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The Latest Breaking News from Operation Lone Star

Family of dead National Guardsman urges Legislature to make death benefits bill named for him retroactive

While the state guarantees law enforcement officers, like Department of Public Safety troopers, a $500,000 death benefit for their families if they die on duty, National Guard troops who stand shoulder to shoulder with those DPS officers on Operation Lone Star don’t have the same benefit.

The Texas Tribune

“We just want parity”: Military groups call on lawmakers to give Operation Lone Star troops death benefits

Law enforcement officers who serve on Operation Lone Star get a $500,000 death benefit for their survivors if they die on duty. But National Guard troops on the same mission don’t get a dime from the state for their families if they die.

The Texas Tribune

‘Border Security’ Is a Financial Black Hole that Will Consume Us All

State spending on cops and tech at the Texas border has increased ninefold in a decade, now set to reach $4.6 billion over the next two years.

Texas Observer

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The Border Patrol’s Power Grab

The agency seeks more authority to nab trespassers and others in the state.

Texas Observer

Death of public safety officer at Texas-Mexico border was preventable, experts say

EAGLE PASS, Texas — The patrol arrived around sunset and entered a stretch of rolling hills dense with cactus, sage and towering carrizo cane. The way into the property was an unlit, narrow dirt road pockmarked with potholes, near a hydroelectric power plant.

Tribune News Service

National Guard member deployed for Operation Lone Star stabbed while off duty in Mexico

The service member is expected to recover.

The Texas Tribune

Feds often hand migrants over to state police rather than process immigration claims, complaint says

State police often rely on federal immigration officials to lock up migrants on state trespassing charges, according to a new complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. The collaboration contradicts federal and Texas officials’ attacks on each other’s immigration policies.

The Texas Tribune

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Texas Guard to send tank-like military vehicles to the border

A document obtained by The Texas Tribune and Army Times shows that the Vietnam-era M113 armored personnel carriers will be sent to 10 locations along the Texas-Mexico border.

The Texas Tribune

Border Patrol reports 2.4 million migrant arrests at southwest border this year, the most ever

The historic pace of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has fueled Republicans’ focus on the crisis, but despite the efforts of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, encounters in Texas have increased.

The Texas Tribune

What is the Texas National Guard and why does it matter in this year’s gubernatorial election?

A governor’s military powers are often not discussed as part of the election process, in favor of other prominent issues like education and taxes. But with Operation Lone Star in plain view, voters may have more questions this election.

The Texas Tribune

Operation Lone Star troops could owe feds tax money thanks to state’s payroll error

On Thursday, officials with the Texas Military Department acknowledged that the payroll system they used for the mission has withheld too little in federal taxes from service members’ paychecks.

The Texas Tribune

Migrant encounters at the border are higher today than they were before Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star began

The number of migrant encounters at the Texas-Mexico border has climbed from 109,456 in March 2021, the month the mission began, to 116,976 in August — a failure of Abbott’s office’s stated desire to “stop this revolving door and deter others considering entering illegally.”

The Texas Tribune

Texas reduces National Guard members deployed to Operation Lone Star border mission

Abbott said there’s over 5,000 guard members still assigned to the border. He initially said he had deployed 10,000.

The Texas Tribune

Democrats demand US Treasury probe on Texas shifting COVID funds to border security

WASHINGTON — Texas Democrats in Congress have asked the U.S. Treasury to investigate whether Gov. Greg Abbott has misused up to $1 billion in pandemic relief funds to pay for the state’s controversial border security effort.

Tribune News Service

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Texas Observer

Greg Abbott’s Wasteful Border War Is Draining the State’s Coffers

The cost, scope, cruelty, and failure of the governor’s immigration dragnet far exceed that of any of his predecessors.

Salon

Two decades of border stunts in Texas

Texas Govs. Rick Perry and Greg Abbott pushed border initiatives while kicking off re-election campaigns

Texas Observer

Guardian of the Guard

Jason Featherston, who has devoted more than half his life to the National Guard, is now the leading critic of Governor Greg Abbott’s border surge.

Tribune News Service

Texas border deployment gets nearly $5 million boost after GOP leaders move money from other agencies

AUSTIN, Texas — With no fanfare, five of Texas’ top Republican leaders late last month moved nearly a half-billion dollars from three law enforcement-related state agencies to pay for the mounting costs of keeping thousands of National Guard soldiers deployed at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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The Independent UK

Texas National Guard member dies after gun accidentally goes off

Soldier was part of state’s Operation Lone Star to stem US-Mexico border crossings

Tribune News Service

Texas House Democrats call for federal investigation into Abbott's Operation Lone Star

Fifty Texas House Democrats have sent a letter to the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security requesting a federal investigation into Gov. Greg Abbott's immigration and border policy known as Operation Lone Star, calling the initiative unconstitutional and a violation of migrants' civil and due process rights.

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