TEXAS (KXXV) — State officials say President-elect Trump will be using Texas' Operation Lone Star model to fix the border issue, and they say Texas could help the nation when it comes to securing the border.
Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in Texas in March 2021 to respond to the rise in illegal immigration.
State Representative Pat Curry says national leaders have taken notice.
"The Trump team has noticed Operation Lone Star has been very effective," Curry said.
"It’s been costly, but effective by means of working with the border crisis we’ve had."
The Texas Border Czar Mike Banks is working closely with the Trump Border Czar Tom Homan, and has a history of working together.
"They know each other extremely well," Curry said.
Curry has visited the border with those state and federal leaders.
"They had a border 9-1-1 pack and worked closely and taking better parts and seeing how it can work into a framework," he said.
McLennan County is part of Operation Lone Star, with Sheriff McNamara announcing in February he would be heading up the Central Texas Operation Lone Star Task Force.
"We’re going to be doing interdiction and stepping it up on the I-35 corridor pretty hard," Sheriff Parnell McNamara said.
The McLennan County Sheriff’s Office uses four K-9’s to fight drug and human trafficking up and down I-35 as part of their efforts with Operation Lone Star.
The Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham purchased a 1,400 acre plot of land near the border for $3.8 million in October, and has offered it to incoming Trump administration for immigration detention facilities.
This is an offer that the Trump’s transition team is reportedly weighing purchasing.
"There are 13,000 criminals and there aren’t many places in the United States where you can put 13,000 people," Curry said.
