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December 29, 2023 | Austin, Texas | Press Release

Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard continue to work together to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas; and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry.

Texas has bused:

Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administrations refusal to secure the border. 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 Bidens open border policies.

2023 HIGHLIGHTS FROM OPERATION LONE STAR:

Governor Abbott Announces New Texas Border Czar Mike Banks

In January, Governor Abbott announced the new position of Texas Border Czar to oversee border security in President Biden's absence at a press conference on a Texas border wall construction site in San Benito. Mike Banks serves as Special Advisor on Border Matters to the Governor and as the State of Texas' first-ever Border Czar.

As an award-winning Border Patrol Agent, with decades of federal law enforcement and border security experience, Mike is the perfect choice to oversee Texas' fight against the surge of illegal immigration, lethal drugs, and deadly weapons flowing into our state and nation, said Governor Abbott.

Texas National Guard Expands Operation Lone Star Efforts To West Texas

The Texas National Guard expanded its Operation Lone Star mission to El Paso in response to the unprecedented number of illegal border crossings in the area earlier this year. The Texas Air National Guard provided four C-130J Hercules aircraft to expedite movement of personnel and vehicles to the far western region, with tactical troop movements also occurring across Texas.

I am so impressed with the OLS staff, as well as with soldiers from Task Force West, said Maj. Gen. Ronald Win Burkett, Operation Lone Star Commanding Officer. Over 400 personnel and 40 vehicles were repositioned in El Paso within a 72-hour time frame.

El Paso operations are now an ongoing focus of Texas' efforts to secure the Texas-Mexico border.

WATCH: DPS Busts Fentanyl Lab In Houston Disguised As Car Rental Business

On January 30, DPS raided a fentanyl pill labdisguised as a car rental businessin Houston. Inside the facility, DPS discovered pill press machines, more than 17 lbs. of possible fentanyl precursors from China, suspected counterfeit Xanax pills laced with fentanyl, and fentanyl-laced Oxycodone. Authorities also found cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine pills, a stolen vehicle, three pistols, and a rifle.

Governor Abbott Deploys New Texas Tactical Border Force

In May, Governor Abbott announced the deployment of the new Texas Tactical Border Force to the Texas-Mexico border to respond to the growing border crisis.

With President Biden ending Title 42, the Governor enhanced Texas unprecedented border security efforts with the tactical deployment of hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers to join the thousands already deployed as part of Operation Lone Star and serve on the new border force for targeted responses as the nation braced for a spike in illegal immigration.

Governor Abbott Signs Package Of Border Security Bills, Deploys Marine Barriers

Governor Abbott signed a series of border security legislation passed during the 88th Regular Legislative Session into law at the Texas Capitol on June 8. This package of six bills expanded Texas' unprecedented efforts to hold the line and protect Texans from the record level of illegal immigration, weapons, and deadly drugs pouring into Texas from Mexico caused by President Biden's refusal to secure the border.

Governor Abbott also announced the deployment of new marine floating barriers to deter illegal crossings in hotspots along the Rio Grande River to proactively prevent illegal crossings between ports of entry.

DPS Brush Teams Arrest 41 Illegal Immigrants On Private Property In Eagle Pass

In June, DPS Brush Teams in Eagle Pass arrested 41 illegal immigrants from Venezuela after crossing the Rio Grande River and stepping onto private property. The individuals ignored troopers' warnings not to enter and all were charged with criminal trespass.

WATCH: Human Smuggler In Stolen 18-Wheeler Leads DPS On High-Speed Pursuit

A smuggler driving a stolen 18-wheeler led DPS troopers on a high-speed pursuit in La Salle County on June 17. During the pursuit, the Frio County Sheriffs Office successfully deployed a tire deflation device, and the driver crashed into several signs and an electrical pole before bailing out.

DPS found 18 illegal immigrants inside the cab of the truck. All were referred to Border Patrol.

Governors Abbott, Noem, Pillen, Reynolds, Stitt Band Together To Secure Border

In August, Governor Abbott held a press conference in Eagle Pass with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to provide an update on their joint efforts under Texas' Operation Lone Star to respond to President Biden's reckless open border policies. The border visit came after Governor Abbottsent letters to America's Governorsin May requesting support for Texas border security mission following President Biden's decision to end Title 42.

In total, 14 statesArkansas, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyominghave stepped up to support Texas' efforts and deployed personnel and resources to secure the border in President Biden's absence.

