Operation Lone Star — Gov. Greg Abbott’s massive border security initiative to deter illegal immigration — drew sharp rebukes as soon as it was announced in March 2021.
But the operation was a reaction that the White House invited with its clumsy management of the southern border. The number of migrants apprehended at the border skyrocketed soon after President Joe Biden took office, overwhelming Texas border communities already stretched thin by the pandemic. U.S. officials logged more than 1.7 million illegal crossings along the southwestern border in fiscal year 2021, and we’re already at 800,000 illegal crossings so far this fiscal year.
In deploying state troopers and the Texas National Guard to southern Texas, Abbott billed Operation Lone Star as a serious effort to combat smuggling, human trafficking and drug trafficking by cartels. He convinced lawmakers to spend $2 billion a year on it.
That isn’t what it is turning out to be. Recent reporting by the Texas Tribune and other media outlets raises troubling questions about the operation’s success and the data touted to justify it. It’s the latest in a series of concerning revelations about the program that should prompt the Texas Legislature to immediately order an independent review of Operation Lone Star.
We aren’t naive enough to believe the Legislature will follow that advice. But conservative members should reflect on this: border security done badly actually hurts the cause of securing the border.
A year into Operation Lone Star, officials highlighted that it had resulted in more than 11,000 criminal arrests. When news reporters requested data, they found arrests that were not at all related to border enforcement, like the case of a Midland-area man accused of having a fight with an ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. The Department of Public Safety stopped counting 2,000 arrests toward Operation Lone Star metrics after news outlets began asking questions, and it did not explain how the remaining cases are connected to border enforcement, according to the Tribune, ProPublica and The Marshall Project.
It appears Abbott also exaggerated the operation’s success with drug busts. The governor credits it with the seizure of 887 pounds of fentanyl, yet reporters determined that figure captures fentanyl busts across the state.
How much of the crime-fighting that Abbott ties to Operation Lone Star would have taken place without the additional border resources? The answer should be clear. Texans are paying for this, and they are owed transparency.
Beyond the dirty data, the deaths of operation soldiers from suspected suicide deserve more attention, as does reporting about delays in paying soldiers, the questionable handling of mass migrant arrests and the deployment of troops outside private ranches with their own private security.
This country has a genuine problem at the southern border that deserves serious solutions from our federal and state governments. What the evidence shows so far is that Operation Lone Star was poorly conceived and executed for political gain rather than designed as serious policy to fight trafficking. Our taxes should pay for results, not cheap talking points.
Dallas Morning News
