EAGLE PASS, Texas (KXAN) \u2014 Operation Lone Star service members stationed in Eagle Pass celebrated Thanksgiving early on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
State and national leaders, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, were there to distribute plates to Texas DPS troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers who will work along the Texas-Mexico border through the holiday.<\/p>\n
\u201cTruly, you saved the United States of America,\u201d Abbott told the crowd. \u201cThere is nobody better prepared, better trained, and capable of dealing with whatever challenge may come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texas launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021<\/a> and has since deployed thousands of National Guard soldiers to the southern border. The state has spent billions<\/a> on the effort. Critics argue the operation diverts money from services like healthcare and education<\/a>, but Abbott maintains the effort is working.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could not have done what we did, which was to decrease illegal border crossings by 85% into the state of Texas,\u201d Abbott said.<\/p>\n While those troops stay positioned at the border, others from Texas might soon be reassigned. Last month, Abbott approved a federal request to mobilize hundreds of U.S. troops from Texas <\/a>to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement in other parts of the country.<\/p>\n About 200 have been stationed in the Chicago area since early October, according to U.S. Northern Command. But they are likely to return to the Lone Star State in the coming days, according to the Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Outside-of-state National Guard troops haven\u2019t been deployed for official operations in a month, as legal challenges keep them on standby<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are somewhere, doing something, but I don\u2019t know exactly what it is,\u201d said David Harris, former commanding general of the Illinois National Guard, in an interview with WGN last week.<\/p>\n Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n