Class Action Lawsuit Targets OLS, Governor, DPS, Kinney County Sheriff, and Others
Plus, 38,000 Unaccompanied Minors visit the RGV
Hello again friends,
We can’t say much about our lead item this morning. Like the header says, it’s a class action lawsuit, targeting Operation Lone Star and a whole cast of characters, including the Governor and our employer at our day job at the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office.
There can be no comment regarding ongoing litigation, other than to acknowledge it’s a thing.
So— it’s a thing.
Find the Texas Tribune’s in-depth coverage of it here. The lawsuit also seeks about $5-million in damages for those who’ve been incarcerated more than 30 days as a result of Operation Lone Star.
Hopefully, we can get away with saying something about how much we like the photo selected to accompany the piece by Texas Tribune editors. It appears to be a slice-of-life moment inside the Del Rio processing facility that handles the majority of those arrested as part of Operation Lone Star. It looks like a staffer has bundled up most of someone’s belongings in the orange mesh bag. They should be shipped to the Briscoe Unit in Dilley for eventual return. The rest of the photo appears to show another staffer explaining the process and procedures to a visitor. It’s possible the subject in the center is someone in custody and not a visitor, but usually suspects in custody are issued jumpsuits and other shoes. Also, the subject’s body language and lack of restraints suggest he’s not being detained.
A weird coincidence in the cosmos after our last dispatch. We were highlighting Todd Bensman’s reporting, about the numbers of “KST’s” or Known and Suspected Terrorists crossing the Southern Border, and how he and others have to pester the crap out of DHS and CBP to get facts and figures.
Well. They updated their website yesterday to make that information accessible. What splendid timing. As if the universe is listening to us.
Clearly they’ve been getting hammered with requests from Reporters and Congressional Offices and have realized that publishing that information as a matter of course will save them a lot of hassle— so good on them for making the change.
As Bensman notes— it should help lay to rest a lot of speculation about whether or not “bad hombres” ever try to get across the border.
One way to measure the significance of CBP providing such raw information to the general public is that, in the recent past, major American newspapers and television networks have staked their reputations on insisting that no terrorist suspects ever cross the border and that anyone who says otherwise, like former President Donald Trump did in 2018, is a big, fat, fear-mongering, racist liar. Otherwise, they refuse to report government evidence when it does make it to the public.
The controversy over whether terrorist suspects cross the land border has left many Americans confused over the years as to what is and isn’t a phony political narrative about this one of many border threats.
And yet there it is now in black and white on CBP’s public-facing statistics page, right between “Gang Affiliated Enforcement” and “U.S. Border Patrol Recidivism" rates.
—Todd Bensman, Author, Reporter, Former DPS Intelligence Analyst
What’s interesting about the data is how much larger the encounter numbers are for 2019. Wonder why so many guys in the database were coming? What was so special about 2019. Syria? Wasn’t that when Syria was a thing? Can’t remember.
Also interesting is the very last part of the table, showing just how tiny a percentage these encounters are when compared to the seas of humanity trying to get across the borders.
Authorities are looking for that one special minnow swimming amid school after school of minnows.
As we observed yesterday— 9/11 only needed 19 guys to change the world.
And finally this morning, our associate at Citizen Stringer.com, Lauren Jessop, is continuing to come up with gold as she sieves through the river of press releases streaming through the various channels of the internet.
Most recently, highlighting the fact that more than 38,000 unaccompanied minors have turned up in the Rio Grande Valley so far in FY 2022.
38,000 kids with no parents, showing up at the border.
Odds are, some or most, were being rented by people trying to pose as family units.
This is a disgrace, and an illustration of the consequences of well meant provisions that only encourage this kind of thing. And, it’s part of what we’re talking about in previous dispatches when we make offhand mention of how a lot of the work to “fix” the border is going to have to happen in Austin and Washington D.C.
Meanwhile— here is her reporting we briefly referenced yesterday, about “Weaponized Migration” and the high numbers of Cubans that have been coming through the Southern Border.
As she reports, it all goes back to a change in Nicaraguan visa policy last November.
“…which opened up a travel option to Cubans not previously available. The move is suspected of being done in retaliation for U.S. sanctions on both countries, as well as a result of changes to U.S. policies.”
—Lauren Jessop, Reporter - CitizenStringer.com
She goes on to highlight how the numbers of Cubans are skyrocketing, doubling since last publishing about the matter the month before.
Essentially, what is happening is Cubans are now able to fly into Nicaragua without a Visa, and from there go straight to Mexico City and then up to the Texas border, avoiding a lot of the roadblocks and hang-ups in Mexico’s Southern states.
This makes it much more attractive an option for those Cubans looking to leave and come to the US and avoid getting caught up in the changes to the “wet foot, dry foot” policy.
And on that note, we’ll call it day. As always, thank you for reading. Outside our window, we can hear cars moving back and forth on wet streets. It must’ve rained while we slept. Make note of what you did yesterday, friendos— we may need you to do it again. We are assuming of course that someone washed their car. Or did some other kind of rain dance.
As always any errors, opinions, or other misdeeds contained within this newsletter are ours alone and not indicative of Kinney County policies, statements, or beliefs.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you again soon.