State Sen. Kelly Hancock has reviewed Texas’ immigration-related enforcement measures during repeated trips to the border.
The North Richland Hills Republican says Gov. Greg Abbott’s $4 billion Operation Lone Star is working, but the federal government isn’t doing its part to stem the flow of migration across the border.
Hancock served three terms in the Texas House before capturing the District 9 seat, which includes portions of Tarrant and Dallas counties, in 2012. He has served as chairman of the Senate Veteran Affairs and Border Security Committee, and is Abbott’s closest ally in the chamber.
The Dallas Morning News spoke to Hancock about Operation Lone Star and its effectiveness. The interview has been edited for clarity and space.
State leaders are spending five times as much state taxpayer money on border security in the current budget cycle as they did previously. Civil rights groups and advocates for immigrants say Operation Lone Star is callous, inhumane and ineffective. How do you see it?
I mean, we’ve seized enough fentanyl to kill every U.S. citizen. That means there’s over 300 million doses of fentanyl that are not on the street. We’ve apprehended, what, 300,000 [migrants]? And I’m guessing the people who are saying such things have never been down there to see the environment that these people are coming across … when we apprehend them. They receive care, they receive clothing, they receive food, they receive showers, none of which they’re getting as they cross the miles and miles of the desert that they’re crossing.
Under Operation Lone Star, Texas is arresting unauthorized immigrants on state charges of misdemeanor criminal trespassing and criminal mischief. Has arresting nearly 5,000 migrants on such charges since spring 2021 been a deterrent?
Well, we’ve also arrested nearly 17,000 on felony charges. So I mean, you can’t deny the numbers but you can pick and choose your numbers. And so I would say that, unfortunately, the federal government has failed and continues to fail. Obviously, it would be much more successful if we could work together. But Texas has to address the issue because the federal government is not addressing the issue.
Some say Operation Lone Star isn’t measurably reducing the migrant flow. Is that fair or unfair?
I don’t think they’ve been there because you can go and just simply watch and see it reducing the flow. Now what’s hard to offset is the invitation coming from the federal government encouraging more immigrants to illegally cross our borders.
Are there any parts of Operation Lone Star that should be tweaked — or that the Legislature next session should take a hard look at?
We’re going to take a look at everything. Anything we spend that much money on, we will take a hard look at. And [state executive branch officials] are constantly tweaking. You know, they’re constantly shifting because the migrants themselves will shift, based on where we build up.
The Facilities Commission has put up 1.8 miles of steel-bollard wall in Starr County, in the Rio Grande Valley, but the migrant flow has shifted some 250 miles upriver, to Eagle Pass and Del Rio. There, the Texas National Guard has installed 58 miles of chain-link fence and 42 miles of concertina wire. But gaps exist. Big stretches have no barrier. Are we stopping anyone?
Obviously, we’re having an impact or they wouldn’t be continuing to try to find locations to cross. And so these restrictions that are being placed are working or they will just keep coming through the same way they’re always coming through.
In the U.S. right now, we have what you might describe as immigration policy by nationality: Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans get “Title 42′ed” 60% to 90% of the time. But the opposite is true of those from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua. Is that fair?
I don’t think the federal policies, in the way they’re being administered by the Biden administration, are fair to any U.S. citizen.
Is talking about an invasion and crisis all the time stirring up hatred of these desperate people who are taking these journeys of thousands of miles on foot to get here?
I think you can have compassion for these individuals and still recognize that we have laws in place that we should be obeying.
Border security: By the numbers
Nearly 18 months ago, Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star, saying Texas “will not be an accomplice to the open border policies that cause, rather than prevent, a humanitarian crisis.” He says it’s been a success, while Democrats and civil rights groups call it oppressive, illegal and a wasteful stunt.
548 days: Time elapsed since effort began on March 6, 2021
$4.04 billion: Cost for first nine months of current fiscal year
More than $6 billion: Likely cost for entire two-year budget cycle, which ends nearly a year from now *
1.8: Number of miles of permanent border wall installed (all in Starr County)
100: Number of miles of chain-link fence or concertina wire placed (most, in Eagle Pass-Del Rio area)
$55.3 million: Border wall donations by the public, through Aug. 17
19,414: Criminal** arrests in “OLS Area of Interest” ***
4,977: Misdemeanor criminal trespassing arrests, in same area
2,690: “Bailouts,” when vehicle under suspicion of hauling migrants suddenly stops, passengers flee
30: Fatalities in OLS vehicle chases, through July 28 ****
284: Pounds of fentanyl seized in OLS Area of Interest *****
* The Texas Military Department and Texas Department of Public Safety are expected to soon exhaust monies appropriated or transferred. While their current “weekly burn rates” would put the effort’s entire two-year tab at more than $7 billion, agencies also may reduce costs significantly by dialing back deployments.
** However, mixed into the statistics are Texans caught with small amounts of marijuana during routine traffic stops nowhere near the border, an analysis in June by The Dallas Morning News found.
*** Includes DPS regions for South Texas and West Texas, plus other areas on the Gulf of Mexico. For DPS regions map, click here and scroll down.
**** ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project complaint to U.S. Department of Justice, July 28, 2022
***** Abbott translates the pounds of fentanyl seized to 64.4 million potential deadly doses, using the DEA’s estimate of 2 milligrams as a lethal dose, though it depends on the person’s size, tolerance and past usage.
