Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday that engineers from Operation Lone Star have installed a new strategic barrier at the border to help deter unlawful migrants from entering the state.
Operation Lone Star is an initiative by Abbott that first began in March 2021 and is meant to combat the rise in unlawful migration and prevent the smuggling of illegal drugs and weapons.
A press release sent to The Dallas Express states that engineers in Brownsville installed a new anti-climb barrier (ACB) behind the concertina wire meant to deter unlawful migrants.
This new barrier will also have concertina wire attached and is meant to prevent the use of ladders or other scaling devices that could help people get over the wall.
Abbott added in the press release that Operation Lone Star has led to the apprehension of 488,500 unlawful migrants and the seizure of more than 450 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
Additionally, more than 75,000 unlawful migrants have been bused to sanctuary cities across the country to help limit the impact of the high number of arrivals in the state.
This busing program comes amidst a significant rise in unlawful migrants entering the U.S. through the southern border, including record-breaking numbers of encounters reported in recent months.
Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez said that there were 12,000 encounters with unlawful migrants at the southern border on Tuesday, which is the highest number of encounters in a single day.
This high number of encounters comes just months after U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 269,735 encounters during September, the highest number of encounters for a single month, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Other actions taken by Abbott include the implementation of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande River, which has resulted in a lawsuit between the State of Texas and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The most recent development in this lawsuit came from a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in which the court ordered Texas to remove the barrier from the river.
This ruling found that the river is navigable and the buoys are an “obstruction,” meaning that Texas would need authorization from the federal government under the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 to place such an obstruction, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Abbott has stated that he disagrees with the ruling, plans to file another appeal, and is willing to take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.
“We will be seeking what’s called an unbuffed ruling by the entire direct court of appeals, and if we lose there, we will take that to the United States Supreme Court because we know Texas has the right to legally deploy those buoys in the water to prevent people from entering our country and our state illegally,” said Abbott in a press release sent to The Dallas Express.