Operation Lone Star Secures Fronton Island From Ruthless Mexican Cartels

In November, Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers secured Fronton Island in the Rio Grande River to gain operational control and prevent cross-border criminal activity from Mexican cartels.

The island was long known as a hotspot for cartel smuggling operations involving narcotics, weapons, money, and high-value individuals. The densely wooded island provided concealment for transnational criminal activity and has been a problem for decades according to law enforcement familiar with the area.

Texas Air National Guard Helps Law Enforcement Seize Over 800 Lbs. Of Narcotics

Texas National Guard members assigned to Task Force South seized more than 800 lbs. of narcotics being smuggled across the Texas-Mexico border in a 10-day period in November.

The work our service members are performing along the Texas border is imperative to national security, said Lt. Col. Wayne Sanaghan, 432nd Air Expeditionary Group Commander. Over the last ten days, weve successfully prevented approximately 845 lbs. of narcotics from being trafficked into our country. We are proud of our Texas National Guard members on this mission and are grateful for our partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Texas National Guard Engineers Install New Anti-Climb Barrier In Brownsville

Throughout 2023, Texas National Guard Engineer Special Response Teams repaired existing concertina wire barriers damaged by illegal crossers. In December, the engineers began installing new anti-climb barrier (ACB) near Brownsville.

Placed behind the reinforced concertina wire, the ACBwhich has more concertina wire attachedis deployed to prevent the use of ladders or other scaling devices to illegally cross from Mexico into Texas.

Governor Abbott Signs Historic Border Security Measures In Brownsville

On December 18, in front of the Texas border wall in Brownsville, Governor Abbottsignedinto law a transformative package of border security legislationpassed duringSpecial Session #3andSpecial Session #4of the 88th Texas Legislature.

"President Bidens deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself. Today, I will sign three laws to better protect Texasand Americafrom President Bidens border neglect," said Governor Abbott. "These laws will help stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas, add additional funding to build more border wall, and crackdown on human smuggling."

WATCH: Texas National Guard Continues To Secure The Border In 2023

The Texas National Guard's river patrol, brush teams, and engineering operation are force multipliers along the Texas-Mexico border, helping law enforcement partners thwart transnational criminal activity and illegal immigration. Heading into 2024, Operation Lone Star will continue to be supported by a dedicated and adaptable force of Texas National Guard soldiers, ready to serve and protect Texans.

"Every day I put the uniform on and when I come to work, I feel like I'm doing my part," said Spc. Robert Wincher, Task Force Center Laredo. "I feel like I'm making an impact here on the border."

Read the rest here:
Operation Lone Star Bolsters Historic Border Security Mission In 2023 - Office of the Texas Governor

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Department of Justice Demands Abbott Stop Enforcement of Law Criminalizing Illegal Immigration - The Texan

Nearly three years ago, I sat before a Congressional committee and warned of a coming humanitarian and national security catastrophe on the U.S. southern border.

Today, America is in the grips of it.

There's no downside to less illegal immigration, I told the lawmakers back in 2019. There's no downside to less illegal drugs. There's no downside to taking money out of cartels' hands that are murdering our agents.

I recognized then, based on 34 years of experience as a Border Patrol agent and as President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director, that Democrats were creating dangerous new incentives for desperate men, women and children to risk their lives to get into greatest country in the world.

Sanctuary cites that shielded the undocumented from law enforcement, free medical care and free college educations for the children of illegals were all magnets pulling the world's poor to America.

At the same time, Biden's White House was systematically dismantling Trump policies that secured the borders and blocked criminals and terrorists from entering the United States.

>>>Biden Wants Open Borders All the Way South to Guatemala

It could only end in disasterand it has.

On Monday, 14,000 migrants rushed Eagle Pass, Texasa city home to just 30,000in just 24 hours. Border security in the region has collapsed and one cannot look at these migrants, huddled with small children, and not think that there must have been a better way.

I have sympathy for these people escaping poverty, violence and hopelessness. I didn't hang up my humanity when I put on the Department of Homeland Security badge. But I couldn't ignore the consequences of the Democrats' thoughtless actions.

Though for my testimony, I was called inhumane; a racist; a monster.

I was even smeared by members of Congress.

I think it's important to really make sure that the jingoistic, bigoted testimony of Mr. Homan is called out as nearly completely untrue, as being an outrage, spat Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz from her desk.

