To troops deployed for Operation Lone Star: We hope you had a happy Thanksgiving despite being away from your families and homes. With any luck, you had time to enjoy a good meal, some camaraderie and relaxation — better yet, some time off.
Thank you for what you are doing. We know you have put your lives on hold in service of your state and nation. We respect your sacrifice, but we also wonder — what exactly are you doing out there?
We’ve heard how more than 5,000 of you are stationed along the southern border with Mexico. From time to time, we see images of you standing near a Humvee and looking toward the river, but we don’t know much more than that, and we’re interested in what you are doing.
Sadly, most Texans, especially those with no ties to the Department of Public Safety or Texas Military Department, have no understanding of your work — or how it’s impacted your lives.
Operation Lone Star has incurred costs Texas can never repay.
We are sorry 10 of your peers have died during this operation. They are in our thoughts.
We also think about your mental and physical health, and we hope you have the resources to take care of yourself.
Then there is the $4 billion — and rising — cost of deploying thousands of troops to the border. As taxpayers, we deserve to know what our money is going toward. Unfortunately, the state rarely gives the media access to the people or mission.
We wonder why. State leaders should want to win the hearts and minds of those paying the bills.
We’ve seen Gov. Greg Abbott’s statistics about migrant apprehensions, busing, arrests and seized fentanyl.
We wonder — is this success? What difference does it really make? And how much of it could have been done without Operation Lone Star?
And we don’t really know what that means for you. How are you? How are the living and work conditions? Your leadership? What’s day-to-day life like? Are you finally getting paid correctly? Do you have enough cold weather gear? How are your families? How’s the food? Are you keeping busy, or is there a lot of “sit around and wait”? Are you getting enough support from the state?
Is the mission worthwhile? We heard Abbott declare an “invasion” and how the state is escalating “unprecedented security efforts.” He also declared Mexican drug cartels “foreign terrorist organizations” and outlined a “compact with other states to secure the border.”
That sounds intense.
We read about armored personnel carriers, increased aircraft flights, gunboats, border walls, and how the National Guard will “repel and turn back immigrants trying to cross the border illegally.”
That’s serious talk that makes part of America sound like a war zone. Does it feel like a war zone? Many of you have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How does this compare?
Recently, we saw that Abbott and Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw served Thanksgiving meals and tamales to some of you in Edinburg. Hopefully, you got the opportunity to ask questions.
We wish we could say you are going home soon, but with the state’s “escalation” talk, that doesn’t seem likely.
Maybe someday federal officials on both sides of the aisle will knock down their imaginary walls to reform border security and immigration laws. Until then, it seems thousands of Texans will remain deployed to … Texas.
Best wishes during this holiday season.
San Antonio Express-News
