Human Rights Watch — Texas Troopers’ Deadly Vehicle Pursuits: Fatalities More Frequent Under Operation Lone Star Than Previously Reported

A new report from Human Rights Watch considers the operation of Texas immigration enforcement measures and finds that

• Dangerous chases of vehicles thought to contain migrants under the Texas government’s Operation Lone Star program led to crashes that killed at least 74 people in a 29-month period.
• Operation Lone Star puts undue pressure on law enforcement to chase cars, sometimes with very little basis, resulting in deaths of drivers, passengers, and even bystanders.
• The US government needs to end federal funding for agencies implementing Operation Lone Star and send civil rights officials to investigate all rights abuses happening under the program.

According to the press release announcing the report,

“Dangerous chases of vehicles thought to contain migrants under the Texas government’s Operation Lone Star program led to crashes that killed at least 74 people and injured at least another 189 in a 29-month period, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The findings indicate the monthly death rate is at least 45 percent higher than media and civil rights groups previously reported, and that injuries and property destruction are substantially worse.

The 77-page report, `So Much Blood on the Ground’: Dangerous and Deadly Vehicle Pursuits under Texas’ Operation Lone Star,’ documents the spike in vehicle chases by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and local law enforcement in the 60 most heavily affected Texas counties implementing Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star program. Records reveal that in several counties, unnecessary vehicle chases have increased by over 1,000 percent since the program began. Human Rights Watch found that residents in these counties are disproportionately affected by law enforcement vehicle pursuits and crashes.”

KJ