Performative Violence at the Border: Texas's Operation Lone Star

Abstract: In 2021 Texas governor Greg Abbott initiated Operation Lone Star. He mobilized the state's police and military forces at its border with Mexico to block the entry of unauthorized migrants and transnational criminal gangs, claiming to protect Texans from crime and dangerous drugs. Analysis of the contents of press releases and social media posts and the results of Operation Lone Star using a theoretical framework of political and media spectacle shows that despite the lack of evidence of programmatic results, the operation continues because it generates political and symbolic benefits.