Operation Lone Star wrangles millions of doses of fentanyl amid arrests and migrant apprehensions at Texas border

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently announced more than 296,000 migrant apprehensions, more than 18,700 criminal arrests, more than 16,000 felony charges and more than 326 million lethal doses of fentanyl since the launch of Operation Lone Star in March 2021.

The statistics were released on Friday by the governor’s office as part of Abbott’s effort to keep the public informed about the efforts of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas National Guard as they continue to pursue the border security initiative’s goal of preventing criminal activity along the Texas-Mexico border.

With border states facing the brunt of illegal activity due to President Joe Biden’s open border policy, Abbott took matters into his own hands and began busing migrants from Texas to Washington D.C. in April, then added New York City to his list of travel destinations in August.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas (CPAC Texas) earlier this month, Abbott said Texas has bused more than 6,500 illegal immigrants to Washington D.C. since June, a move that incited the anger of that city’s mayor, Muriel Bowser.

“They couldn’t handle that one single challenge and we (Texas) deal with that number every single day,” Abbott shared.

Texas has more than 200,000 illegal immigrants cross its borders monthly.

“The fact of the matter is, I don’t know of a larger crisis in our country right now,” the Texas governor said. “This is a crisis caused by the Biden administration.”

Abbott said that under the Trump administration two years ago, when the border wall was still being built, Texas had its lowest number of border crossings in decades.

“Now, we have the highest number of illegal crossings into the United States, ever,” he added.

Renewing his Border Disaster Declaration, the governor signed a proclamation certifying the surge of individuals crossing the Texas-Mexico border poses “an ongoing and imminent threat of disaster” to 53 counties within the state, along with all state agencies affected by the disaster.

The Lonestar governor said that, as a native Texan who has seen firsthand what is happening at the border, he knows what works and what does not work to secure the border.

Citing specifics, Abbott touted the border wall, lashed out against catch and release policies, and insisted that the Biden administration needs to reimplement the recently abolished Title 42 and Remain in Mexico Policy.

Finally, he said they need to send a message that the border is closed.

“There were four policies that were put in place that worked better than anything that’s worked in about four decades,” Abbott said. “That is, building the border wall, eliminating catch and release, the implementation of Title 42 Policy, as well as the implementation of the Remain in Mexico Policy, and then sending a message that the border is closed.”