I now look back and say: No, Congresswoman, I am not inhumane. You are.

Just look at the carnage that you've wrought.

What is humane about a record high of nearly 1,400 migrant deaths on U.S. soil over the last two years?

What is humane about hundreds of rapes of migrants who travel north from South America through lawless stretches of Columbia and Panama?

In 2022, a record 250,00 migrants made this crossing. In 2023, that number rose to 460,000.

What is humane about the nightmare faced by unaccompanied migrant children even after they arrive in America?

Biden's Department of Health and Human Services admits that they've lost track of more than 85,000 unaccompanied migrant children placed with sponsor families. There are documented cases of these vulnerable minors being forced to work in dangerous facilities without proper protections.

And what of the lives of American citizens lost or upended by the flow of deadly drugs from Mexico?

It's no coincidence that fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. have hit dismal new highs as an unprecedented 9 million-plus illegally crossed into America since Biden took office.

As a majority of Border Patrol agents are pulled off the frontlinesto mix baby formula in Border Patrol stations, ferry sick migrants to U.S. hospitals, or process their asylum claimscriminal organization exploit the gaping holes in America's security.

There are more than 1.8 million known gotawaysindividuals who purposefully evaded Border Patrol.

Ask yourself: Why would 1.8 million people pay the cartels to sneak them in when they could simply turn themselves over to U.S. authorities be processed, get a warm bed, a hot meal, medical attention and transportation to the city of their choice?

The answer is that a vast majority of gotaways don't want to be vetted and fingerprinted. Many are either trafficking in drugs, weapons, human beings or have some other nefarious purpose.

During the four years of the Trump administration, U.S. authorities captured 11 people who were listed on the Terrorism Watch List. Under Biden, agents detained 18 individuals in the month of September alone. Today, migrants from over 160 different countries, including Syria, Afghanistan and Iran have illegally crossed the border under the Biden Administration

The bad guys know that the border is open. That should scare the hell out of each and every American.

It's no wonder city and state leadersleft, right and centerare demanding that President Biden do something.

Arizona's Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs has deployed the National Guard to the border to take action where the federal government won't to address an unmitigated humanitarian crisis.

In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill empowering law enforcement to arrest migrants.

>>>Alejandro Mayorkass Designed Failure at the Border Is Disgraceful

And nearly 2,000 miles away in New York City, Democrat Mayor Eric Adams, who has predicted the strain of illegal immigration will destroy his city, called it baffling that there has not been a more determined federal response.

Now, three years after I warned that an open U.S. southern border would unleash misery and death, the White House is finally willing to negotiate on border security measures.

They're reportedly weighing whether to make it more difficult to claim asylum and how to enable U.S. border enforcement official to turn illegal aliens back to Mexico.

To that I ask: Are these policies still racist and inhumane?

Apparently, not. In fact, they never were.

It's clear that the Left will play the race card when it suits them to silence and demonize their opponents and win fleeting political points. But I stopped caring what my critics thought long ago.

I go to bed every night knowing that I've tried to do what was necessary to save lives be they American or foreign.

The tragedy is that these race-baiting Democrats took so long to recognize that for themselves.

Read more:
Race-Baiting Dems Smeared Me as an Heartless Bigot for Demanding Secure Borders. 3 Years Later, the Left Has ... - Heritage.org

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Opponents of restrictions on immigration routinely stress the humanitarian element of the ongoing crisis. Supporters of restrictions often focus on the financial strains that massive illegal immigration imposes on the country. But a very real problem with illegal immigration is its effect on national security.

In FY 2023, 169 migrants apprehended by CBP were on the US Terrorist Watch List. Who knows how many of the 1.7 million who evaded apprehension are potential terrorists? But when it comes to illegal immigration, there is an even greater threat to US national security on the southern border: the cartels. In June of 2021, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said that the cartels dictate everything, ensuring that nothing moves (families, unaccompanied minors, single young men, women, fentanyl, heroin, cocaine) unless the cartels say so.

In this environment, the cartels have flourished. Their earnings have jumped from 500 million dollars in 2020 to an estimated 13 billion dollars last year. Much of the cartels earnings have come from the deadly opioid, fentanyl, which has killed 109,000 Americans over the last two years.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration has undermined border security. For instance, it has violatedthe Immigration and Nationality Act by releasing millions of dubious asylum seekers into the country before their claims were legally adjudicated. It has frozen all deportationsincluding those of criminal aliens guilty of manslaughter, vandalism, assault, and other offenses.

