Earlier this year, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris promised to look into the worsening border situation. At that point, VP Harris was tapped to be the “border czar,” so-to-speak.
But since that time, many say very little has happened to stem the migrant tide. In fact, Texas state leaders like Governor Greg Abbott say the crisis has only gotten worse.
That’s why they’ve taken matters into their own hands — and now it appears they’re doing Biden’s job for him.
It’s officially the role of the federal government and border patrol to deal with all border issues. However, Texas and other southern states feel as if they’ve been completely ignored by Biden’s administration.
That’s why numerous lawsuits have been brought against Biden’s team, many of which claim the President has done nothing to fix the problem.
In order to be proactive, Texas kicked off an initiative back in March called “Operation Lone Star.” In the absence of federal assistance, the state opted to take strides to protect its residents.
Gov. Abbott ordered state troopers from DPS to go to the border and arrest trespassers, while Border Patrol agents would be used to transport and process the unregistered travelers.
And that operation has yielded big results.
Via Washington Examiner:
Texas law enforcement and soldiers sent to the border under a state initiative that began in March have encountered more than 165,000 people presumed to have illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border or are themselves smuggling people, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Lt. Chris Olivarez is a spokesman for the Texas DPS’s South Region, and he confirmed the 165K number.
With the help of National Guard soldiers and members of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the state has managed to stop a huge number of non-legal migrants trying to sneak into the U.S.
It really was a group effort, too.
Nearly half of the arrests were credited to the National Guard (84,000), and border patrol worked hard to process as many captured migrants as possible. So, “Operation Lone Star” appears to be working.
Even so, with little help from the federal government, the crisis remains a very serious concern.
For example, vehicle chases are becoming much more prominent: DPS officers have engaged in over 1,000 vehicle chases since March, as they’re trying to combat the flow of foreign smugglers.
Smuggling rings are reportedly recruiting more drivers, which leads to more issues on the roadways.
Said Olivarez:
You’re going to see an uptick in vehicle pursuits because, again, these individuals, they don’t want to be caught.
The whole purpose for them is they want to get away from law enforcement.
That’s their primary focus, to get away and to get those migrants to where they need to get because, obviously, it’s a commodity to them. And they’re here for profit. They want to get the money.
In addition to the number of people they’ve apprehended, law enforcement has also retrieved a ton of illegal substances.
Since March, they’ve snagged over 13,000 pounds of marijuana, 2,400 pounds of cocaine, 1,000 points of methamphetamine, and 157 pounds of fentanyl. And these numbers are in danger of rising, according to officials.
So long as the border remains vulnerable, Texas – and the rest of America – will continue to suffer the consequences.