Texas Reinforces Border Ahead of Spring Influx

AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard are continuing to work together to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas; and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal behavior between ports of entry.

This week, engineers from Special Response Team 4, a combination of soldiers from the Texas National Guard and Texas State Guard, strengthened border barriers near El Paso. An additional 17,000 feet of double standard razor wire was added to the existing wire to help prevent illegal border crossings. In the past month, the team has installed more than 40,000 feet of razor wire.

“Everything we do here impacts our community directly, regardless of whether it’s here or Eagle Pass or Del Rio,” said Sergeant Dale Banda Gwak. “When you talk to the people who actually live in these communities, they’ll tell you that us being out here on the line has made a difference. It helps make their communities safer.”

Governor Abbott on Tuesday spoke with El Paso’s KFOX to highlight the ongoing need for Texas’ border security mission as President Biden continues refusing to enforce our nation’s immigration laws. Despite the Biden Administration publicly denying the reality of the border crisis, the Governor pointed out that Operation Lone Star was not necessary under the previous administration, when the lowest number of border crossings in decades was reported.

“They have to, at a minimum, enforce the immigration laws that are already on the books that make it illegal for people to enter the United States in places other than official ports of entry, and [federal officials] simply are not doing that,” said Governor Abbott. “They said people don’t just walk across the border, when, in fact, they are just walking across the border. They’ve never been accurate about anything they’ve said about border security.”

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 352,000 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 25,000 criminal arrests, with more than 23,000 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 365 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.

Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration's refusal to secure the border. Every individual 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 Biden's open border policies.