Operation Lone Star

The space named for a Confederate general became a battleground in a fight between the State of Texas and the Biden administration over immigration enforcement.

The State of Texas took over the park in January 2024 following a rise in border crossings.

It was a change from the Republican governor's legal battles with the Biden administration. Abbott spent the last four years testing a state's ability to enforce immigration law — at times at odds with Border Patrol.

He said migrants will 'pay with their bodies' if they enter Texas illegally.

Gov. Greg Abbott has mobilized thousands of National Guard troops to the southern border over the past three years to deter illegal migration. The mobilization has taken a toll on some soldiers.

The General Land Office announcements came as Gov. Greg Abbott and Tom Homan, the incoming Trump administration's border czar, visited soldiers and troopers assigned to Operation Lone Star.

As Texas continues its multi- effort to secure the border, state lawmakers were told this week that most of the people charged with smuggling immigrants over a recent 12-month period were U.S. citizens.

Since Abbott's Operation Lone Star began in 2021, at least 17 Texas National Guardsman have died from a multitude of causes, including a drowning in an attempt to save migrants, negligent discharge of a personally owned weapon and suicides.

Senate Bill 602 was touted as another force multiplier on the border. But almost a year after the law went into effect, the program has yet to get off the ground.

El Paso County is asking the governor to help cover the mounting cost of using local jail space for Operation Lone Star arrests.