Texas Should Keep the National Guard on the Border Until Washington Earns Back Trust

Why Texas Cannot Trust Federal Promises

Texans have heard promises about border security for decades while watching federal administrations of both parties treat enforcement as an afterthought. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency recorded more than 8 million encounters between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2024, a figure that shattered prior records and made a mockery of claims that the border was secure. Those numbers matter because every number represents a human decision to break American law, often facilitated by cartels that profit from misery.

The Biden administration spent years claiming the situation was under control while governors begged for help. The Trump administration returned enforcement as a stated priority, but executive orders alone cannot rebuild a system that had been gutted by four years of catch and release. But Washington measures success by press conferences and political narratives rather than by reduced crossings or safer communities.

This cycle of neglect leaves border states in an impossible position. Texas taxpayers fund the federal government through income taxes, fuel taxes, and tariffs, yet they must also pay for Operation Lone Star, a state initiative that has cost billions and placed thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers along the Rio Grande. The operation has produced hundreds of thousands of apprehensions and disrupted fentanyl routes, but it should never have been necessary in the first place.

Until the federal government proves it can do its job, state action is not optional. It is a constitutional duty to protect residents from the consequences of an open border. Texans deserve better than lawsuits, excuses, and photo opportunities. And they deserve a border that actually works.

What Real Enforcement Looks Like

Border security is not a matter of cruelty or kindness, but a matter of law, order, and the survival of communities that sit on the front lines of mass migration. It must be judged by results rather than by the slogans of politicians who treat the border as a talking point instead of a crisis. The Center for Immigration Studies found in early 2026 that illegal crossings in the Del Rio sector fell after Texas hardened physical barriers and prosecuted trespassing cases in state court. That is evidence, not rhetoric, and evidence should guide every policy decision.

Real enforcement means barbed wire in known corridors, checkpoints on smuggling routes, felony prosecutions for repeat entrants, and deportation flights that make good on the law. It also means ending sanctuary policies in cities that advertise lawlessness to the rest of the world. When local jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they place the burden on neighboring counties that never asked for it.

The data exposes the gap between promises and performance. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed roughly 271,000 aliens in fiscal 2024, a number that sounds large until it is measured against an illegal population that the Department of Homeland Security estimates at more than 11 million. At that pace, enforcement becomes theater rather than strategy. Voters notice, and they are right to demand action that matches the scale of the problem.

But cartels are not sentimental. They move traffic to the weakest sector, which is why Texas success in the Del Rio corridor matters less if Arizona and California remain permissive. A nation that cannot control its own territory loses the public trust needed to operate any other government function. And schools, hospitals, and highways all suffer when the rule of law frays at the edges.

The Populist Case for Permanent State Action

Populism in this context simply means listening to working people instead of consultants and lobbyists. Working Texans pay property taxes, send children to public schools, and drive roads that are strained by population surges they never voted for, and they watch emergency rooms fill with patients who cannot pay. They have every right to ask why their state should absorb the costs of federal negligence.

The answer from elites is usually some version of compassion. Compassion is a Christian virtue and a national value. But it does not require ignoring federal statute, falsifying border data, or pretending that fentanyl deaths are acceptable collateral damage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, killed more than 70,000 Americans in 2023. Many of those doses crossed a southern border that Washington refused to secure.

A country that cannot distinguish between lawful immigration and mass illegal entry will eventually lose support for both. The legal immigrant who waited in line and followed the rules has every reason to resent a system that rewards line jumpers. And the citizen who obeys the law has every reason to resent a government that enforces tax rules more strictly than immigration rules.

Texas should keep the National Guard on the border for as long as federal policy rewards illegal crossing. The state should expand trespassing prosecutions, finish barrier projects, and coordinate with county sheriffs who know the terrain. And if Washington objects, let Washington explain why it would rather litigate than protect American citizens. Texans have waited long enough for an answer, and they should not stop asking until they get one.