El Paso Standard

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently announced the continuing success of Operation Lone Star in 2022.

According to a press release, Operation Lone Star continued the fight against illegal immigration and drug trade last year. The operation was originally launched in 2021 and since then, over 336,000 migrants have been apprehended, more than 23,000 people have been arrested for criminal offenses and over 20,000 felonies have been filed.

"Texas is taking historic action to secure our border and protect our nation in President Biden's absence. Through #OperationLoneStar, @TXMilitary and @TxDPS are stopping cartels and criminals from smuggling deadly drugs, weapons and people into Texas," Abbott wrote in a Dec. 29 Twitter post.

Starting in April 2022, Texas has been busing migrants to other states with sanctuary cities. As of today, Texas has bused over 16,000 migrants to other cities with 9,000 being sent to Washington, D.C. alone. Other cities migrants have been bused to include New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia.

In October, Abbott launched the campaign One Pill Kills, also known as the fight against fentanyl. The operation was launched in response to the ongoing fentanyl crisis spreading across the the country. According to a press release, nearly 1,700 Texans died last year as a result of fentanyl overdoses. The leading cause of death in Americans between the ages of 18 and 45 is fentanyl. 

"Fentanyl remains the single deadliest drug threat our state and nation has ever encountered, killing four Texans every day," said Abbott, according to the press release.