Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines recently criticized Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star initiative to defend the southern border.
ABC News recently spoke to three members of the Texas National Guard participating in Operation Lone Star about ongoing pay issues and concerns of suicides. The servicemembers also expressed concerns about poor housing arrangements and inadequate training.
"Greg Abbott’s Operation Lonestar is a disaster," Huffines said. "Every day there are new reports about inadequate living conditions, pay issues, and suicide. Texan servicemen deserve a leader who cares about their wellbeing. When I am Governor, I will fix Abbott’s mess, and I will actually let the military secure the border so they can go home."
In the fall of 2021, Abbott increased the number of troops on the southern border from 1,000 to 10,000, according to Texas Tribune. Some reported that they were not given adequate notice and were forced to abandon their civilian jobs. At least 1,330 Operation Lone Star troops have had issues with incorrect payments. On Jan. 11, Abbott stated that all compensation issues had been resolved.
According to a December 2021 Army Times report, four Texas National Guard members serving on border patrol in Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” have committed suicide, citing “the mission’s conditions and purpose, as well as the way it’s organized and manned through indefinite involuntary call-ups.”
“The [Texas Military Department]’s leadership has lost focus on what matters most, and that’s the soldier,” one officer said. “Their inability to focus on the individual soldiers’ needs has cost several lives, and until they [focus], more tragedies will continue to happen.”
During the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, a Texas National Guard soldier working on Operation Lone Star survived a suicide attempt, according to the Army Times. Several days later, another soldier was drinking and accidentally shot and killed himself.
The Statesman reported that in Jan. 2022, 13 Democratic members of Texas’ congressional delegation called for an inspector general investigation into Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star,” responding to news reports of “poor working and living conditions for troops, habitual pay problems, and suspected suicides tied to the operation.” The letter claimed Operation Lone Star was “severely eroding the readiness of our National Guardsmen and their ability to be deployed on federal orders.”
Abbott has said the criticism from his opponents was them “just playing politics,” according to KWTX News.
Elected in 2014, Gov. Greg Abbott is currently serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before being elected governor, Abbott was the longest-serving Attorney General of Texas.
Huffines will face Abbott in the gubernatorial primary on March 1. From 2015 to 2019, he represented Texas' 16th State Senate District. Huffines is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm.