More than a dozen troopers made over $200,000 last year when factoring in overtime, roughly equal to the starting salary for top public health doctors in the state. Two lieutenants netted more than $300,000. One of them, Lt. Kevin A. King, brought home $344,196 — nearly as much as former DPS Director Steve McCraw. Overtime accounted for two-thirds of King’s haul, and OLS shifts specifically about $93,000, according to DPS.

Residents in Eagle Pass, the epicenter of Operation Lone Star, say state troopers are less visible than they were a year ago. A city park that DPS commandeered during the height of the crackdown reopened months ago and was virtually empty on a recent afternoon. The only state troopers in the area appeared to be patrolling the highways.

“There used to be a DPS every five miles. Now you won’t see them. They’re all gone,” said Jessie Fuentes, who runs a kayaking business in Eagle Pass and has been an outspoken critic of the crackdown. “The count of vehicles you would see on the highway or the streets, it’s not present here.”