10,000 National Guard and Texas State Troopers deployed to border for ‘Operation Lone Star’

McALLEN, TX (Border report) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott has deployed 10,000 state troops and National Guard units to the Texas border as part of “Operation Lone Star,” his office told Border Report Monday.

Abbott posted a video to social media last week showing dozens of steel shipping containers and Department of Public Safety soldiers lining the banks of the Rio Grande near the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas. , as part of “Operation Steel Curtain”. The operation is part of Operation Lone Star, which is a massive operation that began in March, a spokeswoman for the governor said.

Operation Lone Star is designed to enhance border security and thwart human traffickers and the drug cartel, said Abbott. It uses tactical air, land and sea border security units.

The troop build-up comes as a caravan of migrants heads north towards the United States from southern Mexico.

“As part of this important mission, the DPS is partnering with the Texas Military Department (TMD) to employ Operation Steel Curtain tactics, which involves placing physical barriers – such as large steel containers and barbed wire – as well as personnel and equipment along the border in order to block and repel criminal activity and end violations of state law,” Department of Justice Lt. Christopher Olivarez said Monday. Texas Public Safety to Border Report.

Adjutant General Tracy Norris, who leads the Texas Army National Guard, posted several photos on Twitter showing accordion wire outside steel shipping containers lining the banks of the river, which, according to it, are designed “to protect our border communities”.

Abbott recently spoke to the media about what he calls the need to arm the Texas shores of the Rio Grande as several thousand migrants in multiple waves would head north toward the United States from southern Mexico.

“We are constantly monitoring the situation along the border in order to make real-time decisions and adjust our operations if necessary. DPS is working with federal, state, and local partners on this mission, and we stand ready to protect the people and property of this state,” Olivarez told Border Report.

Last week, National Guard troops and state troopers conducted several maneuvers in the Eagle Pass area in preparation for a possible confrontation with migrants or large crowds, as was the case in about 70 miles north in the town of Del Rio, Texas in September when 15,000 migrants, mostly Haitians, camped under the international bridge, prompting authorities to close it.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at [email protected].