Texas has been taking immigration matters into its own hands.

Four C-130 military transport planes towered over the tarmac at the international airport in Austin, Texas, idling with the doors open as the sun rose over a news conference called by the state’s governor, Greg Abbott. As Mr. Abbott began speaking on Monday at a lectern emblazoned with the words “Securing the Border,” about 200 soldiers from the National Guard hustled onto the planes.

For two years, Texas has engaged in a multibillion-dollar attempt to arrest and deter migrants who cross into the state from Mexico, deploying helicopters and drones; National Guard troops patrolling the border in camouflage; and state troopers racing down highways in black-and-white S.U.V.s. The state has bused thousands of migrants to East Coast cities like New York and lined the reedy banks of the Rio Grande with concertina wire.

But the number of crossings into Texas has only increased.

A new surge arrived at the border this week with the end of a public health measure, known as Title 42, that for the past three years had allowed the government to rapidly expel a large number of migrants. Before the order lifted at midnight, Texas doubled down on its response, not only sending more soldiers and police officers to the border but also pushing legislation that would impose new state penalties on migrants and human smugglers.

The legislative actions, some of which were expected to pass the State House this week, would expand and make permanent elements of the border enforcement program that Mr. Abbott unveiled in March 2021 known as Operation Lone Star. Through the program, Mr. Abbott has pushed the envelope of what the law allows, using his power as governor to send the Guard and state police to the border, and employing state trespassing laws to arrest migrants when they cross private land.