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A collage of photos of Gov. Abbott, detention facilities, paperwork, the Rio Grande and men in prison uniforms viewed from behind.
Operation Lone Star

Texas’ border operation is meant to stop cartels and smugglers. More often, it arrests migrants for misdemeanor trespassing.

The largest share of Operation Lone Star arrests were of people accused only of trespassing on private property. Many spend months in prison, but the strategy does not appear to have slowed immigration.

Department of Public Safety Special Operations agents arrive at an area where they continue the process of arresting the undocumented migrants after they were caught in private property as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County near Brackettville, Texas on Nov. 8, 2021. The owner of the property signed an affidavit allowing DPS to arrest undocumented migrants in their property.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune

Prison for asylum-seekers

Walkthrough of the migrant processing facility located adjacent to the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office in Del Rio, TX.
Gastón, a human rights attorney from Venezuela who came to Del Rio seeking asylum, around his home outside of Denver. Feb. 12, 2022.

“I want to get out”

Department of Public Safety Special Operations agents escort a group of migrants through private property as part of Operation Lone Star after catching them in Kinney County near Brackettville, Texas on Nov. 9, 2021. The owner of the property did not sign the affidavit to allow DPS to arrest undocumented migrants in their property, so they will be processed by Border Patrol.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune
The Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley on July 1, 2021.

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