Operation Lone Star: More than 30,000 foreign nationals turned back to Mexico

By BETHANY BLANKLEY THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR

(The Center Square) — Texas law enforcement officers working through Operation Lone Star have turned back more than 30,000 foreign nationals to Mexico as of March 24.

Since March 2021, officers have apprehended over 359,000 illegal foreign nationals and made over 26,000 criminal arrests, with more than 23,000 felony charges reported. They’ve also seized more than 373 million lethal doses of fentanyl, more than enough to kill everyone in the United States.

“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border,” Gov. Greg

Abbott 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 (Joe) Biden’s open border policies.”

In the first five months of fiscal 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Texas Department of Public Safety and National Guard members have apprehended more than 4,300 Chinese nationals at the southwest border, with over 1,300 reported last month alone.

This represents a 900% increase in Chinese national apprehensions at the southern border over the year.

“Cartels are profiting off the influx by charging Chinese individuals,” Gov. Abbott said, charging “$35,000 to $50,000 a person to be smuggled into the country.”

He made the announcement after U.S. Border Patrol agents in Texas apprehended 90 Chinese nationals illegally entering the U.S. in the Rio Grande Valley last Thursday, a record.

Rio Grande Valley Sector

Chief Gloria Chavez said it was the greatest number of Chinese apprehended in a single day by RGV agents since 2010, bringing the total number of Chinese nationals apprehended in the sector this fiscal year to date to 1,667.

The RGV Sector in Texas leads the U.S. in Chinese apprehensions with 91% of those apprehended being single adults. Apprehensions so far this fiscal year are also a

930% increase compared to the same time frame last year, Ms. Chavez said.

OLS law enforcement officers continue to apprehend human smugglers.

In Kinney County, during a high-speed pursuit, Texas DPS eventually apprehended a human smuggler from Dallas. Once the pursuit ended with the driver pulling the truck over to the side of the road, the driver and five illegal foreign nationals hiding inside bailed out attempting to evade arrest. They were all caught, law enforcement said.

The driver was charged with evading arrest and smuggling of persons. All five illegal foreign nationals were referred to Border Patrol.