Texas officials reported that the number of illegal border crossings has significantly decreased since Governor Greg Abbott implemented the state-level border security operation. According to a statement released by Abbott’s office on June 14, the initiation of “Operation Lone Star” in March 2021 has led to a 74% reduction in illegal border crossings in the state.
As part of this operation, the Republican governor deployed mobile border barriers, installed barbed wire, and enlisted the Texas National Guard to deter the flow of illegal immigrants. The joint efforts of multiple agencies since the launch of the plan have resulted in the arrest of nearly 514,000 illegal immigrants, over 44,000 criminal arrests, and more than 38,600 felony charges.
Abbott’s office also emphasized that law enforcement officials have seized over 489 million lethal doses of synthetic opioid fentanyl during this period, stating that the quantity seized is enough to “kill every man, woman, and child in America and Mexico.”
Abbott highlighted that without Texas’ border security plan, those arrested – along with the seized “every ounce of drugs” – could have potentially spread to communities in Texas and other states in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the Republican governor criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the border situation, asserting that the new border executive order signed by President Joe Biden earlier this month is “ineffective in stopping the influx of illegal immigrants into the country.”
” As long as the Biden administration refuses to enforce or implement any form of action against illegal border crossings, his new policy will only attract and invite more people to cross illegally,” he quoted from a statement on Fox News.
Abbott referenced President Biden’s new executive order, which calls for the temporary suspension of asylum applications at certain times to prevent illegal border crossings. According to a White House briefing released on June 4, the executive order will temporarily prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining asylum when border officials deem the illegal border crossings to be “high.” The White House stated that this is the current situation.
Biden, in a press conference at the White House announcing the measure, stated, “This ban will remain in effect until the number of people attempting to enter the country illegally decreases to a level our system can effectively manage.”
Once the average daily encounters of illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border exceed 2,500 people within a seven-day period, the ban will come into effect.
While Biden takes executive action, his administration has been dealing with the issue of historical increases in illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border. Data from the US Customs and Border Protection shows that in the first five months of the 2024 fiscal year, there have been over 1.15 million encounters at the border, a nearly 12% increase from the same period in the 2023 fiscal year.