Texas’ Operation Lone Star has been credited with halting hundreds of thousands of illegal crossings and deterring many more, and this piece looks at how the state acted when federal enforcement faltered, what the numbers show, and why other border states might learn from Texas’ approach.
Since 2021, Texas moved decisively to confront a crisis at its border when the federal response was weak. State authorities stepped into the gap and built a program focused on deterring illegal crossings and apprehending those who enter unlawfully. The results, measured in arrests and deterrence, are politically and practically significant.
The hard numbers are striking: OLS officers report hundreds of thousands of apprehensions and six-figure deterrence totals over a five-year span. Those figures are presented as evidence that targeted state action can yield measurable reductions in illicit crossings. For Republicans and border-state officials, the lesson is that clear policy and determined enforcement produce results.
Gov. Greg Abbott first launched OLS on March 4, 2021, in response to an unprecedented number of illegal border crossers and crime within the first couple of months of the Biden administration.
From March 2021 through February 2026, OLS officers apprehended 538,141 illegal foreign nationals, including those referred to Border Patrol. They’ve also deterred 157,112 illegal entries, according to OLS data obtained by The Center Square.
OLS officers have pursued 5,135 bailouts – when illegal border crossers engage in high-speed chases and jump out of the vehicle to evade capture.
That kind of output does more than change a headline; it affects smugglers’ calculations and cartel tradecraft. Deterrence is part of enforcement, and numbers in the six figures matter to people who run criminal networks. When a border state demonstrates persistent operational capacity, smugglers and foreign criminal groups notice and adapt, often in ways that reduce crossings.
Many conservatives argue that immigration enforcement is a federal duty, and that is correct on paper: Congress makes immigration law and DHS, Border Patrol, and ICE enforce it. Practically, though, when the federal apparatus abdicated robust enforcement, Texas did not wait for permission. That decision has political implications about federal responsibility and state sovereignty.
Although illegal crossings have dropped by more than 95% under the second Trump administration, crime is ongoing and cartel networks are embedded throughout Texas and nationwide. OLS 2.0 is targeting them and criminal actors designated as foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua. As TdA crime spread to dozens of states, in September 2024, Abbott expanded OLS operations to eradicate TdA, The Center Square reported.
Since OLS began, more than half a million Venezuelan nationals have been apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Texas after they illegally entered the U.S.
From Jan. 1, 2021, through Jan. 31, 2026, OLS officers apprehended 4,198 Venezuelans for crimes committed in Texas with a total of more than 7,200 charges.
Law enforcement successes also highlight the embedded nature of criminal networks that traffic people, drugs, and illicit funds. Officials cite efforts to identify and disrupt groups like Tren de Aragua and other transnational criminal organizations. Targeted operations aim to do more than count arrests; they aim to sever networks that facilitate repeated illegal activity.
Other border states face a choice: rely wholly on federal action or develop state-level tactics that can be scaled and coordinated with federal partners. The latter option requires discipline, legal savvy, and resources, but Texas’ experience suggests it can work. Sharing tactical lessons and operational data could help coordinate enforcement and reduce the burden on any single state.
From a policy perspective, the implications are plain: federal failure to enforce creates pressure for state solutions, and those state solutions carry political weight. When Republican leaders in a border state choose to act, they are signaling both to voters and to Washington that border security is not merely a talking point. It is a responsibility that demands action.
There are constitutional questions and legal boundaries to respect, but there are also practical demands on governors whose residents face the consequences of porous borders. Texas officials made an explicit calculation that the harms of inaction outweighed the risks of stepping in. That political choice reshaped enforcement on the ground.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left’s lies, new legislation wasn’t needed to secure our border, just a new president.
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