Texas governor deploys border force as Title 42 immigration statute ends

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced the deployment of the new Texas Tactical Border Force to respond to the growing border crisis as President Joe Biden ends the Title 42 immigration statute. 

Abbott said he is enhancing Texas' unprecedented border security efforts with the tactical deployment of hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers to join the thousands already deployed as part of Operation Lone Star to repel large groups of migrants trying to enter Texas illegally. 

The Texas Tactical Border Force will bolster Operation Lone Star efforts to secure the Texas border amid what the governor calls the "chaos" caused by President Biden's elimination of Title 42.

"Texas is responding to the chaos caused by Biden ending Title 42. The new Texas Tactical Border Force will help intercept and repel migrants trying to enter Texas illegally. Biden sent 1,500 troops to the border to do paperwork. I deployed elite trained soldiers to defend Texas," Abbott said on Twitter.

Following a news conference, two units of hundreds of trained service members departed for the border to El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley. The same operation is planned later in the week, with two more elements of hundreds of soldiers deploying to the Rio Grande Valley. 

The deployment of the new Texas Tactical Border Force represents the third phase of Abbott's increased border security mission as Title 42 ends. Under Operation Lone Star, Texas has deployed thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers to the border and apprehended more than 373,000 illegal immigrants, arrested more than 28,000 criminals, and seized more than 400 million lethal doses of fentanyl. 

With Title 42 ending, the Biden administration estimates up to 13,000 migrants will illegally cross the nation's southern border every single day.

Abbott announced May 5 that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas National Guard will continue to work together to secure the border, stop smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas, and prevent transnational criminal behavior between ports of entry. 

Additionally, Texas law enforcement has seized more than 385 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission. Abbott said the operation is necessary, due to dangerous gaps left by the Biden administration's refusal to secure the border. With every individual apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized, it prevents them from making their way into communities across Texas and the nation.