As part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border security mission, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers are actively seeking to catch human smugglers.
The Center Square met with one trooper who relocated to the border and covers an area stretching from Del Rio to Eagle Pass. Trooper Jaclyn Gooding, who just celebrated five years with DPS, said troopers assigned to highway patrol typically make traffic stops, respond to car crashes, and arrest intoxicated drivers statewide, but at the border, criminal activity is amplified by human smuggling.
These smuggling events are counted in the more than 500,000 illegal foreign nationals apprehended, more than 39,500 criminal arrests made, including more than 35,600 felony charges, by state and local law enforcement, since Abbott launched OLS in March 2021.
Gooding says their efforts “are paying off” because OLS officers are “not only protecting Texas but protecting our country.”
