Texas' Costly 'Operation Lone Star' Leaves Alleged Illegal Immigrants Trapped in Jail with No Due Process

[Democide]

Texas' Costly 'Operation Lone Star' Leaves Alleged Illegal Immigrants Trapped in Jail with No Due Process

8 November 2021

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's border-control crusade is overwhelming court systems, leaving detainees stuck in jails for weeks or even months without due process, and generally isn't resulting in many convictions. Abbott launched "Operation Lone Star" in March. Border enforcement is ordinarily the federal government's job, but Abbott decided to deploy the state's Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to "deny Mexican Cartels and other smugglers the ability to move drugs and people into Texas." Instead, according to media reports from multiple outlets, suspected illegal immigrants caught at the border are being arrested for misdemeanor trespassing and then ...

Texas' Costly 'Operation Lone Star' Leaves Alleged Illegal Immigrants Trapped in Jail with No Due Process

Gov. Greg Abbott’s crusade is costing the state huge sums just to try to prosecute thousands of misdemeanor trespassing cases.

reason.com

 

[Democide]

Hundreds of migrants accused of trespassing languish in Texas prisons. A county judge’s new approach might prolong their detention.
Despite a surge of arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott’s 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.

10 December 2022

Sitting in Texas prisons, hundreds of migrants charged with trespassing under Gov. Greg Abbott’s ongoing “catch and jail” border security initiative have been waiting months for their first chance to appear before a judge. Retired judges and prosecutors from across the state have been enlisted to help process the constant stream of new cases. But based on the current pace of the small-town courts through which the misdemeanor cases must pass, a defense group estimates that migrants arrested this month in rural Kinney County will wait in prison up to a year — the maximum jail sentence for trespassing — ...

Hundreds of migrants accused of trespassing languish in Texas prisons. A county judge’s new approach might prolong their detention.

Despite a surge of arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott’s 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.

www.texastribune.org