Texas is reducing the number of National Guard members deployed to border mission 

The Texas Military Department has been reducing the number of National Guard troops deployed to the border under Governor Greg Abbott’s border security mission Operation Lone Star as the operation becomes more “effective and efficient.”

Last November, Abbott declared that he had deployed around 10,000 troops to the border as part of Operation Lone Star. Yet the most troops ever assigned to the border was 6,500 National Guard members with thousands of others supporting the mission from elsewhere. 

Since then, the number of troops assigned to the mission has declined. In April, Texas Military Department’s top leader Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer said there were 6,128 members deployed to the border. By July, Suelzer said the number had dropped to 5,751. 

While the Texas Military Department did not specify the exact number of current members deployed, it said there were currently “over 5,000 service members” dedicated to the border operation in a statement on Wednesday. 

“The Texas Military Department has over 5,000 service members in support of Operation Lone Star,” the statement read. “Through effective and efficient operations, including expanded maritime operations, roving patrols, increased fence construction, and the implementation of an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program, we have expanded capabilities while allowing some service members to return home.”

While National Guard members are usually sent to areas for short missions, such as helping after a natural disaster, Governor Abbott mobilized the troops to help secure the border, which has seen an unprecedented number of migrants attempting to cross it. 

Abbott began Operation Lone Star in March 2021, after President Joe Biden took office and promised to roll back some of the harsher immigration policies set in place by the Trump Administration. 

”Since President Biden continues failing to do his job, Texas law enforcement has rotated those assigned to the border mission to keep our states’ response fresh and efficient so the men and women serving can remain focused on securing the border and protecting Texans,” Abbott’s spokesperson Renae Eze said in an email.