Gov. Greg Abbott is betting his reelection on Operation Lone Star — a $3 billion border enforcement effort with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department.
Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 “to combat the ongoing influx of unlawful immigrants," and deployed 10,000 National Guard members to enforce the state-run crackdown along Texas’ southern border.
Abbott has touted the operation as a success — saying it "continues to save lives, take drugs off the streets, [and] apprehend traffickers" — but according to recently published reporting, the data doesn’t back him up.
An investigation into the veracity of Abbott's claims shows how the state is using shifting metrics that misrepresent Operation Lone Star's accomplishments, such as claiming arrests and crimes not connected to the border and work done prior to the start of the operation to boost its numbers.
Guests:
- Perla Trevizo, reporter with the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative unit
- Andrew Rodriguez Calderon, computational journalist at The Marshall Project
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*This interview was recorded on Tuesday, April 5.