Trump's US-Mexico Border Military Solution: Lessons from Texas
"Operation Lone Star" offers President Trump a successful template to follow

As President Donald Trump prepares to involve the U.S. Military in the battle against Mexican Cartel human & drug smuggling operations along the Southern Border, Texas' "Operation Lone Star" offers a likely template for the role U.S. troops will play.
Trump's "Border Czar" Tom Homan said as much during his last visit to the Texas border before Trump took office. Homan thanked the Texas troops and State Troopers for spending Thanksgiving away from their families to guard the border with Mexico. He also said what has been done to secure the Texas border through "Operation Lone Star" could be duplicated along the entire U.S. Southern border:
"There is unprecedented success in Texas. This is the model we can take across the country. Everyone here needs to understand that you are national heroes and are saving the nation. What you have done has not only protected Texas and the citizens of Texas, you are protecting this nation." -U.S. "Border Czar" Tom Homan

The troops assigned to "Operation Lone Star" have played a key role in its success: They have erected and reinforced barriers on the Texas banks of the Rio Grande to deter illegal crossings.

The Texas soldiers have also conducted regular river patrols to deter cartel "guides" from crossing the Rio Grande with migrants in tow who each pay several thousand dollars to be allowed to pass through their "territory" on the Mexican side and be escorted to the U.S. side of the river.
Texas National Guard troops have also assisted state and local law enforcement officers by operating drones to give them an extra set of "eyes" along the border and provide real-time intelligence about illegal cartel activities there.

The Texas troops have also operated high-tech land-based cameras and radar systems to detect attempts by cartel human smugglers to move migrants across the border and notify state law enforcement officers when they do.

In addition to deterring and detecting illegal activities, the Texas National Guard troops work alongside their state and local law enforcement counterparts, providing them additional manpower when necessary to assist as police make arrests.

While the Texas troops and state troopers have worked well together, there have been issues working the Border Patrol under the direction of the Biden Administration.
In 2023, migrants poured into Texas after Border Patrol Agents cut barbed wire installed by the state along the Rio Grand riverbank:

After the state filed suit over that, federal agents doubled down against their objections by using heavy machinery to remove even more of its barbed wire:

"Federal agents used hydraulic-powered pallet forks to rip Texas’s fence—concertina wire, fencing posts, clamps, and all—out of the ground, holding it suspended in the air in order to wave more than 300 migrants illegally into Texas." -Office of The Texas Attorney General (State of Texas vs U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security)
Biden Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas blamed Governor Greg Abbott for the conflict with the Border Patrol:
“This (is) coming from an individual who is purposefully refusing to coordinate, communicate, collaborate with other officials and trying to wreak havoc in other cities and states across the country." DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, CNN "State of the Union" (March 3, 2024)
A federal appeals court ruled in Texas' favor and ordered Border Patrol agents not to cut Texas's razor wire installed on the Rio Grande.
“The federal court of appeals just ruled that Texas has the right to build the razor wire border wall that we have constructed to deny illegal entry into our state and that Biden was wrong to cut our razor wire. We continue adding more razor wire border barrier.” -Governor Greg Abbott (via x.com)

Besides the complimentary remarks Trump "Border Czar" Tom Homan has made about "Operation Lone Star," President Trump has selected Texas "Border Czar" Mike Banks to take charge of the US Border Patrol, according to reports from multiple news outlets including CBS News, NewsNation, and The New York Post.

President Trump made his views about using the military clear in July during an appearance on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime" when the show's host asked "Mexico — are strikes against the cartel still on the table?"
“Absolutely,” responded Trump.
"Mexico's gonna have to straighten it out really fast, or the answer (to questions about the U.S. military taking on Mexico's cartels) is absolutely. They're killing 300,000 people a year with fentanyl coming in." -Donald Trump (July 2024)

There is also the prospect that the new administration could use the US military to directly take on the Mexican cartels. Vice-President-elect JD Vance appeared to call for that during a campaign appearance in Tucson on October 22, 2024.

Speaking to the family in the audience of a U.S. Marine veteran who had been killed in Mexico by cartel gunmen just days before - Vance (himself a Marine veteran) vowed that he and Donald Trump would avenge his murder if elected:
"Here is my solemn promise to you ... I promise you, the cavalry is coming, and when Donald Trump is president, we're going to kick the cartels' asses and we're going to do it for you and for every person in this room." -Vice-Presidential Nominee J.D. Vance (October 22, 2024)
Vance told supporters attending his rally that - if elected Vice-President - he would encourage President Trump to deploy the U.S. military "to do battle" with the Mexican cartels:
"I think we've got hundreds of thousands of very fine Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen, who are pretty pissed off at the Mexican cartels. I think we'll send them in to do battle with the Mexican drug cartels, too." -Vice-Presidential Nominee J.D. Vance (October 22, 2024)
Should the U.S. Military "do battle" with Mexican Drug Cartels or play a support role for law enforcement like they have in Texas?
Share your opinion in the comments on this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers