Biden, Abbott ramp up dueling operations on the southern border

President Biden and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) are each overseeing a sprawling effort to handle migrants at the southern border, with thousands of active and National Guard troops running separate operations on the ground. 

But it’s not a collaborative effort.  

“I think the biggest issue that we have is when there are moments in which [state leaders] take actions that are not coordinated,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told The Hill. “The real question is, are the [efforts] really necessary?” 

But despite the risk of redundancy and migration numbers dropping in recent weeks, Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” continues to pick up steam. 

Earlier this month, five Republican governors ordered National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border at Abbott’s request, bringing the tally of GOP leaders sending personnel south to at least 10 since March. 

On the federal side, Biden last month sent 1,500 active-duty soldiers to the border to join the 2,500 National Guardsmen who have been there since last year to work with the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

Although Biden has frustrated migrant advocates by keeping many of former President Trump’s policies in place, the GOP has blamed him for an influx of migrants this year and Abbot says his state-led operation is necessary to secure the border. 

Yet none of the state or federal troops will be enforcing United States immigration law, a move that would violate the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.  

“Generally speaking, federal government is where the authority lies for immigration enforcement. And so where a state action interferes with that, that’s where we have issues,” the DHS official said.  

Over the past few months, officials have seen examples of that interference, particularly in instances where migrants have already crossed onto U.S. soil. 

“At that point, under U.S. law, we have to take them into custody. And so if there’s any interference with that, that wouldn’t be OK. … There’s been some cases in some instances of that kind of thing happening both in Texas and Arizona in recent years,” the official said.  

Last month, CBP Chief Operating Officer Blas Nuñez-Neto had more pointed words for the disconnect. He accused Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron Desantis (R) of taking “actions that are being done really for purely political reasons and that do not involve the kind of coordination that we really need to see at the border.” 

He also called on governors to “make sure that any steps they take are done in coordination with our federal personnel.”   

Active-duty soldiers deployed by Biden have been given similar logistical, support and clerical jobs that National Guardsmen at the border are already tasked with, including data entry, warehousing and surveillance. 

The Texas-run operation, however, has more than 5,000 Guardsmen stretching bands of concertina wire on the American side of the Rio Grande river, operating drones trying to spot those attempting to cross the border, escorting migrants to CBP personnel and facilities and passing out plastic bags in which those fleeing Central and South America may place their belongings before being processed. 

Since 2021, taxpayers have spent about $4.5 billion on this state-handled initiative. That number is likely to grow; last month Abbott touted a new “Texas Tactical Border Force,” a deployment of hundreds of Texas National Guard to “enhance Texas’ border security efforts.”  

Operation Lone Star has been publicly derided by Democrat lawmakers, administration officials and experts. Abbott and his initiative have already been hit with several lawsuits and become the target of a federal civil rights probe. 

Reports have also emerged of some Texas National Guard troops complaining of late pay, low morale, and being given little to do.  

Yet the governor, whose office did not respond to a request for comment, has vowed to send more troops and in March called on other state governors to offer reinforcements — which many have done. 

Among those to send state-controlled troops to Texas are Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, all of whom are Republican.  

All will send between 50 and 100 Guardsmen for about 30 days through an Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a law that allows states to send resources to others in times of crisis or disaster. 

In doing so, they join DeSantis, who in mid-May said he was sending more than 1,100 state law enforcement agents and Guardsmen to Texas’s border with Mexico. 

Yet while the states continue pumping state Guardsmen to the border, the number of people crossing the border appears to be dropping significantly; there has been a more than 70 percent drop in unlawful entries between ports of entry along the southwest since May 11, suggesting the fears that the end of the Trump-era Title 42 policy would fuel a surge in new arrivals were misguided.

The CBP said it has had no coordination with the states’ National Guard deployments, including in Texas. 

Officials fear that disconnect could lead to more problems, as in past situations that developed after state officials intervened to help manage the borders.

Ariel Ruiz Soto, an analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, was at the southern border in Texas in late March, where he was told by Border Patrol agents that wire stretched as part of Operation Lone Star sometimes made it difficult for agents to gain access to areas. 

“In many cases, even though they have each other’s numbers, operations of where to set up the fencing are done without the decision making from Border Patrol,” Soto told The Hill. “The governor wants to set fencing where he thinks is most helpful. He doesn’t necessarily know if there was intelligence with Border Patrol to see if that’s actually the place where it would be most helpful. They have constant contact, but daily operations are at times not in sync.”

In another widely reported example of a communication breakdown, Texas National Guard members and state troopers in December blocked dozens of migrants who already crossed the Rio Grande and were attempting to surrender to nearby Border Patrol agents.

Also late last year, then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) built a makeshift border “wall” out of double-stacked shipping containers during his final months in office, contracting a Florida-based firm for $123.6 million to install 10 miles worth of containers. 

But in some areas along the nearly 3.5 miles of barrier that was eventually built, the containers blocked the line of vision for CBP personnel and prevented them from seeing what was happening at the border, Ruiz Soto said.

The makeshift structure also cut across a vital wildlife corridor in the federally protected Coronado National Forest, and by January, 1,700 shipping containers had to be removed, costing taxpayers more than $75 million, The Guardian reported.  

In another case in early January, DeSantis declared a state of emergency and authorized about $20 million in purchases to respond to nearly 1,400 migrants from Cuba and Haiti that landed in the Florida Keys and overwhelmed local authorities. 

Among the hasty buys of drones and night vision goggles was a $1 million contract for a cruise ship that had nowhere to dock but was expected to house state workers to help handle the migrant influx, The New York Times reported. 

The day before DeSantis’s emergency order, Biden had announced an option that would allow migrants to apply to enter the U.S. from their own countries, drastically slowing the landings. 

The DHS official said coordination with state and local officials is a “big part” of what the agency does on a daily basis. 

“Just when it enters territory where it’s either done for the wrong reasons or not coordinated is where it becomes an issue,” they said.