It has ended the Remain in Mexico program and Title 42 of the Public Health Service Act of 1944, programs put into place during the Trump administration that limited the overwhelming number of migrants entering the country and temporarily eased the burden on local communities and the outnumbered border patrol. It has violated immigration law by granting mass paroles to large numbers of illegal migrants.

In response to the crisis on the southern border, the House of Representatives has passed HR 2. A companion bill has been introduced by Republicans in the Senate and is still pending. Among other provisions, this legislation would: require the Biden administration to follow current law and detain, not release, illegal migrants; tighten rules to make sure that those seeking asylum are, in fact, genuine refugees; limit the parole authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and protect vulnerable children from human traffickers and cartels by keeping families together during removal proceedings and reuniting children with their families back in their home countries.

HR 2 also criminalizes visa overstays, which traditionally account for about half of all illegal immigration, mandates (as required by current law) that asylum seekers have their finger-prints and DNA taken, and requires the resumption of construction on the border wall. In addition, it funds enhanced border protection infrastructure and more border patrol agents. And finally, it mandates E-Verify to insure that employers are not hiring illegal aliens.

Republicans have linked support for funding Ukraine and Israel to the Senate companion of HR 2. Opponents of what critics call the draconian nature of the immigration bill in the Senate have decried this action. But although there is a strong case to be made for US aid to Israel and Ukraine, the idea that securing the southern border is somehow less important than foreign aid is a dangerous illusion.

For most of its history, the United States has, thanks to the fact that our American neighbors have been weak and/or friendly, been able to focus on distant security threats arising from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Accordingly, we have sought to establish alliances and alignments enabling us to dominate the rimlands of Eurasia.

But we have always been vigilant regarding the possibility that our adversaries would exploit weaknesses in the Americas. France attempted to establish an American empire while the United States was involved in civil war. Germany sought support from Mexico during World War I. The Soviet Union sought to undermine US support for NATO by supporting Cuba and revolutionary movements in Latin America. China has established significant footholds in the Western Hemisphere.

Certainly, our ability to deal with crises abroad is undermined by weaknesses at home. Our inability to control our southern border is a major cause of such weaknesses, e.g. crime, drug use, economic dislocation. Regaining control of the southern border should be understood as nothing less than a major national security objective.

Mackubin Owensis a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He previously served as editor ofOrbis: FPRIs Journal of World Affairs (2008-2020).From 2015 until March of 2018, he was Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. From 1987 until 2014, he was Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

He is also a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, where as an infantry platoon and company commander in 1968-1969, he was wounded twice and awarded the Silver Star medal. He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a Colonel in 1994.

Owens is the author of the FPRI monographAbraham Lincoln: Leadership and Democratic Statesmanship in Wartime(2009) andUS Civil-Military Relations after 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain(Continuum Press, January 2011) and coauthor ofUS Foreign Policy and Defense Strategy: The Rise of an Incidental Superpower(Georgetown University Press, spring 2015). He is also completing a book on the theory and practice of US civil-military relations for Lynne-Rienner. He was co-editor of the textbook,Strategy and Force Planning, for which he also wrote several chapters, including The Political Economy of National Security, Thinking About Strategy, and The Logic of Strategy and Force Planning.

Owenss articles on national security issues and American politics have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, International Security, Orbis, Joint Force Quarterly, The Public Interest, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Examiner, Defence Analysis, US Naval Institute Proceedings, Marine Corps Gazette, Comparative Strategy,National Review, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor; The Los Angeles Times,the Jerusalem Post, The Washington Times, andThe New York Post.And, he formerly wrote for the Providence Journal.

Originally posted here:
Immigration and National Security- Dr. Mackubin Owens - GoLocalProv

The Biden administration has bypassed the immigrant and nonimmigrant visa provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), choosing instead to catch and release most of the illegal crossers the Border Patrol apprehended.  

When the number of illegal crossings got too high, it offered lawful pathways as an alternative, expecting the availability of lawful pathways to reduce illegal crossings. It didn’t work. Illegal crossings?dropped?from 183,921 in April 2023 to 99,538 in June, but they rose back to 181,059 in August and were at 218,763 in September.  

