Greg Abbott has been making headlines this week after reaching a milestone in arrests, with almost 500,000 illegal immigrants having been apprehended in the three years since his brainchild, Operation Lone Star, began operating.
Border Boast
Abbott released these statistics on Tuesday in his 2024 Report To The People Of Texas.
Over 38,000 Arrests Made in Texas Border Mission
According to Abbott, since the launch of Lone Star in 2021 up until the end of 2023, the Texas border mission has made over 38,000 criminal arrests and brought charges to almost 35,000 people.
Lone Star Marks Costliest Border Security Endeavor in Texas History
Securing over $11 billion in border security funding, Lone Star is one of the state’s costliest endeavors, but it has seized “over 458 million lethal doses of fentanyl,” a fact that Abbott takes pride in.
For him, 2023 “was a year of historic firsts for our great state.”
Border Protection
The report states that without Lone Star, “Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden’s open border policies.”
Abbott Celebrates State’s Rich History of Freedom
Abbott said of his home county, Texas, “Freedom and opportunity are deeply rooted in the history of our great state. As a result, the Texas of today is where innovation flourishes, where hard work is rewarded, and where Texans prosper.”
Popularity on the Rise
Abbott’s popularity in Texas has constantly risen throughout Lone Star’s operations, with recent polls indicating he’s sitting at a 53% favorability rating, with only 37% of Texans viewing him unfavorably.
GOP Cheers Abbott’s Border Security Efforts
His efforts to secure the border have been championed by Republican politicians and voters who think that the Biden administration’s border policies are too lax.
Border Wall Endeavors
In the report, Abbott praised his administration’s efforts to “acquire 1,700 unused steel panels to build the border wall in Texas,” bussing more than 100,00 migrants to sanctuary cities across the U.S., and deploying the new Texas Tactical Border Force units to the border – all a wider part of Abbott’s comprehensive border security plan.
Migrant Transport Controversy
The steel panels were repurposed from Trump’s border wall, while the migrant transportation strategy was Abbott’s own creation.
Legal Backlash
While it was a well-received measure among his base, with some calling it “a stroke of genius,” it has resulted in Texan charter bus companies being sued by New York mayor Eric Adams. Detractors called the measure “a stroke of cruelty.”
Blaming Biden
In response to the lawsuit, Abbott said that Adams “needs to be suing Joe Biden – not these bus companies, because it’s Joe Biden and Joe Biden’s policies that’s causing the massive, multi-million influx into the United States that leads to many of them wanting to go to New York.”
Razor Wire Battle
Abbott has courted controversy with his aggressive border policies, most recently fighting Biden and the Supreme Court for the right to put razor wire at the top of the border wall – a fight Abbott eventually lost.
Defiant Stance
Following the ruling, Abbott declared in an impassioned social media post, “This is not over. I will continue to defend Texas’ constitutional authority to secure the border and prevent the Biden Admin from destroying our property.”
Texan Troops Seen Placing Razor Wire Despite Ruling
The ruling does not seem to have phased Texan military officials and Florida National Guard troops, who have reportedly been seen placing razor wire over the Texas border as recently as the 13th of March.
Military Action
One Lieutenant told reporters, “If it gets to the point where it goes to the Supreme Court, and we’re actually told that, ‘You know what? You cannot place barriers; you have to remove them.’ Then that’s one story, but right now, we’re still moving forward with what we’re doing right now.”
Public Opinion
A recent poll conducted by Monmouth University has indicated that 53% of Americans are in favor of building a wall along the southern border, against 45% who are opposed.
Widespread Worries About Illegal Immigration
The poll also found that 84% think illegal immigration is a “very serious” or a “serious” issue.
It’s a big change from Trump’s border wall days, in which the highest level of support he could drum up was 44%.
Republican Unity
When Trump visited Eagle Pass earlier this month, he backed Abbott’s measures, stating, “He really stepped it up. It’s been amazing,” a sentiment shared by the Republican party as a whole. However, how the issue will develop remains to be seen.
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