(USNewsMag.com) – In support of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott‘s Operation Lone Star, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is sending troops to the Texas border.
On July 31, Pillen stated it was “critical to the security of Nebraska” and “other states” that the border be secured to prevent illegal drugs and weapons from entering the country.
Sixty Nebraska Army National Guard troops will go to the border to help with the ongoing illegal migrant crisis. They will assist other agencies and law enforcement at the border by providing “additional observation and reporting.” They will not be directly involved with law enforcement activities, nor will they be deputized, according to a Nebraska Army National Guard spokesperson.
The troops were deployed on Aug. 2, two days after his announcement, and will return at the beginning of September.
Texas Emergency Management officials requested the assistance, according to Pillen. The deployment costs will be covered by federal money through the Nebraska National Guard.
In May, Nebraska sent 10 state troopers to Texas for two weeks to operate observation drones. This was the third time a governor from Nebraska had sent state troopers to the southern border.
In March 2021, Abbott launched Operation Lone Star as a way to respond to the migrant crisis at the southern border. Abbott deployed both Texas Department of Public Safety resources as well as the Texas National Guard to help with border security and the influx of illegal migrants crossing. The $2 billion-per-year program includes increasing border patrol law enforcement. It also involves the building of new infrastructure, such as buoys that have been deployed in the Rio Grande River to prevent people from swimming across.
According to Abbott, Operation Lone Star has resulted in 400,000 apprehensions as well as 31,000 criminal arrests, which have resulted in about 29,000 felony charges. The seizure of 422 million doses of fentanyl at the border is also a result of Operation Lone Star.
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