Weeks ago, Texas governor Greg Abbott said in an interview that the goal of Operation Lone Star is to reduce the number of illegal entries to Texas to zero. To achieve that goal he has taken several measures ranging from busing migrants to Democratic-led states up onrth to installing razor wire, a measure he recently said will be tripled to make the border safer.
The cost of the operation has been reported to be over $11 billion. But other states have also been pitching in with measures of their own.
A new report by Midwest Newsroom, a partnership between NPR and member stations, has revealed that since the operation started back in 2021, states like Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, which sit thousands of miles from the border, have spent approximately $7.1 million sending national guards, state troopers and other types of law enforcement to Texas.
All of these states are currently led by Republican governor, who have emphasized the operation's importance when it comes to combating human smuggling and the flow of fentanyl to their territories. "Missourians are dying; families are being ripped apart; communities are being destroyed" said Missouri governor Mike Parson back in February when providing guards and troopers to Texas.
Iowa's Kim Reynolds echoed the sentiment by saying that he has "a responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of Iowans and protecting them at home starts with protecting the border."
Critics, including the ACLU of Texas, argue the operation's real outcomes are over-policing and human rights violations. A recent report by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) revealed an increase in allegations of excessive use of force and human rights violations by law enforcement, including incidents involving "less-than-lethal" weapons like rubber bullets, pepper balls, and tear gas have been recorded, often aimed at migrants who pose no immediate threat.
Furthermore, another report by WOLA disputes the effectiveness of Operation Lone Star in curbing illegal immigrants altogether, claiming that even though it is true that figures have gone down, they are part of a broader, national trend and not a result of its specific policies. A look at "apprehensions by state reveals that Texas has not experienced a steeper migration decline than Arizona, where the Democratic governor has not pursued similar hard-line measures," the report adds.
Immigration and borders relation researcher Tony Payan, consulted by Midwest Newsroom, calls the operation "political theater", adding that, despite the massive investment, Republican states are not interested in solving the issue at all:
"It's actually profiting the Republican Party to keep this issue of the border alive. We saw it at play in the 2016 elections, we saw it in the 2020 elections, and I think we're going to see it again in the 2024 elections. So this is an issue that I think the Republicans in particular and the governor of Texas are not necessarily interested in solving."
Nevertheless, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska have together sent 519 National Guard service members and 143 state troopers and other law enforcement personnel to the border. Missouri alone sent 200 National Guardsmen in 2024, despite its Highway Patrol being understaffed.
Operation Lone Star is set to continue through at least 2025, with Abbott and other governors reaffirming their commitment to the mission. As Abbott prophetically stated when he launched the program back in March 2021: "every state is a border state"
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