two years later, the Governor's Office issued another press release this past week updating Texas residents on the mission's progress. To date, the operation has resulted in the apprehension of over 350,000 illegal immigrants, including 24,000 drug seizures and 22,000 felony charges. These figures do not include the countless charges brought about by jurisdictions during normal policing and refer only to the progress specific to Operation Lonestar.

Perhaps most notably, the release claims that the equivalent of 362 million lethal doses of fentanyl have also been seized during operations - more than one lethal dose for each citizen of the United States. In the below excerpt, the Governor's Office also made clear the state's opinion on current national policy:

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.

Polling shows that many Americans, and not just Texans, might agree with that statement. The plurality of those polled by Gallup stated that they felt the number of immigrants accepted by the U.S. should decrease, while 63% of respondents claimed they were either "somewhat" or "very" dissatisfied with the current immigration policies of the nation. 78% stated that illegal immigration was either an important or critical threat to the United States in the same polling.

Border view from El Paso.Photo byFran SozaonUnsplash

That said, the operation has not been without criticism, and on several fronts. Conditions, morale, and purpose among the soldiers dispatched to the border have been called into question on numerous occasions, and the initial involuntary activation of many troops was also criticized upon launch. Compounding matters, as many as one-in-five troops did not receive accurate pay during their deployment on the mission.

Operation Lonestar has faced some questions on the legal front, as well. Last year, it was determined that the Department of Justice was investigating the mission for civil rights violations, while some migrants who brought suit against the operation have won their legal battles in lower courts. It remains to be seen what impact, if any, those proceedings will have on the mission going forward.

Based on this week's press release, however, it doesn't appear that the Texas government will be letting up on its mission any time soon. Quotes in the press release from current border officials and security experts indicate that new technology is increasing the threat posed by cartels, traffickers, and others at the border.

Given the geography of Texas, the state constantly finds itself at the forefront of the nation's debate on immigration. Based on recent news, residents shouldn't expect that quality to change any time soon.