Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott says his border security initiatives are having the effect of reducing illegal crossings even as he battles with the Biden administration over his policies.

The governor who initiated Operation Lone Star in March 2021, deploying state troopers and National Guard soldiers to monitor the border, recently noted that despite Texas having over two-thirds of the U.S.-Mexico boundary, the state has experienced fewer illegal crossings compared to other border states, Newsmax reported.

“We are having a profound impact in stopping the flow of illegal immigration into the state of Texas,” Abbott said in a recent interview, The Texas Tribune reported Monday.

Texas shares approximately 1,250 miles of border with Mexico, encompassing five of the nine Border Patrol sectors along the southern border. The El Paso sector also includes 180 miles of New Mexico’s border. According to statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol agents encountered more migrants overall outside of Texas in each of the first three months of this year.

The Tribune reported that during the first half of the 2024 fiscal year, which began in October, Texas has accounted for an average of 43% of migrant encounters, down from approximately 59% during the 2023 fiscal year.

“The vast majority of the United States’ southern border is in Texas, and because of Texas’ efforts to secure the border, more migrants are moving west to illegally cross the border into other states,” gubernatorial spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement.

“Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue utilizing every tool and strategy to respond to this Biden-made crisis.”

In November, signs of the impact of Abbott’s initiatives emerged as non-Texas sectors recorded approximately 104,000 migrant encounters, compared to about 87,000 in Texas’ five sectors.

After the Lone Star State saw more encounters than the other border states in December, in January, Texas border agents encountered fewer migrants than agents elsewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border, Newsmax added.

“Abbott launched Operation Lone Star after President Joe Biden and his administration made it clear they had no intention of curtailing the migrant crisis at the border,” the outlet added.