San Antonio Standard

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed in a tweet to keep busing migrants to sanctuary cities until President Biden takes action to secure the border. Also, Texas Rangers apprehended MS-13 gang member Emerson Lopez Fugon, exposed an armed migrant guide, and disrupted human smuggling attempts by sex offender Joseph Hamilton and Latin King gang member Tyler Garza, Abbott said in a press release on his administration's "Operation Lone Star."

"Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administration's refusal to secure the border," Abbott's press release said. "Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Joe Biden's open border policies."

Operation Lone Star's collaborative efforts have included over 406,500 apprehensions of illegal immigrants, more than 32,700 criminal arrests, and the seizure of 422 million fentanyl doses, the press release said.

"Texas' migrant busing strategy, aimed at relieving overwhelmed border communities," has "transported over 30,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities since spring, including significant numbers to Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, and Los Angeles," the release said.

Biden’s border policy has emboldened Mexican drug cartels, leading them to arm their members while aiding migrants crossing into Texas, Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) told Fox’s Neil Cavuto in an interview. Fox showed still photos of what Olivarez said were armed cartel operatives accompanying migrants crossing the border.

In a joint operation with the U.S. Border Patrol earlier this summer, DPS troopers discovered 10 unaccompanied minors from Honduras and Guatemala, aged 10 to 16, near Sullivan City. They had been guided by smugglers across the Rio Grande River on a raft; the children were subsequently referred to Border Patrol, Abbott’s press release said.

DPS made an arrest during a traffic stop in Brackettville, where a Honduran national, Dagoberto Corea Mendez, was apprehended for human smuggling and, upon further investigation, was found in possession of child pornography, leading to his incarceration and criminal felony charges, the press release said.

The DPS Texas Rangers Special Operations Group found Lopez Fugon hiding on a train in Maverick County near Eagle Pass. Fugon, a registered sex offender with a violent criminal history, faced charges including kidnapping and sexual violence, the release said.

Also, Texas Rangers Unmanned Aircraft System Operators detected an armed migrant guide leading illegal immigrants across the Rio Grande River in Shelby Park, and in a separate incident, DPS troopers halted a human smuggling attempt by Hamilton and found a stash house operated by Garza, arresting both men and rescuing seven illegal immigrants, the release said.