We knew that Greg Abbott’s “legally dubious” Operation Lone Star scheme colluding with border officials to round up and detain asylum-seekers and migrants for weeks and months without any charges was reprehensible, but we’ve just barely scratched the surface, folks.
The Texas Tribune reports that just days after a court ordered the release of hundreds of men detained under Operation Lone Star, a prosecutor dropped charges against another 11 men. What happened? Well, the men said that officers zip-tied their hands, forced them to climb 10-foot-fencing onto private property, then arrested them for trespassing.
“A Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson said the migrants’ claims were inaccurate, stating that the fleeing men jumped a fence onto private property,” The Texas Tribune reported. Sure. “A Border Patrol spokesperson said any suggestion that officers led migrants to private property so they could be arrested for trespassing is ‘absolutely false.’” But we know federal immigration agencies lie, and all the time. Recall that back in 2018, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson resigned rather than continue lying.
“Without video evidence or a written report of the August incident from U.S. Border Patrol, Val Verde County Attorney David Martinez dismissed the trespassing charges Monday after the men had spent nearly two months in state prison,” The Texas Tribune continued. Martinez has ended up dropping over 120 cases initiated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the report said.
Hundreds of asylum-seekers and migrants, all men, have been jailed for lengthy periods of time without any charges at all under Abbott’s scheme. Late last month, a judge ordered the release of roughly 250 people who had been held without any charges. But a court-ordered release hasn’t meant freedom for all. While charges were dropped against asylum-seekers Ivan Nava and David Muñoz, the jail illegally held them to turn them over to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), advocates said.
The Texas Tribune reports that the 11 men who have had their charges dropped “were expected to be sent back to Val Verde County and handed over to CBP officials for processing,” according to Texas RioGrande Legal Aid’s Kristin Etter. The Counter’s Tina Vasquez has reported how other local officials and law enforcement have been aiding Abbott’s scheme, by actively encouraging landowners to file reports against migrants.
“If you have someone who does damage to your property, file a police report because the fastest way for us—say these people get caught and they get deported—the fastest way to send them back home when they try to cross over again is for them to have a criminal record,” Republican aide Michael Blair said at a La Salle County town meeting, Vasquez reported. ”Because if they have a criminal record, they’re going home like that,” he continued. Blair works for Rep. Tony Gonzales, who claimed that border agents documented abusing Haitians at the Rio Grande last month were “doing God’s work,” the San Antonio Current reported.
Abbott has also welcomed out-of-state law enforcement agents, who have eagerly swooped in, advocates said. “I realized Greg Abbott is organizing law enforcement for Operation Lone Star, and that law enforcement is organizing ranchers to file charges on [migrants],” Grassroots Leadership co-executive director Claudia Muñoz told Vasquez. She’d previously said that she has kept “telling people that if we don’t get a grip on this soon, it’s going to be really, really bad.”
The Texas Tribune reports that just days after a court ordered the release of hundreds of men detained under Operation Lone Star, a prosecutor dropped charges against another 11 men. What happened? Well, the men said that officers zip-tied their hands, forced them to climb 10-foot-fencing onto private property, then arrested them for trespassing.
“A Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson said the migrants’ claims were inaccurate, stating that the fleeing men jumped a fence onto private property,” The Texas Tribune reported. Sure. “A Border Patrol spokesperson said any suggestion that officers led migrants to private property so they could be arrested for trespassing is ‘absolutely false.’” But we know federal immigration agencies lie, and all the time. Recall that back in 2018, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson resigned rather than continue lying.
“Without video evidence or a written report of the August incident from U.S. Border Patrol, Val Verde County Attorney David Martinez dismissed the trespassing charges Monday after the men had spent nearly two months in state prison,” The Texas Tribune continued. Martinez has ended up dropping over 120 cases initiated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the report said.
Hundreds of asylum-seekers and migrants, all men, have been jailed for lengthy periods of time without any charges at all under Abbott’s scheme. Late last month, a judge ordered the release of roughly 250 people who had been held without any charges. But a court-ordered release hasn’t meant freedom for all. While charges were dropped against asylum-seekers Ivan Nava and David Muñoz, the jail illegally held them to turn them over to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), advocates said.
The Texas Tribune reports that the 11 men who have had their charges dropped “were expected to be sent back to Val Verde County and handed over to CBP officials for processing,” according to Texas RioGrande Legal Aid’s Kristin Etter. The Counter’s Tina Vasquez has reported how other local officials and law enforcement have been aiding Abbott’s scheme, by actively encouraging landowners to file reports against migrants.
“If you have someone who does damage to your property, file a police report because the fastest way for us—say these people get caught and they get deported—the fastest way to send them back home when they try to cross over again is for them to have a criminal record,” Republican aide Michael Blair said at a La Salle County town meeting, Vasquez reported. ”Because if they have a criminal record, they’re going home like that,” he continued. Blair works for Rep. Tony Gonzales, who claimed that border agents documented abusing Haitians at the Rio Grande last month were “doing God’s work,” the San Antonio Current reported.
Abbott has also welcomed out-of-state law enforcement agents, who have eagerly swooped in, advocates said. “I realized Greg Abbott is organizing law enforcement for Operation Lone Star, and that law enforcement is organizing ranchers to file charges on [migrants],” Grassroots Leadership co-executive director Claudia Muñoz told Vasquez. She’d previously said that she has kept “telling people that if we don’t get a grip on this soon, it’s going to be really, really bad.”