Texas continues to fortify its boundaries amidst an ongoing tussle with narcotics trafficking. Governor Greg Abbott, alongside the Texas Department of Public Safety and the National Guard, remain entrenched at the forefront of Operation Lone Star—an initiative striving to staunch the flow of illicit drugs and to curtail human smuggling efforts.

According to the Office of the Texas Governor's official website, the operation has culminated in well over half a million unauthorized immigrant apprehensions and upwards of 46,000 criminal arrests. A specific focus of these efforts is to aggressively move to reduce the amount of fentanyl entering Texas and, by extension, the United States. With a reported seizure of over 521 million lethal doses, the authorities in Texas are suggesting a significant impact on the availability of this potent synthetic opioid.

The Lone Star State reports an 87% decrease in illegal crossings—a statistic aimed to underscore the effects of this broad span of initiatives on immigration patterns. The operation’s reach includes the transportation of migrants to various cities across the nation, a measure not without its share of controversy. Figures show over 45,900 migrants directed to New York City and substantially higher numbers to other metropolitan areas like Chicago and Philadelphia since the program's inception.

In parallel, Texas officials continue to sharply criticize the Biden-Harris Administration for their failure to secure the national borders adequately. They assert that each individual apprehended and every ounce of narcotics confiscated under Operation Lone Star is a testament to the lapses of the federal government's immigration policies. Furthermore, the press release suggested a direct correlation, stating every incident of interception "would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation" due to the current administration's approach.