Operation Lone Star: Texas continues to expand program despite court ruling

(NewsNation) — Despite the Supreme Court extending a pause on a Texas law that allows police to arrest migrants crossing the border, the state continued to “hold the line” by expanding border defense with fences and blockades this week.

The nation’s highest court issued a one-week pause so it would have more time to consider Texas Senate Bill 4, which grants state law enforcement power to arrest migrants and give local judges authority to order them to leave the country.

Justice Samuel Alito’s order extending the hold on the law until Monday came a day before the previous hold was set to expire.

But that ruling did not deter state guards from continuing to seal the border.

A member of Texas National Guard stands on top of a shipping container before a news conference at Shelby Park along the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, US, on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. In response to the surge and in defiance of federal authority over immigration, Abbott in January ordered Texas National Guard troops to take control of Shelby Park, a key access point in Eagle Pass to the Rio Grande, which flows along a major part of the US-Mexico border. Photographer: Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“We’re continuing going forward with our projects and trying to secure more areas along the border as part of Operation Lone Star,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told NewsNation’s Ali Bradley.

“Until we’re actually told, you know, if it gets to the point where it goes to the Supreme Court, and we’re actually told that, ‘You know what? You cannot place barriers, you have to remove them,’ then that’s one story, but right now, we’re still moving forward with what we’re doing right now.”

What is Operation Lone Star?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to prevent a rise in border crossings that he largely blamed on President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

Under Operation Lone Star, he deployed the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to the 1,200-mile southern border with Mexico to stop illegal crossings, arrest human smugglers and cartel gang members and stop the flow of deadly drugs, according to the program’s website.

The state also spent $11 million to install thousands of concertina wire rolls along the Rio Grande.

“While the federal government ignores this crisis, Texas is holding the line,” the program proclaimed.

Abbott said that his program has led to over 502,500 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 40,100 criminal arrests.

While Operation Lone Star has gained support from other Republican leaders, it has also garnered much opposition from lawmakers who say Abbott overstepped his powers and has acted inhumanely.

Last summer, the state set up marine floating barriers in the form of 1,000-foot strings of buoys separated by saw blades that supported a submerged mesh net designed to deter migrants from crossing the Rio Grande.

The barriers sparked protests from migrant advocates and lawmakers.

“Clothing stuck on razor wire where families got trapped. Chainsaw devices in the middle of buoys. Land seized from US citizens. Operation Lone Star is barbaric — and @GovAbbott is making border communities collateral damage,” Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro posted on social media.

What is Senate Bill 4?

Gov. Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 in December in an effort to seal his jurisdiction over border security enforcement.

Under Senate Bill 4, border crossing would be a Class B misdemeanor, carrying a punishment of up to six months in jail. Those with multiple offenses would face a second-degree felony with a punishment of two to 20 years in prison, the Texas Tribune reported.

State judges would also be required to order migrants returned to Mexico if they are convicted, with state law enforcement tasked with transporting migrants to the border.

The charges would be dropped if a migrant agrees to return to Mexico voluntarily, the outlet reported.

Predictably, the law caused outrage by civil rights and migrant advocates who say SB4 is an extreme overreach by a state to police immigration and will inevitably lead to dangerous racial profiling of Latinos.

Several groups mounted a lawsuit against the law that reached the Supreme Court.

Three migrants told NewsNation they are stuck in the riverbanks by Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas.

“Make no mistake: S.B. 4 bypasses federal immigration authority and threatens the integrity of our nation’s constitution and laws,” the ACLU, ACLU of Texas, TCRP, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, American Gateways and El Paso County Commissioners Sergio Coronado and David Stout said in a joint statement.