Texas’ Border Operation Is Meant to Deter Cartels and Smugglers. More Often, It Imprisons Lone Men for Trespassing. — ProPublica

…Abbott celebrated a year of the massive initiative last month by touting seizures of high levels of fentanyl and more than 11,000 criminal arrests. An investigation by the Tribune, ProPublica and The Marshall Project found that the state's reported success has included both arrests that had nothing to do with the border or immigration and statewide drug seizures by troopers who are not part of the operation. 

There is also little evidence that trespassing arrests have lowered the levels of illegal crossings, which remain at record highs along the southern U.S. border, including in the regions heavily targeted by the operation. The governor's office, however, claims his approach deters potential caravans of people seeking entry to the U.S., and he measures success in arrests and drugs seized…

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-border-operation-is-meant-to-deter-cartels-and-smugglers-more-often-it-imprisons-lone-men-for-trespassing