Gov. Greg Abbott recently praised the Texas Department of Safety and the Texas National Guard for their efforts to keep the southern border and state secure as part of Operation Lone Star.
In a press release sent to The Dallas Express, Abbott highlighted the apprehension of more than 491,100 unlawful migrants, more than 37,800 criminal arrests, and the seizure of more than 450 million lethal doses of fentanyl since the launch of Operation Lonestar.
As detailed in the release, Texas has bused more than 85,000 unlawful migrants to sanctuary cities across the country since the initiative began in April 2022.
Recently, the state escalated the tactic, flying 120 unlawful migrants to Chicago by plane earlier this week after city officials there began cracking down on bus drivers from Texas who they claim were ignoring municipal rules.
Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, claimed that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been “failing to live up to his city’s ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance by targeting migrant buses from Texas,” prompting Texas to take the air travel step, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The move came on the same day that Abbott signed multiple new border security bills, including a law that makes it a crime to enter the state unlawfully. SB 4 will also allow law enforcement officers to apprehend those suspected of violating the new law.
Despite Abbott stating that the new laws will “help stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas, add additional funding to build more border wall and crackdown on human smuggling,” some organizations have pushed back on the measure.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit to challenge SB 4, alleging that it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“The law bypasses federal law as Texas judges would be authorized — and in some cases, required — to order a person’s deportation regardless of whether a person is eligible to seek asylum or other humanitarian protections under federal law. Enforcement of the law isn’t limited to border communities, meaning Texans across the state would be at risk of arrest, jailing, and deportation,” wrote the ACLU in a press release about its legal filing.
In addition to signing SB 4, Abbott signed two other border security laws that will increase the penalty for human smuggling and provide additional funding for the wall along the Texas-Mexico border.