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 314,000 migrant apprehensions and more than 20,800 criminal arrests, with more than 18,400 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 337 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.
Texas has also bused over 8,200 migrants to our nation’s capital since April, over 3,300 migrants to New York City since August 5, and more than 1,000 migrants to Chicago since August 31. The busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities.
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.
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM OPERATION LONE STAR:
WATCH: Governor Abbott Discusses Dangers Of President’s Open Border Policies
Governor Abbott joined Fox News’ Jesse Watters this week to discuss the transnational criminal activity and increasing threats coming across the Texas-Mexico border. Because President Biden continues to turn a blind eye to the crisis at the border, in the past year an all-time record has been set with more than 2.2 million people crossing the border illegally. Many are victims of human trafficking or have lost their lives traveling to the border and attempting to cross.
“The United Nations declared the border between the United States and Mexico—Biden’s border—the most dangerous crossing in the entire world,” said Governor Abbott. “If the Biden Administration did what I just did a few weeks ago, declaring the cartels as terrorist organizations, it would trigger a federal law that would allow him to go into [the cartels’] bank accounts and get those billions of dollars the cartels are making off this crisis.”
WATCH: Lt. Olivarez Describes Local Officials’ Growing Calls For Border Security
DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez joined Fox News this week to highlight the urgent need for the Biden Administration to step up and address the ongoing border crisis. Because residents along the southern border have been abandoned by federal authorities, Texas has filled in the dangerous gaps left by President Biden’s failure on border security. DPS expects to continue seeing mass migration along the southern border until the Biden Administration acknowledges and addresses the rampant crisis.
“We’ve reached a breaking point with this current border crisis, and quite frankly, we reached it last year,” said Lt. Olivarez. “It’s unacceptable how long this has been going on. We’re still continuing to see large groups come across and more human smuggling events. The federal government has completely neglected the American people and the people who reside in these border communities.”
Texas National Guard Apprehend 717 Illegal Immigrants In 24 Hours
Texas National Guard soldiers assisted with the apprehension of 717 illegal immigrants crossing the Rio Grande River on October 4. Soldiers stationed at the international bridge in Eagle Pass communicated with Border Patrol agents to determine the location of illegal immigrant attempts to cross into Texas and were able to stop the large group before it entered Texas.
The group of illegal immigrants was turned over to Border Patrol for transportation and processing.
WATCH: Lt. Olivarez Discusses Aggressive Mexican Cartel Recruitment Methods
DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez spoke with Fox News about the increasingly dangerous situation along the southern border created by cartels taking advantage of President Biden’s open border policies. Since last year, transnational criminal organizations have expanded and are now using sophisticated, direct social media messaging to recruit young drivers from around the state—including large metropolitan areas like Dallas, Austin, and Houston—for their smuggling operations.
“We’re seeing tragic events play out across the southern border, and it’s because these transnational criminal organizations that are recruiting young drivers,” said Lt. Olivarez. “Every person who comes across that river, whether they be an adult or child, is paying a cartel member to get across, which enriches these cartels. Human smuggling is now a multibillion-dollar trade because of this border crisis.”
