In March 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in response to a surge in illegal migration. Notwithstanding the operation’s cost — $2.5 million every week — it has led to the apprehension of more than 513,000 illegal aliens, as well as 44,000 criminal arrests with more than 38,600 felony charges, the Governor’s Office said in a statement. “The people need to understand that what Biden has done is not do anything to actually secure the border,” said Abbott. “In fact, it’s the opposite because [President Biden] is actually authorizing more people to cross the border illegally,” he continued. “As long as the Biden Administration refuses to provide any type of enforcement, any type of blockage, of people crossing illegally, all that this new Biden policy is going to do is to actually attract and invite even more people to cross the border illegally.” By the end of this fiscal year, there will have been more than 10 million illegal alien border encounters since President Joe Biden assumed the presidency in 2021, according to the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security. “Ever since the Biden order went into place, there’s no slowing down of people crossing the border. In fact, it’s just accelerating,” Abbott said. Texas has been in an ongoing standoff with the federal government over border enforcement. This spring, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas is able to continue it’s border enforcement efforts under authority granted by the passage of legislation (Senate Bill 4) which granted authorities the ability to arrest foreign nationals who enter the state illegally across the border with Mexico. Signed by Abbott in late 2023, SB 4 allows migrants who illegally cross the Rio Grande to be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to six months in jail. Someone previously convicted of entering the state illegally could be charged with a second-degree felony, which carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison. In January, the Justice Department sued Texas, arguing that the state was prohibited by the Constitution from enforcing border security.Texas says it has seen a significant drop of illegal crossings into the state, signaling that efforts undertaken by its law enforcement and National Guard to crack down at the border are working.
