Feds often hand migrants over to state police rather than process immigration claims, complaint says
State police often rely on federal immigration officials to lock up migrants on state trespassing charges, according to a new complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. The collaboration contradicts federal and Texas officials’ attacks on each other’s immigration policies.
Abbott announces more border wall plans as he serves Thanksgiving meals to Operation Lone Star personnel
As Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and National Guard members working on Operation Lone Star took a break from border security duties to have a Thanksgiving meal in Edinburg on Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott discussed future plans to expand the mission logistically and tactically, he said.
myrgv.comValley residents air concerns with legislators on Operation Lone Star
Racial profiling, migrant deaths and traffic stops were among some of the main concerns Rio Grande Valley residents shared with state senators during a hearing held Tuesday to address the impact of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
myrgv.comOperation 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.
Migrant encounters at the border are higher today than they were before Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star began
The number of migrant encounters at the Texas-Mexico border has climbed from 109,456 in March 2021, the month the mission began, to 116,976 in August — a failure of Abbott’s office’s stated desire to “stop this revolving door and deter others considering entering illegally.”
Texas troopers are causing car chase fatalities and racially profiling drivers under Abbott’s border crackdown, complaint claims
Two civil rights groups have expanded their request for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Operation Lone Star, citing evidence of risky pursuits and more frequent traffic stops of Hispanic drivers.
DPS seizes $345K of cocaine from trailer after Starr County stop
A driver moving drugs using a tractor trailer was stopped in Rio Grande City and arrested after a traffic inspection by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers last week, according to a Tuesday news release. The trooper working under the Operation Lone Star initiative made the stop on U.S. 83 in Rio Grande City on Friday, July 22. Fifteen bundles of cocaine weighing 42 pounds were found hidden in an altered compartment inside the trailer. The driver was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and taken tothe Starr County jail. Since Operation Lone Star began in March 2021, DPS reports they’ve seized more than 7,000 pounds of cocaine statewide.
myrgv.comOperation Border Health/Preparedness to offer free health care service next week
Operation Border Health/Preparedness is around the corner, so get ready to receive a number of free health care services. Formerly known as Operation Lone Star, OPHP is scheduled to take place July 26 through 30 at all four Rio Grande Valley counties – Willacy, Cameron, Hidalgo and Starr. The Texas Department of State Health Services, TDSHS, is spearheading the initiative. In Hidalgo County:– PSJA Early College High School 805 West Ridge Road, San Juan. In 2021, a total of 4,756 people received 21,602 health services.
myrgv.comTexas House speaker pitches spending more than $100 million for mental health, school safety programs
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan pitched redirecting more than $100 million in state funding to quickly boost mental health and school safety programs before school starts again next fall.His plan came[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]
sanmarcosrecord.comTexas congressional Democrats ask Biden administration to review Operation Lone Star funding – Houston Public Media
The request comes after Gov. Greg Abbott announced last month that Texas would divert about $500 million from state agencies to fund the controversial border mission.
houstonpublicmedia.orgGov. Greg Abbott redirects $500 million from other agencies to fund border security mission through end of fiscal year
Abbott said the money would be taken from the budgets of other Texas agencies, including nearly $210 million from the state’s Health and Human Services Commission over two years and about $160 million from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Texas soldier who drowned trying to help migrants wasn’t equipped with flotation device
Spc. Bishop Evans died after jumping into the Rio Grande to save migrants. He and other members of Operation Lone Star were not provided safety equipment. Texas Military Department said an order for buoys and ropes was made but has not been fulfilled.
Texas National Guard soldier drowns during attempted migrant rescue
A Texas National Guard soldier drowned early Friday as he attempted to rescue migrants caught in the swift currents of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Tex. The Guard member was deployed as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's border security initiative, Operation Lone Star.
washingtonpost.comFirst bus of migrants who crossed into Texas makes trip to Washington, D.C. – Houston Public Media
The transport is part of Abbott’s plan to expand Operation Lone Star and came in response to the Biden Administration’s decision to end Title 42 – a pandemic-era rule that rapidly expels migrants from the U.S.
houstonpublicmedia.orgBorder coalition blasts Operation Lone Star expansion
In a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott, Cameron County Judge and Texas Border Coalition Chairman Eddie Trevino JR. and TBC Vice Chairman C. LeRoy Cavazos-Reyna claim that Abbott’s expansion of Operation Lone Star is creating major disruptions to industry and further hampering the supply chain to Texas businesses. Abbott last week ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to begin conducting safety inspections of commercial vehicles crossing into the state’s land ports-of-entry from Mexico. These new delays will lead to massive losses of produce in addition to worsening supply-chain challenges and increasing costs for consumers locally and nationally, TBC said. “We welcome dialogue and collaborative efforts with and between our local, state and federal agencies to help find an immediate solution to this issue which is causing major disruptions to multiple industries and generating additional burdens on our supply chain for Texas businesses,” they wrote.
myrgv.comTexas Guard’s border mission needs an additional $531 million to continue past this month, top general says
Texas Military Department leaders say they’ve addressed many of the issues that arose late last year when the mission ramped up to 10,000 service members — but more money is needed to run the mission at its current pace.
