AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Texas will launch a new initiative to combat smuggling of people and drugs at the Mexican border, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday.
Operation Lone Star will combine efforts from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard, according to a statement from the governor's office.
"The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration,” Abbott said in a statement. "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.”
Operation Lone Star will deploy air, ground, marine, and tactical border security assets to high threat areas to deny Mexican cartels and other smugglers the ability to move drugs and people into Texas.
The move follows last month's meeting between Abbott and DPS director Col. Steve McCraw involving strategies to enhance safety and security along the border.