Operation Lone Star

Operation Lone Star (OLS) is a joint operation between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department along the United States–Mexico border in southern Texas. The operation started in 2021 and is currently ongoing. According to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the operation is intended to counter a rise in illegal immigration, the illegal drug trade, and human smuggling. Between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2021, migrant apprehensions had risen 278% along the US–Mexico border. As of April 2022, OLS was spending approximately $2.5 million per week and was expected to cost approximately $2 billion per year. Approximately 10,000 National Guard members were deployed in support of OLS at the height of the operation, with around 6,000 deployed as of November 2022. According to the governor's office, OLS has resulted in 498,300 migrant apprehensions, 39,200 criminal arrests (including 35,400 felony charges), and 458 million doses of fentanyl seized. One year after the start of Operation Lone Star, Texas saw a 9% increase in migrant encounters along its border with Mexico, compared to a 62% increase in Arizona, California, and New Mexico along their respective borders with Mexico.

OLS has drawn criticism from the federal government, state officials, and migrant advocates for its treatment of migrants, including the withholding of water and orders to push migrants back into the Rio Grande. Migrants have had a more difficult time crossing areas of the Rio Grande due to razor wire set up by OLS, leading to some migrants becoming injured and/or captured in the wire. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized high speed pursuits in counties implementing OLS, which it attributed to causing 74 deaths. Texas officials and national guard members have also voiced concerns about hardships sustained during deployment in support of OLS.

According to the governor, 102,800 migrants were voluntarily bused to sanctuary cities across the United States as of February 2024. A few migrants were also flown directly to these cities. This has resulted in migrant crises in cities like New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., as local resources are stretched thin to handle the new arrivals. Local officials in the sanctuary cities have criticized the busing program and responded by requesting federal assistance, fining charter bus companies carrying migrants, and sending migrants to other cities.

In January 2024, Texas officials seized control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, which was frequently used by United States Border Patrol to process new migrant arrivals. Border patrol agents were generally prohibited from the park, except to access a boat ramp in the park after three migrants drowned nearby while crossing the Rio Grande. This led to a standoff between federal and state officials. The Biden administration has said that it would refer the dispute to the United States Department of Justice if access was not restored for border patrol agents.