Posted on 07/24/2021 4:09:53 AM PDT by gattaca
Authorities in Texas have begun arresting illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border on trespassing charges, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has blamed the Biden administration for the surge in illegal immigration and has put in motion his own border security plan to crack down on illegal crossings.
“Texas has begun arresting illegal immigrants who are trespassing in Texas or vandalizing property & fences. They are now being sent to this jail rather than being released like the Biden Admin. has been doing. We are adding more officers, National Guard & jails,” Abbott said in a tweet Thursday.
So far, at least 10 people have been jailed, with more on the way, authorities said Thursday. The detainees are being held at what had been an empty state prison in Dilley, Texas, about 100 miles north of the border city of Laredo, according to Robert Hurst, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The converted facility will be able to hold more than 950 people, he said.
Val Verde County Attorney David Martinez said that all of those arrested so far have been single adult men. He said he had been advised last week that the number of arrests of illegal immigrants could rise to as many as 100 to 200 per day.
The arrests put in motion plans that Abbott first announced in June, when he hosted a Border Security Summit in Del Rio, during which he said individuals who enter Texas illegally would be subject to arrest for trespassing.
“President Biden’s open-border policies have led to a humanitarian crisis at our southern border as record levels of illegal immigrants, drugs, and contraband pour into Texas,” Abbott said in a June 10 statement. “While securing the border is the federal government’s responsibility, Texas will not sit idly by as this crisis grows. The state is working collaboratively with communities impacted by the crisis to arrest and detain individuals coming into Texas illegally.”
During the summit, Abbott said he had directed the Texas Commission on Jail Standards and the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to work with counties to establish alternative detention facilities to ensure enough jail capacity to house illegal immigrants arrested for trespassing.
“Our efforts will only be effective if we work together to secure the border, make criminal arrests, protect landowners, rid our communities of dangerous drugs, and provide Texans with the support they need and deserve,” Abbott said at the time. “This is an unprecedented crisis, and Texas is responding with the most robust and comprehensive border plan the nation has ever seen.”
Illegal immigrants arrested by state troopers for trespassing first began showing up at the former prison on Tuesday. Prison officials said in a statement said that preparations for the Dilley facility included temporary air conditioning—which many Texas prisons don’t have in living areas—and training and licensing jailers.
Abbott has also announced that Texas would continue building former President Donald Trump’s border wall and called on other governors to deploy law enforcement and National Guard members to the southern border.
“In the Biden Administration’s absence, Texas is stepping up to get the job done by building the border wall,” Abbott said in a June 16 statement. “Through this comprehensive public safety effort, we will secure the border, slow the influx of unlawful immigrants, and restore order in our border communities.”
Federal immigration officials recently announced that they had apprehended 188,829 people illegally crossing the southwest border in June, up from 180,034 in May. The figure includes more than 15,000 unaccompanied minors, over 55,000 family units, and over 117,000 single adults.
It’s time for Abbot to grow some stones & actually close his sovereign states international border by using his National Guard & explain to the Federal Government that any attempt to stop him will be considered an act of war.
He has every right & every responsibility to protect his citizens & his economy against what can only be referred to as an illegal invasion by unwelcome foreign nationals.
I assume no bail because they’re flight risks? And the problem with arresting them on criminal charges is that now they’re entitled to defense attorneys and jury trials.
I sure hope they aren't draining the power intended for legal residents.
“The converted facility will be able to hold more than 950 people, he said.”
Or about one days worth of invaders.
L
I’d just be happy with fingerprinting and even a DNA record being kept. Also include a COVID-19 test to show they can be “super spreaders “.
Two words...Soylent Green.
“Or about one days worth of invaders.”
While I like the general idea, I’m not sure they actually thought this through. You have to literally close the border down and not let a single person come across. I don’t think they can really do that.
Find and arrest a pregnant young woman......Then the news will scare the hell out of all illegal women desiring to enter Texas illegally’
Ditto, ten or 15 young children.
when feds come to the jail, incarcerate them for something. Ditto AOC
You would think the gov't would take actions against such illegal activitiy.
You would think the gov't would take actions against such illegal activitiy.
Agree. It is time to fire bullets also, after a warning is stated. Once anyone invades America they are like enemies.
Why a warning shot? Citified political correctness is the problem now
A dead and bleeding body on the ground is a much more effective deterrent than a warning shot
Put them on the Joe Arpaio diet and make them work hard making gravel out of boulders.
And those who assist these invaders are like traitors to the United States of America.
That “those who assist” includes hundreds of lawyers who would be unemployed were it not for their traitorous actions defending the indefensible
When they show up at the detention facility, they must be detained incommunicado the same as the illegals
Said lawyers are a state of Texas security risk
Regardless, Biden is going to do nothing but destroy the
America that many in generations of our ancestors died for. Biden never saw war and his punk son failed a drug test for the NG. What a sick SOB plus now his punk son is a fake artist. This is not the USA I fought for. I wonder how I’d tell our KIA’s what has happened to the America they died for?
Agree.
Arrest them at the border and send them 100 miles into the state for jail? What? Now we have to pay for lawyers and judges for them. Does anyone think they are really going back home? Of course not. Abbott running for re-election. Same old same old.
Arrest them at the border- your fine is $5000. Do you have it? No - then get back in the river toward home.
Knew it. 10 people.
Hey, Abbott, you need to arrest at least 2 million.
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