EAGLE PASS, Tex. – I just returned from the Mexico border, where I observed Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol taking part in Operation Lone Star, an initiative launched by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in 2021 to combat illegal immigration.
To avoid any possibility that Florida officials might stage “photo ops” for our cameras, I did not alert anyone in state government that I was coming to Texas.
I highly encourage you to watch the video above to see exactly what we captured with our cameras over a two-day period.
As you draw your own conclusions about the potential value of the mission to Florida taxpayers, I must stress that our video shows only a small snapshot in time.
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It highlights activities in just one Texas border town between Feb. 15 and 16 during a period when Texas officials acknowledge the flow of migrants illegally crossing into that area had declined significantly compared to prior months.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Feb. 1 that he was deploying additional resources to Texas to assist that state in its efforts to stop illegal immigration at the southern border.
“This is an American issue. I don’t think it’s one state’s issue,” said DeSantis, who argued the failure of President Joe Biden’s administration to secure the border required other states like Florida to step in.
Although DeSantis has sent representatives from multiple Florida agencies to Texas, including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, I chose to focus specifically on the Florida Highway Patrol.
FHP vehicles, which were recently voted “America’s Best-Looking Cruiser,” are highly visible and typically travel on public roads. I figured it might be relatively easy to find them in Texas and potentially observe their activities from public vantage points.
What solidified my decision to make the trip was finding images of FHP vehicles in Texas on Google Maps Street View that were captured in June 2023. If the Google Maps truck could stumble upon FHP cruisers in Eagle Pass, then I figured I might have luck, too.
After securing the support of WKMG management, News 6 photojournalist Darran Caudle and I boarded a plane for San Antonio where we rented two cars.
Following a two-and-a-half-hour drive past sprawling cattle ranches, we arrived in Eagle Pass, a bustling town located along the Rio Grande River filled with chain stores and restaurants that has become ground zero in the debate over how to address illegal immigration.
In the media player below you can see some of the sights and sounds from around Shelby Park in Eagle Pass:
During our journey to Eagle Pass, we spotted at least six marked FHP patrol vehicles parked directly in front of a hotel.
Most of those FHP vehicles were backed up to a busy road and positioned right next to each other in an imposing show of force. I later joked with the hotel desk clerk that the building looked like the safest place in town based on the large, visible presence of law enforcement vehicles lining the front entrance.
Although the troopers made no attempt to hide their lodging location and photographs of their vehicles parked at the hotel have been previously posted on social media by others, we will not be identifying the hotel. We have also blurred the troopers’ faces and license plates in our video.
My coworker stayed at the troopers’ hotel while I booked a room in a different hotel where FHP had previously resided in the area.
We brought along cell phones, camcorders, and GoPro cameras to not only show you what we saw in Texas, but also to meticulously document the times we saw troopers coming and going. This would prove informative later.
Around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 15, a marked Texas Department of Public Safety SUV driven by a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper pulled up to the hotel, and an FHP trooper jumped in the passenger seat.
Soon, at least five more Texas DPS vehicles arrived to pick up more FHP troopers, many of whom appeared to be carrying their service weapons.
I attempted to follow some of the Texas DPS vehicles to see where they were going, but I could not keep up, and I certainly did not want to get stopped for a traffic violation by the very troopers I had traveled to Texas to observe.
For the first time, I was able to confirm that some FHP troopers are doing ride-alongs with their counterparts in Texas as part of Operation Lone Star.
I later asked Texas DPS officials if the mission required two troopers in each patrol vehicle instead of just one, but an agency spokesperson said they do not discuss operational specifics.
When I returned home, I repeatedly asked FHP officials to share details about what those troopers were doing after they left the hotel. In part, I wanted to give FHP the opportunity to take credit for any noteworthy achievements they may have accomplished that day that we could not see ourselves firsthand.
Molly Best, the communications director for the Florida Department of Highway Safety Motor Vehicles, which oversees FHP, declined to elaborate on the troopers’ activities.
“FHP is not refusing to provide details to you; however, this is a very sensitive and dangerous environment with involvement of the Mexican drug cartels,” Best wrote in an email to News 6. “I cannot go into the details of specific day-to-day activities as this is an ongoing operation.”
Best said there were currently 76 FHP troopers assigned to Texas as part of Operation Lone Star, which is about 4% of FHP’s roughly 2,000-member force. She declined to specify their exact locations, asserting such information is exempt from public disclosure, part of an active operation, and could compromise the Troopers’ safety.
