Texas Governor Greg Abbott has reasserted the state's "right to defend from invasion" and condemned the Biden administration's failed border policies.
The governor's update on Operation Lone Star, which he launched in 2021 to try to secure the Texas-Mexico border, said Texan authorities have detained 501,300 illegal immigrants under the scheme and seized 467 million "lethal doses" of fentanyl.
Tensions between Texan authorities and the Biden administration surged after the Supreme Court ruled on January 22 that federal agents can remove razor-wire placed across the Texas-Mexico border on Abbott's orders by the state's National Guard. In response, Abbott invoked what he said was Texas's "constitutional authority to defend and protect itself." This move was supported by 25 other Republican governors and 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
Under the U.S. Constitution, states have the right to defend from invasion.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 23, 2024
The cartels smuggling people & deadly fentanyl pose a danger to Texas & the U.S.
Texas will continue to do the job Biden has failed to do—secure our southern border.
Read more: https://t.co/mklnxh4xiS pic.twitter.com/6ljYmTv2gA
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, Abbott said: "Under the U.S. Constitution, states have the right to defend from invasion. The cartels smuggling people & deadly fentanyl pose a danger to Texas & the U.S.
"Texas will continue to do the job Biden has failed to do—secure our southern border." Abbott accompanied this with a link to a press release published by his office, setting out what they claimed to have achieved under Operation Lone Star. Newsweek has reached out to the White House press office for comment by email.
The document says that, since the "multi-agency effort" began, Texan law enforcement has apprehended 501,300 illegal migrants and made more than 39,800 criminal arrests, leading to 35,800 felony charges. It adds that "467 million lethal doses of fentanyl" had been seized by the authorities.
The press release also notes the number of migrants transported to various Democrat cities as part of a policy initiated by Abbott in 2022. The figures listed are over 12,500 migrants to Washington, D.C.; 38,200 to New York City; 31,700 to Chicago; 3,400 to Philadelphia; 16,300 to Denver; and 1,500 to Los Angeles.
The document states that Abbott's Operation Lone Star "continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administration's refusal to secure the border." It adds: "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 Joe Biden's open border policies."
On Friday, police in Georgia arrested a Venezuelan national on suspicion of murdering 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley. Her body was found in a wooded area on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus the day before.
Following unconfirmed reports that the man arrested, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, had entered the United States illegally, two Republicans who represent Georgia in the House of Representatives said that he should face the death penalty.
The number of illegal border crossings into the U.S. fell by about 42 percent from 301,983 in December to 176,205 in January, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
