Gov. Abbott Deploys Texas National Guard, State Troopers to Counter Biden's 'Open Border Policies'

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the deployment of the state’s National Guard and State Troopers to respond to the growing border crisis.

Governor Abbott announced Operation Lone Star “to combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas” on Saturday. The operation will integrate the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) with the National Guard, Abbott said. He is ordering the deployment of air, ground, marine, and tactical border security assets to high threat areas.

“The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration,” the governor said in a written statement Saturday evening. “Texas supports legal immigration but will not be an accomplice to the open border policies that cause, rather than prevent, a humanitarian crisis in our state and endanger the lives of Texans. We will surge the resources and law enforcement personnel needed to confront this crisis.”

Abbott issued the deployment order following a meeting with Texas DPS Director Colonel Steve McCraw. The two discussed strategies to increase safety and security along the border.

The announcement follows a massive increase in illegal border crossings since President Joe Biden took office in January.

Earlier this week, Democrat Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX) announced that Border Patrol agents apprehended approximately 10,000 migrants in the Rio Grande Valley Sector during a seven-day period ending on Wednesday, Breitbart Texas reported.

“We are weeks, maybe even days, away from a crisis on the southern border. Inaction is simply not an option,” Congressman Cuellar said in a written statement. “Our country is currently unprepared to handle a surge in migrants in the middle of the pandemic.”