Texas county attorney: Allegations that Operation Lone Star is racist are ‘absurd’

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square

Allegations made by Texas Democratic lawmakers that Operation Lone Star is racist are “absurd,” Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith says.

Smith, who’s prosecuted the most cases involving illegal immigration since Operation Lone Star began, says the first trespassing case he prosecuted involved two U.S. citizens who are white men.

“People from approximately 150 different countries are illegally entering Texas” as a result of the Biden administration’s open border policies, Smith told The Center Square. “I’m not sure how anyone can honestly make a claim of racism towards so many different nationalities. I could point out that the majority of the arresting officers are Hispanic, but taking time to argue these points gives legitimacy to an absurd argument to begin with.”

Fifty state representatives have asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to investigate Operation Lone Star, a border security measure created by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to thwart criminal activity at the southern border. The representatives claim the operation violates the Constitution and is racist.

“Operation Lone Star uses state criminal law to target Black and Latino migrants for punishment,” they wrote, asking Garland and Mayorkas to ??use “all tools at your disposal to ensure the end of this policy.”

They claim it was “launched on the heels of a rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric, likely violates the Supremacy Clause and Due Process Protections of the U.S. Constitution, is overwhelming the local justice systems, and raised concerns about troubling reports related to the Texas Military Department.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argues it’s “100% constitutional.” And state and local law enforcement officers are arresting perpetrators for state crimes, not federal crimes, Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw said.

In addition to appropriating $3 billion to border security efforts, the Texas legislature passed laws beefing up penalties for human trafficking, fentanyl distribution, and drug-related crimes, as well as criminal trespass. Abbott signed the bills into law last year.

Paxton and Smith have led the charge in border security efforts in Texas, with Paxton having sued the Biden administration 10 times over it.

Smith was the first to draft the disaster declaration that Kinney County issued last April. Other counties followed suit and Texas later issued its disaster declaration by the end of May. Smith has called on Abbott to take stronger measures to secure the border, arguing that Texas as a sovereign state has the right to defend itself.

Kinney County, with a population of roughly 3,700, shares 16 miles of border with Mexico. After President Joe Biden reversed existing immigration policies, thousands of illegal immigrants began entering the county illegally, Smith said. Residents have endured a year of trespassing and break-ins, destruction of property, and threats to themselves, their farm workers and livestock, he added.

Last year, Smith began prosecuting cases that previously only large district attorney staffs of bigger cities would prosecute. With only a secretary to assist, his office went from prosecuting 10 cases a month to 500. Now, he’s handling 15 to 40 cases a day, he said.

Kinney County has made over 2,600 arrests since last August and will likely surpass 3,000 by March, Smith said. A Border Prosecution Unit, a state-funded task force of prosecutors, has played a vital role in taking on the surge of prosecutions he’s been inundated with.

“Their support has made all the difference,” he said. Texas National Guard paralegals are also helping with administrative work.

Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe says DPS has been a big help, but they’re still being overrun and there isn’t enough law enforcement to arrest everyone. Over a typical weekend, his deputies catch nine smuggling cases. The volume of crime is only increasing, he says.

“This January was more than double” the traffic they saw last January, he told The Center Square.

Coe’s been able to hire two intelligence officers and is looking to hire additional deputies. But it’s difficult because the workload has doubled, he said, and salaries are lower in smaller counties than they would be elsewhere.

Coe, a former Border Patrol agent of 30 years, says he’s never witnessed what’s happening at the border.

The people they’re arresting are primarily “got aways,” those evading capture of law enforcement. After crossing the Rio Grande River, many pass through private property at night, walking single file, carrying backpacks, and in some cases, what appear to be rifles, according to images captured on residents’ security cameras and critter cams. They head north, following power lines and train tracks to specific locations where supplies and cell phones with GPS pin drops to follow are left by cartel operatives, Coe said. His deputies have found piles of garbage, diapers, water bottles, and other supplies at known locations.

U.S. law is designed to protect those who are arrested, Smith added. Habeas corpus, for example, protects individuals from being jailed indefinitely. They’re read Miranda rights, entitled to legal representation, and housed in prisons and jails that meet federal requirements.

“It’s been my experience that people rely on the race card as an argument when the facts don’t favor their side,” Smith told The Center Square. “The fact is that the probable cause affidavit I review when deciding whether or not to prosecute someone for criminal trespass doesn’t even mention their race or nationality. It mentions that they were apprehended on private property without having permission to be there.”

“If you commit criminal trespass in Kinney County, you are going to be prosecuted,” he said. “Simple as that.”

And those who are arrested were “actively evading law enforcement,” he added. “These arrests occur miles from the border or any port of entry where asylum seekers turn themselves over to law enforcement. Most suspects run from law enforcement to evade arrest, which is another criminal charge we are prosecuting in addition to criminal trespass.”

If the Democrats in Austin “were truly concerned for the wellbeing and safety of their constituents,” he said, “they would’ve sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding an end to the open border policies that have caused so much harm and destruction to their fellow Texans. They work for the people of Texas, yet their actions indicate they have very little regard for our safety or freedom.”

When asked why he’s been working such long hours without the necessary resources, he told The Center Square, “the only other choice I had was to do nothing. Willfully allowing the lawlessness and destruction of property to continue in my county was not something I could do or ignore. That is not how I was raised, nor is it what Texans are about.”