FHP provided News 6 with statistics indicating troopers had contacted 148,488 undocumented aliens since Operation Lone Star began.
While in Texas, Florida Troopers have also participated in traffic stops (26,016), conducted commercial vehicle inspections (1,949), and assisted with crashes (440). FHP officials said those efforts have resulted in the filing of thousands of criminal charges for narcotics, human trafficking, and other offenses.
Unlike FHP, the Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Texas Highway Patrol, provides almost daily updates to the public about very specific achievements in their battle against illegal immigration.
On the same day we witnessed FHP Troopers riding with Texas Troopers, a Texas DPS spokesperson posted photos on social media showing the recovery of four unaccompanied children from Guatemala who had crossed the Rio Grande with a group of illegal immigrants earlier that morning.
Neither FHP nor Texas DPS responded to my questions inquiring whether Florida troopers were present when Texas troopers recovered those children.
Texas DPS has previously given credit to Florida Highway Patrol in social media posts when FHP assisted their agency, such as when Texas and Florida troopers arrested three illegal immigrants following a high-speed chase last August.
Back at the hotel, my coworker captured video of other Florida troopers jumping into their marked FHP patrol vehicles and stopping for gas before hitting the road.
We followed some of the Florida troopers to Shelby Park, a wide-open recreation area along the Rio Grande River owned by the City of Eagle Pass that features baseball diamonds, soccer fields, and an adjacent municipal golf course.
At 48 acres, Shelby Park is roughly the size of Crane’s Roost Park in the Orlando suburb of Altamonte Springs.
In December, thousands of migrants illegally crossed the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Mexico into Eagle Pass and Shelby Park each day with a record 4,095 occurring on Dec. 20.
To stop the heavy flow of people into the area, the state of Texas seized control of Shelby Park in January and began arresting migrants on state trespassing charges.
Members of the Texas Military Department, which includes the Texas National Guard, lined Shelby Park’s riverbank with razor wire and concertina wire while installing large shipping containers and “anti-climb” fences to prevent migrants from entering the park.
During a Feb. 4 news conference, Texas’ governor celebrated what he described as his state’s success in slowing the flow of migrants entering Eagle Pass and Shelby Park by building its own border wall. He also criticized the Biden administration for not providing more assistance.
“Now that we’ve taken control of this area, for the past three days, there’s an average of only three people crossing illegally in this area,” said Abbott. “Because Texas is the only state putting up any resistance, and despite the fact that Texas represents more than 60% of the land miles of the border, the overwhelming majority of people now crossing the border are crossing in Arizona and California.”
The federal government cited different reasons for the recent decline in illegal crossings.
“As a result of seasonal trends, as well as enhanced enforcement efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and our international partners, southwest border encounters between ports of entry dropped by 50% in January,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a Feb. 13 news release.
Last week, as DeSantis bid farewell to a new group of 76 FHP Troopers who were headed to Texas to replace the troopers we observed the previous week, the Florida governor took partial credit for helping Texas decrease illegal migrant crossings there.
“I think you’ve seen in Eagle Pass, for example, there has been a lot of great progress,” said DeSantis. “I know what’s been happening in Texas has been effective. You’ve seen the numbers go down. That’s really because you have Texas putting in huge effort and all these other states coming by to help.”
Based on the governors’ and CBP statements, it was no surprise that we did not personally witness any migrants attempting to cross into Eagle Pass on Feb. 15, nor did we see any U.S. authorities detaining individuals who might have been migrants.
What we did see that day were at least six FHP vehicles inside Shelby Park, a heavily fortified compound that is surrounded by fences and secured by armed Texas National Guard soldiers who control access to the park through a main gate.
Around 9:20 a.m., a GoPro camera in my rental car captured video of an FHP patrol car entering the main gate of Shelby Park.
I then headed to the top of a small hill on nearby Ford Street that provides an unobstructed view down into Shelby Park.
With my camcorder zoom lens and a pair of binoculars I bought years ago for a family trip to Yellowstone, I could see much of what was taking place inside Shelby Park.
By 9:24 a.m., the trooper I watched enter Shelby Park had stopped his FHP sedan underneath Eagle Pass International Bridge, a two-lane span high over the Rio Grande River that allows vehicles and pedestrians to cross between the U.S. and Mexico legally after passing through immigration checkpoints.
