Texas Gov. Abbott praises Operation Lone Star, highlights how many migrants he's shipped across country

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday praised a joint operation between state offices to secure the southern border, saying the collaboration has led to large seizures of drugs and criminal arrests and the bussing of migrants to Democratic cities. 

Operation Lone Star was launched as a border security initiative in March 2021 in response to an increase in illegal border crossings through Texas and President Biden's immigration policies. The measure deployed troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard members to the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden administration's refusal to secure the border," a news release issued by Abbott's office said. "Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden's open border policies."

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday praised the results of Operation Lone Star, his border security initiative aimed at addressing illegal crossings and criminal activity. (Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Since operations began, there have been 308,700 migrant apprehensions and more than 20,200 criminal arrests, with more than 17,900 felony charges being levied, Abbott said in the news release. 

In addition, troopers have seized more than 336 million doses of fentanyl, which has become more common along the border as Mexican drug cartels have become more committed to smuggling the synthetic opioid into the U.S. 

Texas has also bussed more than 8,100 migrants to Washington, D.C., since April, over 2,900 to New York City since Aug. 5 and more than 870 migrants to Chicago since Aug. 31, Abbott said. The Republican governor has characterized the transportation of migrants to Democratic-led cities as a necessity to relieve overwhelmed border communities. 

A Texas DPS pilot was conducting a ramp check on a Gulf Stream IV aircraft because he suspected "the aircraft was being used in human smuggling," noting that there was "some suspicious activity" from a group of people inside the airport. (Texas DPS)

Most recently, investigators with Operation Lone Star caught several illegal immigrants boarding a small plane bound for Houston and found a kidnapped migrant baby who was being held for ransom.

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