When Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of Operation Lone Star in March of last year, it seemed to be just the latest in a long string of state-sanctioned border security theatrics. First, in 2005, there was former Governor Rick Perry’s “Operation Linebacker,” which sought to stop Al Qaeda terrorists and other criminals from crossing into Texas. Linebacker was then followed, consecutively, by Rio Grande, Wrangler, Border Star, Drawbridge, Strong Safety, and Strong Safety II. In 2015 came Abbott’s first gubernatorial border operation, “Secure Texas.”
Through these various missions, Texas has deployed state troopers and National Guard soldiers to the border to quell one threat after the next, costing tens of millions in state funds. The effects of these operations have been questionable at best, but they’ve made for plenty of great photo-ops for Republican politicians.
But Abbott has gone far beyond previous escapades—in cost, scope, legality, and political grandstanding—by usurping the federal government’s immigration authority with a state-controlled enforcement and detention apparatus. Soon after launching Operation Lone Star, the governor issued a disaster declaration in dozens of counties along the border and beyond, deeming the flow of migrants into Texas an “imminent threat” and granting him greatly expanded executive powers. He also unveiled plans—with former President Donald Trump at his side—for the state to build its own border wall, and for Department of Public Safety troopers to arrest and jail migrants on criminal trespassing charges. With little notice or planning, Abbott then ordered the state military to deploy a huge force of National Guard members to the border. Last summer, at his behest, the Texas Legislature rammed through a bill that would more than triple the state’s border security spending to roughly $3 billion, including $750 million for border wall construction.
