Texas' efforts to secure its southern border have faced a wide variety of unprecedented actions from the federal government that have only exacerbated the crisis.
On March 6, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in response to what was rapidly developing as a major humanitarian crisis and national security threat at the southern border between the United States and Mexico. The operation aimed to “integrat[e] DPS with the Texas National Guard and deplo[y] air, ground, marine, and tactical border security assets to high threat areas to deny Mexican Cartels and other smugglers the ability to move drugs and people into Texas."
The United States and Texas have a long history of defending the southern border against illegal immigration and human and drug trafficking.
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry took actions and supported numerous efforts to counter illegal human and drug trafficking, including sending Texas Rangers and Texas National Guard troops to the border.
While faced with the same issues as previous border security operations, namely illegal immigration and trafficking of humans and drugs, Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star has had to face an unprecedented effort from the federal government to support policies that ended up exacerbating, not working to solve, these issues.
The Biden administration entered office as the southern border had seen illegal entries decrease tremendously. The Trump administration had put in place several policies that limited illegal entries by disincentivizing the abuse of the U.S. asylum system. These policies included but were not limited to the Title 42, Migrant Protection Protocols, better known as “Remain in Mexico,” and safe third country agreements.
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