'Sí se puede': Hundreds rally to demand an end to Gov. Abbott's Operation Lone Star

Hundreds chanted “sí se puede” while rallying outside the Capitol on Saturday to call for the end of Operation Lone Star on its second anniversary.

Operation Lone Star is a multiagency effort initiated by Gov. Greg Abbott that deployed thousands of Department of Public Safety officers and Texas National Guard troops to the border after an increase in illegal crossings by immigrants and asylum-seekers. Texas has spent more than $4 billion on Operation Lone Star, and funding might increase during the current legislative session.

Members of organizations including the Border Network for Human Rights, La Unión del Pueblo Entero, Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance, ARISE Adelante and the American Civil Liberties Union traveled from all over Texas to Austin to advocate for driver’s licenses for all Texans and to demand an end to Operation Lone Star.

“This is important for all Texans because we have a governor that takes money away from services that are needed like health care, education, housing, and puts that money into unnecessary operations like Operation Lone Star,” RITA coordinator Betty Camargo said at the rally. “That is a disservice to us; that is a disservice to me.”

Some signs at the rally were designed to look like driver’s licenses with the photo area cut out to show the protesters’ faces. They called for licenses for all Texans to support not only undocumented migrants but also the unhoused, victims of domestic violence and deported veterans. Camargo said that while permits would increase safety, they would also enhance the economy.

Other states are enacting new legislation that allows undocumented immigrants to have a driver’s license. Fernando Garcia, BNHR founder and executive director, said if Texas follows the other states, it would promote inclusion and integration.

“Parents cannot take their children to school, but they do take them to school without a permit,” Garcia said. “There’s a lot of people driving out there, going to work, essential for our economy, but they’re not being recognized with that right of driving.”

Camargo said a lot of Abbott’s policies have been creating division between processed and unprocessed migrants, pointing to the governor’s call to investigate nongovernmental organizations for aiding and abetting illegal border crossings.

Abbott “has created fear within the same community to see ‘Can I help immigrants; can I do the humanitarian thing, which is to help an individual who is in need?’ just because of this threat coming out of the governor’s office,” Camargo said. “So we’re here saying we’re not going to stop helping.”

Garcia said people need to remember that immigrants come from somewhere, fleeing persecution or looking for a better life in America. He said the basis of this country and its fundamental pillars were built by migrants.

“Our country is exceptional because of immigration,” Garcia said. “We were built by migrants. We are being built by migrants. The future migrants are going to be important to our economy, our society.”

Camargo said almost 150 years ago, the Statue of Liberty symbolized the liberty of justice because the U.S. was a nation created by immigrants. She said Texas' policies say that immigrants are a threat and are not welcome.

“This is a defining moment for the country,” Camargo said. “Whatever happens in the border will define the rest of the history for the country.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Hundreds rally to demand an end to Gov. Abbott's Operation Lone Star