The concertina wire strung along several miles of Texas border with Mexico cuts through human flesh like a knife.

Thats according to one Texas Army National Guard soldier, who until recently served along the border under Republican Gov. Greg Abbotts Operation Lone Star.

Migrants seeking asylum in the United States are moving fast when they encounter the c-wire after crossing the Rio Grande into Texas, said Alex, who is being identified by a pseudonym because theyre worried about retaliation from superiors.

Especially when people are just wading through the water, and their skin is wet, it just slices right though, Alex said.

Alex is one of a handful of soldiers who spoke to HuffPost regarding their concerns about Operation Lone Star, which since 2021 has sent state law enforcement and Texas National Guard soldiers to patrol the border. The guardsmen acknowledged they were a minority among their colleagues and that many seem to support Abbotts mission.

But the soldiers who spoke to HuffPost said they are worried that Operation Lone Star dehumanizes migrants, diverts resources from needed areas into political theater, and improperly gives soldiers and state troopers sway over the application of federal immigration law a job legally reserved for federal law enforcement.

Most of these soldiers have served in or around Eagle Pass, a popular crossing point that, in recent months , has been at the center of national headlines . Texas has put up 30 miles of concertina wire in the area, draped atop a steel wall of shipping containers and strung across private ranches all along the Rio Grande sometimes against landowners wishes . The Supreme Court issued an interim ruling last month saying that the U.S. Border Patrol could cut down the states wire, which the federal officials say is necessary to do so they can aid migrants and properly police the border.

Days before the Supreme Court decision, Texas had acted on its own, seizing total control of a 47-acre patch of land within Eagle Pass called Shelby Park. The park sits along the Rio Grande, under the shadow of a major bridge that connects the U.S. with Mexico, and it was previously a favorite crossing point for migrants eager to surrender to federal Border Patrol agents. Now, its a heavily militarized Operation Lone Star outpost to which federal agents have been denied access.

Soldiers now stuff Eagle Passs hotel rooms and bars by night. By day, they unspool millions of dollars of concertina wire to fill in the voids along the Rio Grande where the feds have cut it down and, soldiers say, try to look intimidating.

John, a guardsman who worked in Eagle Pass who is also being identified by a pseudonym, said soldiers are tasked with trying to prevent people from crossing the Rio Grande. How? Just stand there, he said with a sigh. Thats all we could do. They wanted us to be out there with your rifle and your full kit your vest, your helmet and look intimidating.

I definitely dont believe in the mission, John said. I dont think that it really was about stopping migration. I think it was just putting on a show.

It Is Doing Absolutely Nothing

The show all $9.5 billion of it, according to budget allocations set through 2025 is playing to packed audiences during a crucial presidential election year.

Former President Donald Trump , the clear front-runner for this years GOP nomination, visited Operation Lone Star soldiers in November and earned Abbotts endorsement .

Then, last month, Trump urged all willing States to deploy their guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border. Twenty-five governors affirmed their solidarity with Texas. Abbott hosted 13 of them in Shelby Park a few days later, posing with the crew in front of an armored vehicle. The governor referred to asylum seekers as an invasion rhetoric that had previously been used by the perpetrator of the deadliest anti-Latino mass shooting in modern American history and said Texas would defend itself.

Immigration advocates and some local officials say the high-profile efforts in Eagle Pass only serve to shift those asylum seekers around rather than preventing them from entering. Shelby Park is a movie set, and the gates to the United States are open just half a mile away, a spokesperson for the Eagle Pass Police Department told Texas Monthly earlier this month.

In that context, some Operation Lone Star soldiers say they feel like set decoration, complete with military humvees, rifles and camouflage uniforms.

If anything, I think it makes for better pictures for campaign ads, said Hunter Schuler, a former Texas Army National Guard medic who served in Shelby Park on Operation Lone Star and, at one point, led a historic union drive for soldiers. Schulers service ended last year, and hes now pursuing a Ph.D. at Southern Methodist University.

They have these elaborate demonstrations with riot gear and riot shields, and helicopters, and fast boats on the river, he added. It seems like its meant to be a show of force, but it is doing absolutely nothing to stem the tide of migrants.

John noted that military police in the National Guard typically only carry pistols. But on Operation Lone Star, leadership has them carry rifles.

I think what has changed [since the start of Operation Lone Star] is that its been more focused on confrontation, photo-ops, and public displays of cruelty, said Jonathan Blazer, director of border strategies for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Eagle Pass, he said, is made to look ready for television coverage.

The Texas Military Department, the states Department of Public Safety and the governors office all did not respond to detailed questions from HuffPost for this story.