Hundreds of Texas National Guard and state troopers have deployed to Eagle Pass in recent days and built a wall of shipping containers and razor wire as the state seeks to show off an increasingly muscular approach to border security.
Although the state has no authority to arrest migrants for federal immigration offenses, it can charge migrants for trespassing on private land and it can seek to physically intimidate and deter migrants from crossing in high-traffic areas.
In the latest PR effort, state officials released drone footage of a wall of about 20 shipping containers lining the Rio Grande riverbank from the bridge at Eagle Pass that connects Texas with Mexico.
They called this Operation Steel Curtain. Behind the containers, the images showed a fleet of Department of Public Safety patrol cars and dozens of officers walking around.
Governor Greg Abbott previously touted the idea of using shipping containers at the border on October 28 when he was a guest on a Fox News program. Troopers used a similar blockade technique at Del Rio in September to block the movement of approximately 15,000 migrants from Haiti gathered under a bridge.
The Texas-Mexico border is 1,250 miles long so the new steel wall and razor wire being deployed under Operation Lone Star cover only a very small portion of the border. Officials claim, however, that Operation Lone Star has resulted in the apprehension of over 73,000 migrants who have been handed over to federal law enforcement.
Additionally, DPS troopers have seized 10,000 pounds of marijuana, 1,500 pounds of cocaine, 1,500 pounds of methamphetamine, over 130 pounds of fentanyl, and over 34 pounds of heroin since March.
Democrats lawmakers have called for an investigation into Operation Lone Star saying it is militarizing border communities and interfering with federal immigration system. According to a complaint filed with the U.S. Justice Department, migrants apprehended on state trespassing charges aren’t always being afforded due process rights and aren’t provided prompt legal counsel and interpretation services.
