Ten-county coalition on border crisis pressures DC

MARC ROBERTSON, Editor
& BREYANA SEGURA, Chief Staff Writer

Judges in ten South Texas counties near the Mexican border are signing an agreement to work together in drawing attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and to seek federal assistance.

With Frio County officials putting their signatures to the coalition document last week and La Salle expecting to join during a brief signing ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday, June 23, the group believes it can have an impact on the Biden administration’s policy regarding an unprecedented pressure by asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants in the border region.

Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho was given the approval by commissioners last week to join the coalition that she says is aimed at calling for more robust security measures at the border.

“I want to stress that this is in no way, shape or form a political move,” Camacho said. “This is a way to communicate with area judges and bring ideas to the table to help each other out with the issues we are experiencing at the border.”

The group also includes Atascosa, Wilson, Karnes, McMullen, Live Oak, Dimmit, Kinney and Medina counties.

La Salle County Judge Leodoro Martinez III said on Tuesday that he believes the coalition bring “unified exposure to the crisis” and that a primary mission of the ten counties will be to help the Texas Department of Public Safety in the execution of its duties.

For its part, the DPS has indicated it will continue its law enforcement measures along the border and in counties across the region but cannot carry out federal duties such as immigration enforcement, processing or investigation of immigrant-related issues.

The DPS has been given millions in funds and manpower by order of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has directed the troopers to the border region from other parts of the state and has added the Texas Army National Guard to supplement the law enforcement presence along the border.

Both Martinez and Camacho believe the ten-county coalition will have leverage on federal funds as well as attract private contributions.

None of the ten counties will divert its own taxpayer funds toward the coalition’s action.

“It’s super important that we back up the governor here,” Judge Martinez said. “There’s a big problem out there, and we can only do so much. Maybe we can catch the ear of Washington, DC.

“Our goal is going after federal funds for the Texas governor,” the La Salle County judge added. “The federal government is sitting back, looking at us. We have the support of elected leaders like Judith Zaffirini, Henry Cuellar, Ryan Guillen and Tony Gonzales. They are all very supportive of what we’re doing here.”

Martinez said he believes it is now up to the federal government to act in response to the immigrant pressure on the border, not only in handling the volume of asylum seekers at border checkpoints but also in stemming the flow of undocumented immigrants who enter the United States illegally and are being smuggled through South Texas.

“We all say there’s a problem, but the problem needs to be fixed in DC,” the county judge said.

In Frio County, elected officials have monthly been receiving complaints and pleas for help from landowners affected by trespassers such as car- and truckloads of smuggled immigrants whose drivers try to evade law enforcement, leading officers in high-speed pursuits and breaking through ranch fences. In some cases, the pursuits have ended in death.

“We want to help people who have lost family during pursuits that have led to fatalities, and landowners who have damage to their properties during bail-outs,” Judge Camacho said, adding that the coalition also hopes to “provide additional resources for law enforcement.”

“This group is a bunch of influential go-getters,” the judge said of the coalition signers. “I do see them getting government funding in the future and I want to be a part of that. I do not want to get left behind.”

Frio County Sheriff Mike Morse expressed his support for the coalition and told the court that his office is active in protecting the county.

“We stand behind what we do,” the sheriff said. “You are not going to see our arrests and mugshots on Facebook. That is not what we do. At the end of the day the immigrants are people too.”

Camacho, Morse and Lieutenant John Meyer represent Frio County and will travel between the coalition member counties to attend public meetings, seminars and presentations to educate the public on initiatives to combat the impact of the border crisis and inform landowners of their rights.

“Our goal is to grow this coalition and incorporate more participating counties,” a letter from Atascosa County Judge Weldon Cude said. “[We] need to call for more action from our state and federal lawmakers.”

In La Salle County, Judge Martinez believes the humanitarian crisis is above political partisanship.

“To me, it’s non-political,” the judge said. “It’s about dealing with lines of people. I have worked in the area, and I have seen why people send their loved ones, their young children, here to escape the threat of death in their home countries.

“As a parent, I can’t imagine having to tell my son, ‘Hey, you’ve got to go, if you’re going to live,’ and send the children away into the unknown, because the unknown is better than the terrible conditions they live under, and the constant threat of violence,” Judge Martinez said this week. “We have to understand the root reasons for this humanitarian crisis if we are going to be effective in handling it.”

Since the launch of Gov. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star in March 2021, multi-agency efforts have led to more than 376,000 apprehensions and more than 28,000 criminal arrests. Of those, more than 25,000 felony charges have been reported. State troopers have also conducted drug-warfare operations, seizing over 86 million lethal doses of fentanyl.

The Frio County emergency dispatch office has reported that deputies respond daily, on average, to between three and five pursuits or smuggler interceptions that involve bail-outs, a claim echoed by the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office and the Encinal Police Department.

“Humanitarian issues need to be brought home to the nation’s leaders in Washington,” Judge Martinez said. “They have to come up with something that will work for everybody. The wall ain’t going to solve anything.”

The coalition’s meetings will be open to public input.