The administration’s admission policies are increasing our immigrant population, and we do need more immigrants. It isn’t enough, however, just to increase the immigrant population — the additional immigrants have to be able to meet America’s needs. 

The visa system does this by issuing employment-based and family-based visas, and it includes safeguards to ensure that visas aren’t given to migrants who will become a financial burden to state or local governments. 

This administration isn’t basing its admissions on America’s needs, and it isn’t ensuring that the migrants it admits will be able to take care of their financial needs without relying on government assistance.  

Many of the administration’s migrants were released into the country for an asylum hearing, but the administration has overwhelmed the asylum system by admitting too many people. The immigration court?has a backlog?of 2,930,934 cases, and the administration is not making any progress on reducing it. 

According to the Congressional Research Service, even if the size of the immigration court were to be increased from approximately?600 judges?to?1,349 judges, it would still take 10 years to clear the backlog. 

Visa safeguards 

Immigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals who intend to live and work permanently in the United States. They are inadmissible if they are likely to become a public charge. 

Nonimmigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States on a temporary basis for a specific purpose, such as tourism, business or specified types of temporary work. They have to establish that they will not need to work while they are here unless their visas are employment-based. 

All visa applicants are screened when they apply for a visa and again when they appear at a port of entry seeking admission to the United States; some of the visas have numerical limitations. Notwithstanding these restrictions, the United States issued 1,018,349 immigrant visas and 6,815,120 nonimmigrant visas in fiscal 2022.  

Few safeguards 

The Border Patrol has apprehended 5,815,600 illegal crossers since the beginning of Biden’s presidency, from 160 countries. This has severely reduced the time available to screen individual migrants. Notwithstanding this problem, the Border Patrol released more than 2 million illegal crossers. 

The main legal pathway is the?CBP One?mobile application program, which permits migrants without visas to schedule an appointment to present themselves for inspection at a designated port of entry.?The extraordinarily high CBP One admission rate indicates that CBP isn’t doing meaningful screening in this program either. From January 2023, which is when the interviews started, through September, CBP admitted 99.7 percent of the 225,000 undocumented immigrants it interviewed. 

Burden  

The tsunami of migrant admissions has been especially hard on border towns. 

Since spring 2022, New York City, with a population of 8.3 million, has received 118,000 migrants. Chicago, with a population of 2.6 million, accepted around 15,000. The mayors of these cities have complained bitterly about the burdens this imposes. 

But Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Texas, with combined populations of 63,433, have received a total of 347,572 illegal crossers in the first 11 months of fiscal 2023. The officials from these cities say they have exhausted their resources trying to meet the migrant demands for social services, food and housing.  

Eagle Pass has one small hospital with 101 beds, and it has to bear $100,000 a month in uncompensated migrant care that the federal government won’t reimburse. The Eagle Pass mayor issued an emergency declaration to get state resources and funding to handle these expenses. 

El Paso, Texas,?is receiving approximately 2,000 migrants per day. Mayor Oscar Leeser has warned that, “We have come to what we look at [as] a breaking point right now.” 

Dozens, sometimes hundreds, of migrants walk across private property along the California-Mexico border every day. The border town of Jacumba, Calif., has a population of 600 people, and it is providing a camp for more than 300 recently arrived migrants. 

Trash 

It has been estimated that each illegal crosser leaves behind 6 to 8 pounds of trash on the U.S. side of the border. This includes such things as backpacks, plastics, clothing, human waste, medical supplies, food and chemicals.  

Fox News captured drone footage of trash and clothing discarded along a common crossing point near Normandy, Texas. Thousands of migrants have streamed across the border?there, leaving behind discarded trash and clothing. Similar scenes can be observed at the Eagle Pass border.  

John Rourke went to Brownsville, Texas, to clean up trash that had been left behind by migrants. He found piles of debris such as wet clothing, plastic trash bags, paper, discarded pills and identification cards.  

In Arizona, roughly 2,000 tons of trash are discarded every year along the state’s borderlands.  

If the administration is going to continue admitting millions of migrants without visas, it should at least make an effort to ensure that they will meet American employment and family unification needs, and that they will not have to depend on government financial assistance. It also should do something about the trash they are leaving in their wake. 

Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years. Follow him at: https://nolanrappaport.blogspot.com 

The rest is here:
The massive burden of Bidens undocumented immigrants - The Hill