Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has applauded the work of officers involved with Operation Lone Star, a joint initiative by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to protect the southern border.
The governor detailed the work of agents from these departments since this initiative began in March 2021, citing more than 41,500 criminal arrests leading to more than 36,900 felony charges, according to a news release.
OLS has also focused on stopping the flow of deadly drugs across the border, resulting in the seizure of more than 471 million lethal doses of fentanyl since the program’s inception.
The transportation of unlawful migrants to sanctuary cities across the country to offset the drain on Texas resources is another major aspect of Operation Lone Star. More than 111,000 unlawful migrants have been transported since this phase of the initiative began in April 2022.
New York City has received the largest number of migrants transported from Texas. Since August 2022, more than 42,000 have been sent to The Big Apple under the OLS initiative.
This program has prompted backlash from New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who filed a lawsuit against 17 charter bus companies that have helped Texas execute the transportation of the unlawful migrants.
Abbott, who made an appearance in New York City on April 7 to discuss the busing program, said the original plan was to send unlawful migrants only to Washington, D.C.
“We were sending them only to Washington, D.C., and, quite literally out of nowhere, Mayor Adams starts criticizing me for sending them to New York City,” he explained, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. “So after a while, I figured, gosh, if I’m gonna get the criticism, I’m gonna get the credit.”
The Operation Lone Star initiatives are an effort to manage the ongoing crisis along the southern border resulting from the influx of migrants who have crossed into the U.S. unlawfully since President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported that there have been more than 7.9 million encounters with unlawful migrants since Biden took office, with the House Homeland Security Committee reporting at least 1.7 million additional unlawful migrants who have entered the U.S. without being apprehended in any way.
Despite the vast number of encounters and unlawful entries into the country, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas maintains that the border is completely secure.
“With the authorities and the funding that we have, it is as secure as it can be,” he told Congress on Tuesday, according to the New York Post.
Additionally, Mayorkas claimed to “not recall” telling officials that over 85% of migrants encountered along the southern border are released into the U.S. However, National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd confirmed to the Post that he was at the meeting, and Mayorkas did make those claims.
Abbott has continually expressed his distrust of Mayorkas’s ability to handle the border, telling Fox News, “What Mayorkas has said is nothing but a bunch of lies.”
