Texas National Guard soldiers conduct routine inspections on M113 armored personnel carriers prior to sending them to the state’s border with Mexico to protect troops assigned to Operation Lone Star. (Texas Military Department )
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Military Department has sent 10 armored personnel carriers — without weapons mounted on them — to sit parked along the state’s border with Mexico as part of the governor’s effort to deter illegal activity in the region.
Gov. Greg Abbott first deployed National Guard troops to the border on a state-sponsored mission dubbed Operation Lone Star in March 2021. About 5,100 troops are now assigned to the border to stop criminal activity between the legal ports of entry. The service members have the authority to arrest and work closely with the state Department of Public Safety.
In May, troops also began using inflatable boats to conduct patrols on the Rio Grande, which helped the Guard reduce the size of its border force from its peak of roughly 10,000 troops, said Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, commander of the Texas National Guard.
The mission cost the state more than $1.2 billion in fiscal 2022, Suelzer said during a Nov. 15 hearing of the Texas Senate Border Security Committee.
Officials on Thursday declined to provide the cost of trucking the vehicles to the border and parking them at security points along the Rio Grande, but said the “primary use of these vehicles will be to enhance protection for our forces.”
The M113 armored personnel carriers, which were designed with an aluminum hull to make it lighter for transport, while still protecting troops against small-arms fire, came into use by the Army during the Vietnam War. In 2020, the Army began receiving the first deliveries of the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle, which will replace the M113.
The state military department has said the increased security at the border is necessary because the lifting of a coronavirus pandemic-driven public health policy known as Title 42 “could lead to a massive influx of illegal immigrants allowing criminals to further exploit gaps where federal authorities are inundated with migrant processing.”
The policy allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to send migrants back across the border quickly because of concerns they would spread the virus, and it is projected to end Dec. 21. CBP officials has said it has also resulted in more repeat offender crossings between the legal ports of entry.
Between October 2021 and Nov. 8, Texas National Guard troops have experienced 267 suspicious or violent events, according to the military department. These events include gunfire across the border, physical assaults, drone activity, surveillance, suspicious activity, threats of violence to the task force, and threats of violence to individuals.