That trooper remained in the same location, parked under the bridge and not interacting with any other people, until around 1:09 p.m. when my coworker who was positioned outside the main entrance to Shelby Park captured video of the Trooper leaving.
The same trooper returned to Shelby Park at 2:52 p.m. and parked the FHP patrol vehicle in nearly the same location under the bridge.
Around 3:10 p.m., a car that appeared to be an unmarked law enforcement vehicle stopped next to the FHP cruiser and remained there until at least 4:20 p.m. At one point, the FHP trooper got out of his car and chatted with the other driver while standing by the driver’s side window.
That trooper left Shelby Park at 4:53 p.m. after spending nearly six hours inside the gated compound.
When I arrived at the hill overlooking Shelby Park around 9:24 a.m., I noticed a second FHP Trooper parked under the same bridge a few hundred feet away from the first trooper. The second trooper left Shelby Park around 11:03 a.m.
At 11:25 a.m., an FHP trooper who was likely the same one who left 22 minutes earlier entered Shelby Park and backed the patrol car into a secluded spot between a bridge pylon and two large military trucks that were steps from several Porta-Potties.
At 4:53 p.m., that trooper left Shelby Park right behind the fellow trooper who had also spent hours under the same bridge.
While parked under the bridge, the two troopers would have been able to watch golfers at the adjacent Eagle Pass Golf Course putt their golf balls on the fourth hole that was just feet away from their FHP vehicles.
The nine-hole golf course continues to operate despite being surrounded by razor wire and patrolled by Texas National Guard soldiers. On that Thursday, we observed about a dozen golf carts zipping past the parked FHP cruisers.
We do not know whether the two Florida Troopers were specifically stationed under the bridge to prevent golfers from chasing wayward golf balls into the rest of Shelby Park. Neither FHP nor Texas DPS officials have answered my questions about the troopers’ specific responsibilities at that location.
The main entrance to Shelby Park is tightly controlled by Texas National Guard soldiers who carry rifles. At one point, my coworker photographed seven soldiers gathered around a Humvee blocking part of the gate.
At 12:18 p.m., an FHP Trooper entered Shelby Park and positioned the marked SUV along the fence less than 100 feet south of the main gate. It remained there until at least 5:08 p.m. and was gone by 5:24 p.m. The FHP Trooper was parked next to a Texas Trooper’s vehicle for most of that period.
A fourth FHP Trooper was stationed about 400 feet north of the main gate at an opening in the tall steel fence erected outside Shelby Park over a decade ago. The fence opening has recently been sealed shut with a wire “anti-climb” fence and was blocked by a large military truck that prevented vehicles from entering.
I first noticed the FHP Trooper parked behind the military truck just before 11:00 a.m. He remained there until 5:24 p.m. The FHP Trooper was positioned right next to a Texas Trooper’s vehicle for most of that time. I occasionally saw a member of the Texas National Guard walking around the same area.
Since FHP and Texas DPS officials have not responded to specific questions about the Shelby Park assignments, it remains unclear why pairs of FHP and Texas Troopers were needed at those two locations along the fence as Texas National Guard troops stood very close by.
We witnessed a fifth Florida Highway Patrol SUV driving back and forth between the boat launch at Shelby Park and the adjacent golf course multiple times that day but could not observe it long enough to determine the Trooper’s potential role there.
A sixth FHP vehicle that we had not seen all day left the Shelby Park front gate around 4:45 p.m. We do not know when it arrived and what the Trooper may have been doing there.
Around 11:30 p.m., while most of those FHP troopers were still inside Shelby Park, our cameras captured video of officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission launching airboats from the park’s boat ramp and cruising along the Rio Grande.
Unlike FHP, a representative for FWC provided details to News 6 about that agency’s specific activities the day we were there.
“On Feb. 15, FWC officers assisted Texas officials with the recovery of the body of a deceased individual who likely drowned while attempting to cross the Rio Grande River and into the United States,” said FWC spokesperson Shannon Knowles. “The individual was taken by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s vessel to the Shelby Park Boat Ramp and turned over to Texas Emergency Medical Services.”
At 3:30 p.m., we saw an airboat with a federal CBP logo bringing the body back to waiting emergency vehicles. The Eagle Pass Fire Department later confirmed the body was that of a man in his late 20s or early 30s.
While the body recovery was underway, one of the FHP troopers parked near the fence got out of his patrol car and walked up to the boat ramp but did not appear to participate. He remained there for more than 90 minutes, engaged in a conversation with a group of other law enforcement officers standing in the boat ramp parking lot.