Texas’ multibillion-dollar border operation raises questions
Gov. Greg Abbott has touted the success of his $3 billion effort to secure the Texas-Mexico border by claiming arrests and crimes that weren’t connected to the operation, according to a ProPublica investigation. Why it matters: Operation Lone Star costs taxpayers more than $2.5 million a week and is a cornerstone of Abbott’s gubernatorial campaign.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Driving the news: State leaders initially reported 11,000 criminal arrests
news.yahoo.comNational Guard troops were dispatched to famous Texas ranches with private security as part of border mission
The dispatching of troops to the sprawling private ranches, far from the border, raises questions about the use of National Guard troops, who have widely decried the mission as aimless, political and oversized, as the cost of the effort has already ballooned to $2 billion a year.
“I hate it here”: National Guard members sound off on Texas border mission in leaked morale survey
Frustration, anxiety and anger prevailed in the survey responses obtained by the The Texas Tribune and Military Times. The survey includes responses from nearly 250 members of Task Force South, one of six units that fall under the umbrella of Operation Lone Star.
Deplorable conditions, unclear mission: Texas National Guard troops call Abbott’s rushed border operation a disaster
The governor has sent waves of troops to the border as Guard officials scramble to execute a massive mobilization that would normally take months to plan. Some Guard members say the operation has set back their income, education and well-being.
Monitor seeking public input about trooper traffic stops
The Monitor wants your help. If you’ve been pulled over by a state trooper in the Rio Grande Valley any time between April and June 2021, we’d like to hear about your experience. The goal is to gauge the impact that the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Operation Lone Star initiative has had on the community, which has increased enforcement in border communities in an effort to curb trafficking. Whether a positive or negative experience, we want to hear them. To share your thoughts, email [email protected], or if you’d like to speak to a reporter, contact AIM Media Texas’ investigative reporter, Valerie Gonzalez, at (956) 342-0699.
myrgv.comProbe of Texas National Guard border mission demanded over suicide attempts, abysmal conditions and delayed pay
The call for action from Texas Democrats comes as another service member based in the city of Pharr survived a suicide attempt on Sunday, according to an incident report obtained by Army Times and The Texas Tribune.
Allen West blasts Gov. Greg Abbott over suicides, pay problems among National Guardsmen at the border
Abbott’s political challenger said guard members deployed to Operation Lone Star are facing late pay, being exposed to COVID-19, experiencing supply shortages and dealing with added stress that has led to multiple suicides tied to the mission.
Texas congressman Joaquin Castro signs letter urging a DOJ probe into ‘Operation Lone Star’ – Houston Public Media
Castro and 25 other members of Congress argued in a letter that the policy is likely illegal, and wanted an investigation into the state's treatment of migrants crossing the border.
houstonpublicmedia.orgGov. Abbott orders TDCJ to clear out prisoners at state prison to house migrants with low-level offenses
Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to move prisoners from the Briscoe Unit in Dilley to make room for migrants crossing the border unlawfully and who have committed a state or federal crime.
Gov. Greg Abbott gives update on Operation Lone Star
Gov. Greg Abbott held a news conference Thursday where he gave an update on Operation Lone Star, which was launched in early March to “help secure the border and combat the smuggling of people and drugs in Texas.” The operation now also includes anti-human trafficking efforts.
As migrant apprehensions rise, Abbott slams Biden immigration policies in border appearance
Greg Abbott criticized the Biden Administration's approach to border security at a press conference at Anzalduas Park in Mission on March 9, 2021. Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas TribuneSaying the Biden administration’s border policies make it clear that the president doesn’t care about Americans, Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday declared that the border is in a crisis and accused the president of aiding cartels and human smugglers. The Biden administration has acknowledged that the increase in migrants coming to the border is, in part, a result of new policies intended to be more humane toward migrants and asylum seekers. AdOn Tuesday, Abbott said Biden’s policies were instead aiding criminal elements who prey on migrants in Mexico by giving them more potential victims. “The Biden administration is helping the cartels make more money and grow more power,” he said.