EXCLUSIVE: Texas Border Apprehensions Down 85 Percent Since Start of Operation Lone Star, Says Gov. Abbott

AUSTIN, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott told Breitbart Texas that the apprehension of migrants in the five Texas-based border sectors has dropped by 85 percent since he launched the Operation Lone Star border security mission in March 2021.

“Since we begin this process (Operation Lone Star), when you look at the miles of border wall put up by Texas, the hundreds of miles of razor wire border barrier, backed up by anti-climb barrier, backed up by National Guard, the buoys in the river, and the other strategies that we’ve deployed,” Governor Abbott explained in an exclusive interview at the Governor’s Mansion, “illegal immigration in the state of Texas is down about 85 percent across the entire board, from Brownsville to El Paso, counting only crossings in El Paso, not those who cross in New Mexico and come to El Paso.”

As of the end of Fiscal Year 2024, which ended on September 30, just under 500,000 migrants were apprehended who illegally crossed the border between ports of entry in the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors. One year earlier, that number came in at just over one million migrants, Breitbart Texas reported. The net result was a single-year decrease of 54 percent.   In FY22, more than 1.2 million migrants were apprehended in these sectors, Breitbart Texas reported. These numbers include migrants apprehended in the New Mexico portion of the El Paso Sector.

In March 2021, Governor Greg Abbott announced Operation Lone Star would commence in response to an increase in migrant crossings, human smuggling, and narcotics trafficking. The operation began with deploying more than 1,000 state police and National Guardsmen to the immediate border area.

The video below, released on the second anniversary of the launch of Operation Lone Star details many of the successes of the operation.

According to information from the Office of the Texas Governor, from the beginning of Operation Lone Star through July 19, 2024, Texas law enforcement officers and National Guardsmen have apprehended more than half a million migrants. This led to over 45,000 criminal arrests, including more than 39,000 felony charges. The efforts also led to the seizure of more than 505 million lethal doses of fentanyl.

Breitbart asked the governor what he expects to happen along the Texas border if former President Donald Trump is elected and sworn in in 2025.

“So I’ve talked to President Trump about what his policies will be when he is elected, and he knows far more now about how to secure the border than when he was first elected as President of the United States,” Abbott responded. “He will be far more aggressive and far more effective at securing the border in the second term than he was in his first term.”

“What that will do, that will eliminate a lot of the cost that Texas taxpayers are incurring to secure the border,” the governor continued. “The current infrastructure that Texas has built will remain there. The mile after mile after mile of border wall is not coming down; the razor wire border barrier is not coming down. But we do anticipate that what President Trump will be doing will go so far in securing the border, at denying illegal entry, that it will dramatically reduce what Texas needs to do to secure our own state.”

“We have proven that if you put up resistance if you deny illegal entry, you will stop illegal immigration into the United States,” Governor Abbott concluded. “That’s exactly what Donald Trump did. This is exactly what Harris could have done but refused to do.”

Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.  

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 3 of an exclusive interview with Texas Governor Greg Abbott. In Part 1, the governor discussed Vice President Kamala Harris’ border visit. Part 2 focused the State’s crackdown on the Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang.