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.
Texas can keep buoys in the Rio Grande while legal challenge continues, federal appeals court rules
Nearly three months after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the deployment of the 1,000-foot line of buoys and mesh in the Rio Grande, an Austin federal judge ordered the state to remove the barrier and stop building further obstructions in the river. One day later a higher court sided with Texas.
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.
Texas National Guard disbanded intelligence wing after members used WhatsApp to spy on migrants
Four members of the unit working on Gov. Greg Abbottโs border mission have been punished after whistleblowers reported the surveillance operation violated long-standing rules against state-run spy operations.
Hearing set in lawsuit over Texasโ deployment of buoys on the Rio Grande
Governor Greg Abbott gave several GOP Governors a tour of the Texas border Monday afternoon. The tour comes on the eve of a federal court hearing involving a lawsuit challenging Texasโ authority to deploy nearly a thousand feet of buoys near the Camino Real bridge in Eagle Pass.
Gov. Greg Abbott issues joint response in wake of report alleging โinhumaneโ practices at Mexico-Texas border
In the wake of reporting alleging โinhumaneโ practices at the Mexico-Texas border, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a joint statement on Tuesday from Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, and Texas Adjutant Gen. Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer:
State investigating claim that DPS troopers were told to push migrants back into the Rio Grande and deny them water
The Office of the Inspector General is investigating the claims, which include pushing small children and women with nursing babies back into the river and turning away a 4-year-old girl who later passed out on the riverbank from the heat.
Family of dead National Guardsman urges Legislature to make death benefits bill named for him retroactive
While the state guarantees law enforcement officers, like Department of Public Safety troopers, a $500,000 death benefit for their families if they die on duty, National Guard troops who stand shoulder to shoulder with those DPS officers on Operation Lone Star donโt have the same benefit.
โWe just want parityโ: Military groups call on lawmakers to give Operation Lone Star troops death benefits
Law enforcement officers who serve on Operation Lone Star get a $500,000 death benefit for their survivors if they die on duty. But National Guard troops on the same mission donโt get a dime from the state for their families if they die.
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 officialsโ attacks on each otherโs immigration policies.
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.
Migrant encounters at the border are higher today than they were before Gov. Greg Abbottโs 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 โ a failure of Abbottโs officeโs stated desire to โstop this revolving door and deter others considering entering illegally.โ
Texas troopers are causing car chase fatalities and racially profiling drivers under Abbottโs 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.
Gov. 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 stateโs 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 wasnโt 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 Guardโs border mission needs an additional $531 million to continue past this month, top general says
Texas Military Department leaders say theyโve addressed many of the issues that arose late last year when the mission ramped up to 10,000 service members โ but more money is needed to run the mission at its current pace.
National 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.
โI hate it hereโ: 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 Abbottโs 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.
Probe 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
Abbottโs 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.
Gov. 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 โhelp secure the border and combat the smuggling of people and drugs in Texas.โ 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 administrationโs border policies make it clear that the president doesnโt 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 Bidenโs policies were instead aiding criminal elements who prey on migrants in Mexico by giving them more potential victims. โThe Biden administration is helping the cartels make more money and grow more power,โ he said.