Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Texas legislature to impose stricter oversight and deny additional funds to the Texas Military Department (TMD), which oversees Texas’s National Guard (TNG) forces. This appeal follows incidents where TNG troops allegedly fired pepper-spray projectiles, known as “pepper-balls,” against migrants at the US-Mexico border under Operation Lone Star.
Bob Libal, HRW’s Texas consultant, highlighted multiple instances where witnesses reported that TNG units fired pepper-balls at migrants who “posed no risk to national guard members or anyone else.” Libal urged the legislature to enhance its oversight of the TMD and halt funding increases until these actions cease.
In a Texas Senate Border Security Committee meeting in June, TMD adjunct general Thomas Suelzer suggested that cartels threatened to kill migrants returning from the border, leading to more violent crossings. Suelzer emphasized that force used by TNG forces must be minimal and proportionate, claiming that pepper-balls are employed to deter crossing by creating irritant clouds near barriers, not to be aimed directly at individuals, which could cause harm.
However, reports from HRW and other organizations, like the Washington Office on Latin America, contradict these claims. They document migrants being directly targeted by pepper-balls and other less-than-lethal weapons, as well as physical force used by TNG forces, such as beatings and pushing individuals into concertina wire.
The UN’s Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials stipulates that the use of force must be necessary and proportional. Additionally, the UN Human Rights Office states that chemical irritants should only be used when there’s an imminent threat of injury.
Operation Lone Star was launched by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in 2021 to “detect and repel illegal crossings, arrest human smugglers and cartel gang members, and stop the flow of deadly drugs like fentanyl.” Abbott attributed the need for this operation to President Biden’s “reckless open border policies,” which he asserts have led to an immigration and drug crisis ignored by the federal government.
Operation Lone Star has faced extensive scrutiny for its military presence at the US-Mexico border and its contribution to numerous deaths and injuries. One incident reportedly involved TNG blocking US Customs and Border Patrol from aiding a migrant mother and her children who drowned.
In light of the increasing border crossings, President Biden signed an executive order in June, barring individuals crossing the border unlawfully from seeking asylum. This action has spurred a lawsuit from advocacy groups, who argue that the order violates US immigration law and the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning asylum seekers to countries where they might face harm.