Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Friday that the state has intensified its border security efforts by expanding the floating marine barrier in the Rio Grande and installing additional razor wire in Eagle Pass.
These measures aim to combat the surge in illegal border crossings ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, where he has promised to secure the border and enforce mass deportations on Day One.
Texas began lengthening the buoy barrier on Wednesday, following the installation of more razor wire on Tuesday. While the total length of the barrier remains undisclosed, the original 1,000-foot installation has proven a critical tool in deterring illegal crossings.
“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 open border policies,” Abbott said.
These actions are part of Operation Lone Star, a program Abbott launched in 2023 to address what he calls the federal government’s failure to protect the southern border under President Joe Biden.
Operation Lone Star has been a cornerstone of Texas’s border security strategy, including a multibillion-dollar investment in measures like the floating marine barrier, which was first deployed in June 2023.
Eagle Pass, a hotspot for illegal crossings, has become the focal point of this initiative. Despite legal challenges from the Biden administration, Abbott has remained resolute.
After the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit demanding the barrier’s removal, Abbott took the fight to court. A panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in December 2023 that Texas must dismantle the barrier, but the full Fifth Circuit later allowed it to remain pending a lower court’s decision.
Abbott defended Operation Lone Star’s success on Friday, highlighting its impact: over 48,700 criminal arrests, more than 41,900 felony charges, and the seizure of 553 million lethal doses of fentanyl—enough to endanger every man, woman, and child in the U.S. and Mexico combined. “Texas will continue to do what Washington refuses to—secure our border and protect our communities,” Abbott stated.
