Law enforcement officers, ranchers and other residents of South Texas have a vocabulary to describe state and federal border security efforts, including Operation Lone Star.
Gov. Greg Abbott has poured more than $4 billion into the initiative over the past year, a fivefold increase over previous budget cycles, and the number of migrants crossing into Texas has reached record levels.
The money pays for thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and state police to patrol different border sectors and to protect the interests of private landowners by arresting migrants who trespass on their property, mostly in the Eagle Pass-Del Rio sector.
The terminology soldiers and state troopers use has become common parlance in the border region. Activists for migrants’ rights take issue with some of the terms, saying they could be viewed as dehumanizing or objectionable.
Here are some terms Dallas Morning News journalists heard on a three-day trip to the Eagle Pass region, where they observed DPS officers by land and by air and spoke with migrants and residents to gain perspective on what’s happening at the border.
Bailout
A situation in which passengers flee after a driver transporting unauthorized immigrants fears being stopped, and either pulls over or crashes through ranch fences and over harsh terrain.
Bite dogs
Specially trained dogs of the U.S. Border Patrol. Used to track migrants as Texas state police helicopters circle overhead.
Bodies
Living migrants, being pursued for apprehension. Though law enforcement officers use the term casually, immigrant rights activists deplore it as dehumanizing.
Brushed up
Adjective for migrants taking cover under sheds, trees, shrubs, cactus, even indentations in the ground. Borrowed from hunting lingo, and in some people’s ears, objectionable.
Give-ups
Migrants content to be processed by federal immigration officials, usually because they do not fear immediate expulsion.
Got-aways
People seeking to slip into the country undetected. Though they are not physically detained, their images are caught on cameras installed along the border. Border Patrol receives instantaneous alerts.
Turnbacks
Migrants who returned to Mexico after they saw state-funded police or soldiers at the border. Operation Lone Star dashboard calls them “illegal entries deterred,” saying there have been 25,991 since the state initiative began in March 2021.
