State data shows thousands facing smuggling related charges in Texas
From video game chats, to social media, to meet-ups at nightclubs; human smuggling is not as far from your front door as you may think. Smuggling operations are using the crisis along the southern border to entice people from all walks life into risking their freedom for quick cash.
Lawmakers call for federal investigation into Texas Guard intel ring
The lawmakersโ remarks came after an investigation published Tuesday by Military Times and The Texas Tribune revealed how Texas Guardsmen at the stateโs border with Mexico spied on migrants via WhatsApp and allegedly mishandled secret documents.
Operation Lone Star: Border-related arrests creating large caseloads in rural county courts
Rural county courts are facing a huge increase in criminal cases due to the number of arrests being made under the auspices of Operation Lone Star. Gov. Greg Abbott has spent $4 billion on this effort, which he has repeatedly said is needed in response to the record number of apprehensions reported by Customs and Border Protection along the southern border.
Corpus Christi attorney arrested, accused of smuggling
A Corpus Christi attorney was arrested over the weekend and accused of smuggling four men from Mexico. According to an offense report obtained by KPRC 2 Investigates, Timothy Daniel Japhet was arrested near the town of Brackettville on Aug. 13 and spent a week in jail.
Republican county officials in South Texas want Gov. Greg Abbott to deport migrants. Only the federal government can do that.
Immigration law enforcement falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government. In recent months, a fringe legal theory has found more mainstream supporters who are calling on state leaders in Arizona and Texas to deport migrants with state resources.
Cash is piling up in Kinney County from bonds posted to free migrants arrested under Texas border crackdown
Friends, families and attorneys have posted more than $2 million to get migrants out of prison. Defense attorneys say the rural county is erecting barriers that will keep many from recovering the money when theyโre entitled to it.
A minor trespassing case gives Gov. Greg Abbottโs border initiative its first courtroom win
The trial included four prosecutors, and so many potential jurors were summoned the town sandwich shop was shorthanded for lunch. But a Kinney County jury Monday convicted a Honduran national in the first jury trial for trespassing under Gov. Greg Abbottโs Operation Lone Star.
New federal lawsuit seeks to halt Texasโ border trespassing arrests, give more than $5 million to illegally detained migrants
Thousands of men have been arrested on trespassing charges under Gov. Greg Abbottโs border crackdown. A new lawsuit claims the attempt to skirt federal immigration authority is unconstitutional.
Webb County, a Democratic stronghold, is set to welcome Texas Gov. Greg Abbottโs controversial migrant arrests
The county is the most populous to embrace the Republican governorโs โcatch-and-jailโ policy to arrest people accused of crossing the border illegally for state crimes, including trespassing.
Galveston County law enforcement continues sending resources to the border
The number of encounters along our southern border has been increasing over the last three months. These increases come after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a record 1.7 million encounters along our southern border during the fiscal year 2021. Political division on this issue has prevented Congress from enacting long-term immigration reform.
Court fight brews over constitutionality of Texas governorโs border arrests
A legal defense group is asking Travis County courts to throw out the arrests of hundreds of migrants swept up in the governorโs border initiative. The case is expected to draw in the Texas attorney general and address whether Gov. Greg Abbottโs plan is unconstitutional.
Texas judge opens door for widespread constitutional challenges to Gov. Greg Abbottโs border initiative
A Travis County judge Thursday tossed out the trespassing charge of an Ecuadorian man who said he came to the United States seeking asylum. His lawyers argued that the governorโs directive to arrest migrants on state charges unconstitutionally usurps federal immigration law.
Hundreds of migrants accused of trespassing languish in Texas prisons. A county judgeโs new approach might prolong their detention.
Despite a surge of arrests under Gov. Greg Abbottโs border security initiative, a Kinney County judge removed three judges who have been helping him hear the cases. The judges had been letting some of the migrants out after months in prison, and defense attorneys say the action is retaliatory.
Coronavirus shuts down legal proceedings in latest misstep for Texas border crackdown
Migrants arrested under Gov. Greg Abbottโs border security push have been imprisoned for weeks or months waiting to appear before a judge. About 90 were finally to receive hearings this week, but court proceedings were canceled.
In latest blunder, charges dropped against migrants arrested in Texas governorโs border crackdown because of faulty paperwork
The migrants were arrested for trespassing, but court documents failed to specify what property they allegedly trespassed upon. Itโs the latest misstep in implementation of Greg Abbottโs border initiative, which has seen frequent violations of state law and disregard for due process rights.
After delay, Texas to begin releasing migrants held in violation of state law under Gov. Greg Abbottโs border crackdown
The almost 250 detained men, whose immediate release was ordered three days ago, are expected to be turned over to federal authorities to be detained again, deported or freed in the United States while their cases are being resolved.
Texas court orders release of more than 200 migrants imprisoned in Gov. Greg Abbottโs border security clampdown
The men were arrested by state troopers and held for weeks without facing formal charges, a violation of state law. Itโs the latest misfire in Abbottโs hastily assembled effort to involve Texas in patrolling the border.
Migrants arrested by Texas in border crackdown are being imprisoned for weeks without legal help or formal charges
Defense attorneys have started asking courts to set migrants free because local justice systems, overwhelmed by arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott's border security push, are routinely violating state law and constitutional due process rights.
Thanks to local politics and a railroad, rural Kinney County accounts for most of Texasโ migrant arrests
Under Gov. Greg Abbottโs border security push, Texas state police have arrested hundreds of migrants in the conservative county, usually after spotting them on cargo trains or walking remote ranch lands. Sent to a state prison retooled as an immigration jail, many men were left without lawyers for weeks.