Operation Lone Star 2.0: Texas turns into an immigration police state'

"Operation Lone Star began as Texas' strategy to curb migrant crossings at the southern border during Joe Biden's presidency. Four years later, it has become a detention machine that reinforces the immigration crackdown launched under the Donald Trump administration. Now, under what several experts are calling Lone Star 2.0, Texas has taken on a role that normally belongs to the federal government: so far this year, more than 3,100 undocumented migrants have been arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)."

"Constitutionally, it's very clear that immigration law is a federal matter, not a state matter. The difference here is that Texas isn't interfering with the wishes of the current president, explains immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch. During Biden's term, Texas faced federal lawsuits for trying to manage immigration on its own. Courts blocked the state from placing barbed-wire buoys in the Rio Grande and struck down SB4, a law that authorized local police to detain and deport people suspected of being in the country illegally."

"However, under Trump, that federal opposition disappeared. As a result, the Texas government, led by Republican and Trump ally Greg Abbott, has intensified its operations and begun acting with near-total freedom. According to official records obtained by The Texas Tribune, nearly 700 of the 3,131 arrests made by the DPS this year took place in cities like Austin, Dallas, and Houston hundreds of miles from the border."

Operation Lone Star began as a Texas strategy to curb migrant crossings at the southern border during Joe Biden's presidency, but it has evolved into a large detention and enforcement program. The Texas Department of Public Safety has arrested more than 3,100 undocumented migrants this year, including nearly 700 arrests in cities hundreds of miles from the border. Constitutional authority over immigration rests with the federal government, yet Texas has assumed enforcement roles typically handled federally. Federal legal challenges blocked state measures during Biden's term, but federal opposition subsided under Trump, allowing intensified operations. The initiative has cost nearly $11 billion to date.

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