By 6:30 p.m., most of the FHP troopers were back at the hotel, including troopers who were dropped off by Texas DPS vehicles. At one point, I counted 14 marked FHP vehicles in the hotel parking lot, although it is possible others were still out or driving unmarked vehicles.
The next morning, I arrived at the hill overlooking Shelby Park around 5:45 a.m. Although the park was lit up with flood lights, I did not immediately see any FHP vehicles.
Around 6:20 a.m., an FHP drove into the gated compound and backed the patrol car up against the steel fence in the far north corner of the park next to a Texas DPS vehicle. Minutes later, I noticed a bright glow coming from the interior of the patrol car.
Standing on a public road just outside the gate, I could see videos playing on the patrol car’s laptop computer.
FHP officials did not respond to my questions inquiring whether the Trooper may have been completing an online law enforcement training course that included videos or was watching videos as entertainment to pass the time.
By 9:15 a.m., more FHP Troopers had arrived at Shelby Park again, including at least two that parked under the Eagle Pass International Bridge.
Later that morning, the Texas Military Department granted us permission to enter Shelby Park with a Texas National Guard escort for the sole purpose of shooting video.
We were allowed to visit a single location inside the park along the Rio Grande River, far from where the FHP Troopers were parked, where we could see the razor wire and concertina wire barriers up close.
Nearby, we witnessed piles of clothing and shoes left in the bushes by migrants who had crossed the river and then presumably changed into dry clothes carried over in bags.
Unlike the prior day, there was very little activity at Shelby Park during our tour, with no Texas National Guard soldiers installing fences or FWC officers launching airboats.
We continued to see FHP Troopers inside Shelby Park after our tour but did not meticulously document their movements as we had done the prior day.
The next afternoon, while sitting in the San Antonio airport waiting for our flight back to Orlando, I sent a detailed email to the Florida Highway Patrol with more than 20 questions about what we had just witnessed.
It included questions about the total cost to taxpayers, the financial strain the Texas deployments may be putting on the agency’s budget and how troopers pay for their meals.
I also asked about any noteworthy events that may have occurred outside the view of our cameras, including whether the troopers were involved in any noteworthy matters specifically related to immigration issues.
As is standard practice, I also provided FHP with a deadline to respond.
Less than an hour later, on a Saturday afternoon, I received a response from Best, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles spokesperson, noting my large number of questions and requesting an extension of the deadline so she could answer as many of my questions as possible.
Due to the agency’s request for more time and our desire to fairly convey FHP’s position, we agreed to extend our deadline.
But two days before the original deadline arrived, FHP provided a statement to us that failed to answer most of our detailed questions.
“Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) currently has 76 Troopers assigned to Texas as part of our ongoing Operation Lonestar initiative,” the statement read. “The placement or assignments of our Troopers is exempt from public disclosure as the information is both part of an active operation and could compromise the safety of those Troopers.”
The statement also included statistics about FHP’s achievements in Texas noted at the beginning of this article.
“Your questions regarding financial information for Operation Lonestar can be submitted via public records request,” Best wrote. “I am happy to place that for you.”
Although I provided FHP officials with a description of the story we planned to publish and gave them my phone number in case there was anything they wished to discuss, I received very little additional information from the state agency.
“As a part of Operation Lone Star, the mission of FHP is to assist federal, state, county, and municipal agencies with border security, information gathering, humanitarian responses, search and rescue efforts, officer safety and assistance, emergency medical services, and other similar duties,” FHP said in a follow-up statement.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also did not answer my specific questions about its work with FHP during the days we were in Eagle Pass.
“The Texas Department of Public Safety is committed to securing our border under the direction of Texas Governor Greg Abbott through Operation Lone Star,” said Texas DPS spokesperson Ericka Miller. “We are grateful to every state and agency that has offered assistance in making Texas and the United States more secure, and will continue integrating other law enforcement agencies into our operations at the border as appropriate. While the department does not discuss operational specifics, we continue monitoring the situation along the border in order to make real-time decisions and adjust operations to best protect the people and property of this state.”
Last Friday, DeSantis bid farewell to a new group of 76 FHP troopers who were leaving Pensacola to relieve the troopers we saw in Texas the prior week.
“This is part of a years-long effort for us to help do what the federal government has refused to do, which is actually defend this country’s borders,” DeSantis said. “We’re going to continue to be in this fight until the problem is solved.”
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