Paxton to fight Austin judge's ruling on Abbott's Operation Lone Star

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton vowing to appeal Travis County Judge ruling

Ken Paxton is planning to appeal an Austin Judge's ruling that Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star contains unconstitutional initiatives.

AUSTIN, Texas - On Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to fight an Austin judge’s ruling that Gov. Greg Abbott’s immigration operation is unconstitutional.

"Lib Austin judge lets a Soros Travis County DA represent State of TX, then declares Op Lone Star unconstitutional. Ridiculous. Biden has FAILED to secure the border. Texas stepped in. We have the right to defend our border if the feds refuse. I’ll fight this nonsense on appeal." Paxton tweeted.

The ruling on Operation Lone Star occurred in Travis County Thursday.

"…part of Operation Lone Star violates the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and represents an impermissible attempt to intrude on federal immigration policy," said District Attorney José Garza. "In addition, DA’s office concluded that based on the evidence, there were multiple ways in which the OLS program has failed to satisfy basic, fundamental, and procedural state and federal constitutional safeguards."

Travis County Judge rules part of Gov. Abbott's border crackdown violates US Constitution

An arrest made under Gov. Abbott's Operation Lone Star was dismissed by a Travis County Judge due to the operation revealing constitutional violations.

Austin-based political analyst Dr. Brian Smith described Operation Lone Star as Abbott’s response to what he views as inadequacies of the Biden administration's work along the Southern border. "[Abbott] took upon himself a lot of the immigration responsibilities that he thought the federal government was shirking on." he said.

Immigration serves as a linchpin of Abbott’s re-election campaign, but as Smith points out the operation has become a political lightning rod.

"When we think about this policy, when the state government is really taking on federal responsibilities, it means that it's going to be high cost and high controversy," Smith said.

The Army Times has also raised questions about the operation, especially conditions for members of the Texas Army National Guard following four suicides in the past two months.

Mail-in ballot application rejections at 50%, says Travis County Clerk

The Travis County Clerk's office says many other counties are also experiencing the same high rejection rate.

"This is much more than just the mission. You know, you're dealing with people's lives." said retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Featherston.

Abbott’s challengers, Democrat Beto O’Rourke and former Texas GOP chair Allen West have been critical of the operation.

"They're using this as an angle of attack that they really didn't have two, three weeks ago." said Smith.

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