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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced recently that the Lone Star State would be building a massive 80-acre facility that will house thousands of National Guard soldiers who are working hard to secure the southern border amid the illegal immigration crisis.
“To expand our border security capabilities, we are building a new Texas military department base camp that allows the Texas National Guard to increase and to improve operations in this area,” he said during a press conference at the site of the new FOB (forward operating base).
He announced that the first stage of construction had “already begun on what is 80 acres of an area to build out for this base camp.”
According to a report from the Texas Tribune, the FOB will cost at least $10 billion and will house up to 2,300 National Guardsmen who are deployed at the southern border for Operation Lone Star. The goal is to ensure that these troops are housed in appropriate facilities rather than in tents, hotels, or other conglomerated facilities, the outlet reported.
In the most recent press release from Gov. Abbott’s office, he detailed the work of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas National Guard in their partnered mission of Operation Lone Star.
The press release stated that more than 500,000 illegal migrants have been apprehended thus far, with another 39,500 criminal arrests and 35,600 felony charges. An additional 467 million lethal doses of fentanyl have been seized during Operation Lone Star, as well.
Per the governor’s office:
“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Joe Biden’s open border policies.”
