(RepublicanInformer.com)- Operation Lone Star in Texas is now under investigation by the Department of Justice over potential violations of people’s civil rights.
Launched back in 2021 by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Operation Lone Star was meant to try to solve the crisis that was happening at the southern border with Mexico. Since then, though, it has faced much criticism for what it’s doing and what it aims to do.
The DOJ wouldn’t specifically confirm an investigation into the Texas group, according to both ProPublica and the Texas Tribune. However, both news organizations were able to obtain confirmation of the underway investigation through a request made according to the Public Information Act in Texas.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has been sending internal emails that have revealed the DOJ’s investigation, and that it is starting to collect documents. As Phillip Adkins, the general counsel of DPS, wrote:
“The Request for Information seeks documentation related to the development, implementation and ongoing operational activities of Operation Lone Star with a particular emphasis on the criminal trespass arrests aspect of the initiative.
“Essentially, USDOJ seeks to review whether OLS has violated Title VI.”
That section of law is found in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It bans any institution that receives funding from the federal government from discriminating against people because of their national origin, race or color.
According to a Newsweek report, the governor’s office says the new initiative of Operation Lone Star integrates the DPS with the Texas National Guard “and deploys air, ground, marine and tactical border security assets to high threat areas to deny Mexican Cartels and other smugglers the ability to move drugs and people into Texas.”
Abbott has long criticized President Joe Biden’s approach to immigration. He’s been one of the most outspoken people against the president, as Texas has a rather large border with Mexico and is experiencing a huge issue with illegal immigration.
The governor doesn’t like the Biden administration’s “open border policies.” He bused some migrants to Washington, D.C., earlier this year, and said he did it so “the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border.”
The Texas Tribune has reported that the deputy general counsel for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice informed the attorney general in the state that the DOJ is investigating whether the department exposed people who were arrested as part of Operation Lone Star to “differential and unlawful conditions of confinement based on their perceived or actual race or national origin.”
Much of Texas’ budget for border operations has been consumed by Operation Lone Star. In the next two years, the initiative is expected to eat up almost all of the $3 billion that is being allocated for border policies.
As part of the operation, more than 10,000 members of DPS and the National Guard have been deployed to Texas’ southern border with Mexico.
For his part, Abbott has said that all arrests and prosecutions that are being conducted under Operation Lone Star “are fully constitutional.”
