Texas Launches Operation to Counter Growing Crisis at Southern Border

Illegal immigrant families wait for their bus at a bus station in Brownsville, Texas, before traveling to meet relatives or sponsors on March 2, 2021. Sergio Flores/AFP/Getty Images

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched a program on March 6 that will deploy state National Guard troops and personnel from other agencies to respond to the burgeoning crisis at the southern border.

Abbott says Operation Lone Star, in collaboration with the state’s Department of Public Safety, will deploy air, ground, marine, and tactical border security assets to prevent Mexican criminal organizations from smuggling drugs and people into Texas.