(HorizonPost.com) – After accusing President Joe Biden of abdicating his responsibility to protect his state’s southern border, Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbott initiated “Operation Lone Star” in early March 2021. It led to the arrest and detainment of illegal immigrants crossing into Texas.
On September 28, Val Verde County District Judge Roland Andrade (R) agreed with a motion filed by RioGrande Legal Aid on behalf of some of those arrested. The motion argued the men in question remained jailed beyond the term state law permits.
Texas is reportedly set to release more than 220 migrants who were arrested under GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's "catch and jail" border security policy and sat in prison for more than a month without being charged with a crime. https://t.co/9S1ifaDwIF
— Newsmax (@newsmax) September 28, 2021
Attorney Kristin Etter told Judge Andrade that the organization had already reached a deal with the Val Verde County prosecutor to release 55 people jailed for more than 15 days without being charged. Legal Aid attorneys made a separate agreement with the Kinney County attorney to release an additional 168 who have been there for at least 30 days.
However, the ultimate fate of the men is unknown. Federal agents could take them into custody or deport them, or they may release the men into America with the expectation to return for court proceedings because they signed a paper agreeing to do so.
The liberal Texas Tribune and Leftist activist groups are hailing this order as a rebuke to the governor’s plan, but some would argue that it’s not a clear-cut issue. The people who crossed the border did so without the proper documentation, but the judge — and a Republican at that — appeared to agree that the state violated the men’s due process rights.
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