Texas trooper letter describes women, children injured at border

The trooper’s email raises concerns about heavy-handed tactics used to keep migrants from crossing the US-Mexico border. “I truly believe in the mission of Operation Lone Star,” Wingate writes, citing the need to “secure the border from bad people”. “I would say, sadly, it would not be surprising from a governor who — let’s not forget — on Christmas Eve put migrant children on the streets in below-zero degree temperatures,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to an incident in 2022 when a bus from Texas deposited migrants and asylum seekers outside Vice President Kamala Harris’s house in Washington, DC. “No orders or directions have been given under Operation Lone Star that would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally,” a joint statement from the governor’s office said. “The absence of these tools and strategies — including concertina wire that snags clothing — encourages migrants to make potentially life-threatening and illegal crossings.” Wingate, however, described the concertina wire as causing significant injury.