Operation Lone Star continues, additional barriers up in Brownsville

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — Texas is moving ahead in taking its own steps to slow down the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States through Operation Lone Star.

Texas National Guard Engineer Special Response Teams are repairing existing concertina wire barriers damaged by illegal crossers and installed new anti-climb barrier (ACB) near Brownsville this week.

Placed behind the reinforced concertina wire, the ACB—which has more concertina wire attached—is deployed to prevent the use of ladders or other scaling devices to illegally cross from Mexico into Texas.

Capt. Chris Daniel, SRT-1 officer in charge, describes how new ACB being installed behind concertina wire in high-traffic areas along the Rio Grande River will help slow down illegal crossings.

“We have bad actors that are coming over, opening up the [C-wire, and] allowing traffic to move through,” said Capt. Daniel. “They’re going to have to do a lot more cutting to get through the ACB. What we’re trying to do is create a barrier that’s going to allow Task Force South, DPS, whoever else is down here, and some of the drone teams to be able to hopefully intercept those bad actors and stop them from manipulating those barriers.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is releasing the latest numbers attached to Operation Lone Star, which started in April 2021.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Texas National Guard have now apprehended 488,500 illegal immigrants at the border. The two agencies report a combined 37,300 criminal arrests and more than 33,800 felony charges filed.

The busing of illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities also continues:

• Over 12,500 migrants to Washington, D.C. since April 2022
• Over 27,300 migrants to New York City since August 2022
• Over 22,500 migrants to Chicago since August 2022
• Over 3,200 migrants to Philadelphia since November 2022
• Over 8,900 migrants to Denver since May 18
• Over 1,100 migrants to Los Angeles since June 14