(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) – Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star, has surpassed more than 516,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants since it began in early 2021.
As of Friday, OLS officers have apprehended more than 516,300 illegal foreign nationals and made more than 45,300 criminal arrests, with more than 39,400 felony charges reported.
Texas law enforcement officers statewide have also seized more than 505 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill the entire populations of the United States and Mexico combined.
“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created 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.”
On Wednesday night, Abbott urged Americans to secure the border by voting for President Donald Trump in November. Abbott spoke about Texas’ border security efforts at the Republican National Convention, saying, “The president’s most sacred duty is to protect our country,” which President Trump did, he said and “Joe Biden deserted his duty.”
The greatest number of illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. while Biden’s been in office of over 12 million, including two million who evaded capture, known as gotaways, The Center Square first reported.
Under Biden, the number of people who have been apprehended illegally entering the U.S. total more than the populations of 44 individual states and 155 countries.
Last month, more than 205,000 illegally entered the U.S., The Center Square reported, bringing the total number to more than 2.4 million in fiscal 2024 through June, with apprehensions at the northern border setting another record.
“Biden has welcomed into our country rapists, murderers, even terrorists and the price we have paid has been deadly,” Abbott said. “Among the many victims was 12-year-old Jocelyn from Houston, raped and murdered” by two Venezuelans released into the country through a parole program created by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
When the president and “‘border czar” Vice President Kamala Harris “refused to come to Texas to see the border crisis they created, I took the border to them,” Abbott said, by busing illegal border crossers to Washington, D.C. and sanctuary cities nationwide. “Those buses will continue to roll” until the border is secure, he said.
So far, Texas has bused more than 120,000 foreign nationals north who were unlawfully released into Texas by the Biden administration, he argues. Texas has sent the most to New York City, of nearly 46,000, followed by nearly 37,000 to Chicago, more than 19,200 to Denver, more than 12,500 to Washington, D.C., more than 3,400 to Philadelphia, and more than 1,500 to Los Angeles, according to the latest updated data released on Friday.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has also added two fugitives to “Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrant List,” two Mexican nationals in the country illegally.
All of the men on the list are Hispanic men wanted for violent crimes. Not soon after the list was announced last month, two repeat offenders were apprehended, The Center Square reported.
The latest two added to the list include 25-year-old Mexican Fabian Martinez Toribio, who has ties to Travis County, in Austin and Pflugerville, DPS said. In April 2018, he was arrested and convicted of Entry Without Inspection and subsequently removed from the U.S. He illegally entered the U.S. again and by October 2023, was arrested again, this time by Manor police officers for Resisting Arrest/Search and possession of a controlled substance. He subsequently bonded out of jail. On Jan. 30, 2024, the Austin Police Department issued a warrant for his arrest for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child. On Feb. 27, 2024, a warrant was issued out of Travis County for his arrest for possession of a controlled substance.
The other is 32-year-old Mexican Octavio Cruz Hernandez with ties to Travis, Hays and Bastrop counties, including the cities of Austin, Kyle, Dripping Springs and Cedar Creek, according to DPS. In September 2019, he was convicted in Travis County of driving while intoxicated with child under 15 years of age. Within one month, he was removed from the U.S. At some point, he illegally reentered the U.S., and was arrested in July 2022, this time by Kyle police officers. He was next charged, tried and convicted of driving while intoxicated. On April 8, 2024, a warrant was issued for his arrest out of Bastrop County for sex abuse of a child continuous: victim under 14.
“Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-8477 or submit a tip here,” Abbott said. “Working together, we’ll put these dangerous criminals behind bars.”
