What’s happening with the Lone Star Operation
For the past year, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has been dedicated to his anti-immigration campaign, similar to the “Zero Tolerance” policy of the Trump era. Within the so-called “Lone Star Operation,” the objectives were initially to reduce the number of immigrants at the border, as the Biden administration’s policies were perceived as “too lenient” and ineffective in controlling the border.
However, the statistics have now revealed the failures of Abbott. The numbers of encounters with immigrants at the Mexico-US border have increased from 109,456 in March 2021, when the mission began, to 116,976 in August. Undoubtedly, the xenophobic and exclusionary efforts of the Texas governor are completely backfiring.
Jaskot Law tells you all about this policy, what it means for the community, and why anti-immigrant speeches are failing.
What is the Lone Star Operation?
Since his early days in government, Greg Abbott has defined that his campaign will be aimed at eliminating migratory flows entering through the border. In pursuit of this goal, the Republican governor has already invested more than $4 million in the construction and improvement of a dividing wall between Mexico and the United States alone to prevent passage.
In addition, Abbott has allocated millions to increase security, the number of border agents, their equipment, cameras and so on. All this within the framework of Lone Star Operation.
In this way, and as part of his speeches opposing Joe Biden’s administration, the Texas governor took a stand against immigration. He blames the administration at the helm for being too lax and insufficient with migrants, and that this affects U.S. sovereignty.
Arrests without the mediation of a judge, deportations, buses to other cities in the country. All this happened under his new anti-immigrant plan.
Are Greg Abbott’s plans failing?
Eighteen months into the implementation of its plan to prevent the growth of immigrants in Texas, Operation Lone Star appears to be failing big time. Not only has it failed to reduce the number of immigrants at the border, but the numbers have actually increased.
In August alone, there have been more than 2 million immigrants encountered at the border, and this number is expected to reach 2.3 million by the end of the fiscal year on September 30. This is a record number for the United States, and it appears that Abbott’s efforts have not paid off as well as the governor had hoped.
On a weekly basis, Abbott announces through his website the “successes” of the Lone Star Operation: 334,000 migrant detentions by state officials; 19,000 criminal arrests; seizures of 5,500 weapons and 336 million doses of lethal fentanyl. His spokesman told the press that if it were up to Joe Biden, all of this would have entered the United States illegally.
However, there has been no mention by his party of the increase in migrants at the border. Apparently, the governor has no plans to accept his defeat.
Why is immigration increasing?
Many factors are involved in the high number of immigration, such as pandemics, economic crises around the globe, natural disasters, among many others. In addition, the Biden administration is more open to the entry of immigrants into the country, as opposed to the speeches of his predecessor. All of this means that migration flows continue to grow, whether the governor of Texas wants them to or not.
Jaskot Law brings you all the latest news and policies on immigration, and if you have any doubts or questions about your immigration case, do not hesitate to contact our team of specialist lawyers.
