Texas marks third anniversary of Operation Lone Star

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — It has now been three years since Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched a border security initiative known as Operation Lone Star.

The effort has involved the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard working together with the stated goal of securing the southern border. This includes efforts to stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas; and to prevent, detect, and stop transnational criminal activity between ports of entry.

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, Governor Abbott says the multi-agency effort has led to over 503,800 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 40,400 criminal arrests, with more than 36,100 felony charges. In the fight against the fentanyl crisis, Texas law enforcement has seized over 469 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.

Texas has also transported:

• Over 12,500 migrants to Washington, D.C. since April 2022
• Over 39,100 migrants to New York City since August 2022
• Over 32,200 migrants to Chicago since August 2022
• Over 3,400 migrants to Philadelphia since November 2022
• Over 16,600 migrants to Denver since May 18
• Over 1,500 migrants to Los Angeles since June 14

Governor Abbott says Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border. He says every person who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Joe Biden’s open border policies.