Texas governor Greg Abbott discussed the details of Operation Lone Star, his administration’s strategy to address illegal immigration. A notable highlight from his interview with NewsNation was his proposal to increase the number of buoy barriers along the Texas-Mexico border. This plan involves expanding the existing 1,000-foot-long barrier of buoys in the waters between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras.
During the interview, the governor made an interesting point about his objective to completely eliminate illegal entries into Texas. He acknowledged the challenge of ongoing unlawful immigration and expressed his willingness to work together to address this issue.
“Let’s assume Texas does succeed in reducing illegal immigration to zero percent into our state, which is our goal. All those terrorists, all those murderers, all those rapists, they’re just going to go through New Mexico and Arizona and California.”
Governor Abbott has provided an update on Operation Lone Star, highlighting various strategies being implemented to achieve his objectives. These measures include the deployment of buoys, the utilization of buses to transport migrants to sanctuary cities (which has been temporarily halted due to a decline in migrant numbers), and the installation of razor wire barriers.
Abbott mentioned in the interview that he is prepared to resume busing migrants to northern cities if there is an increase in border crossings. However, he acknowledged that the need for such measures has temporarily decreased due to a decline in crossings. Despite this, Abbott did not attribute this decline to the recent crackdown by the Biden administration. He argued that border crossings started to slow down even before Biden’s executive order, which limited asylum requests.
“That was after Texas began our accelerated operations to deny illegal entry, using the guard, using the razor wire, using the pepper ball.”
Abbott expressed that although he has been making efforts, there is still a need for further action at the federal level. He emphasized that the security of the U.S. border can only be guaranteed with the appointment of a new president.
According to Mike Banks, Special Advisor on Border Matters under Gov. Greg Abbott, there has been a significant 87% drop in figures compared to its peak. He mentioned that due to the decrease in the number of encounters, the federal government has made the decision to temporarily relocate agents from Texas to other ports of entry in Arizona, California, and New Mexico.
