{"id":437671,"date":"2021-12-17T19:00:11","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T19:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=380966"},"modified":"2021-12-17T19:00:11","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T19:00:11","slug":"texas-national-guard-filmed-trespassing-during-border-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/12\/17\/texas-national-guard-filmed-trespassing-during-border-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas National Guard Filmed Trespassing During Border Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was early<\/u> November when Marianna Trevi\u00f1o Wright saw a convoy of National Guard members in Humvees speed past the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas. Shortly thereafter, Trevi\u00f1o Wright, the center\u2019s director, began to see soldiers with assault rifles patrolling nearby and along the banks of the Rio Grande.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have this aggressive posture with the rifles across their chests,\u201d Trevi\u00f1o Wright said. \u201cWe cruise the river four or five times a week on our boat and have not seen anything that would indicate an increase in [migrant] traffic or any sort of increased threat. \u2026 So the question is, What are they doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, a wildlife camera recorded three armed soldiers on a private road inside the butterfly center, which alarmed Trevi\u00f1o Wright and other employees. The privately owned nonprofit nature\u00a0preserve hosts several thousand schoolchildren and visitors every year to experience the flora and fauna, which includes several hundred species of butterflies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worry that these young, deployed soldiers, who find themselves in a situation that is not their home and their heads filled with Lord only knows what, could act impulsively or recklessly or even accidentally with tragic consequences,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\"National\n

National Guard\u00a0members captured by a wildlife camera at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, on\u00a0Dec. 13, 2021.<\/p>\n

\nCredit: Marianna Trevi\u00f1o Wright, still: The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Allowing soldiers to patrol with assault rifles is the latest escalation in an ongoing border campaign by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called Operation Lone Star. Since March, Abbott has deployed<\/a> more than 10,000 state police officers and soldiers to the Texas border. He has also welcomed soldiers and police from at least 10 other Republican-led states. One billionaire Republican donor in Tennessee, Willis Johnson, funded<\/a> the deployment of South Dakota\u2019s National Guard to Texas. And last week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced<\/a> he\u2019d send 50 more National Guard members in early 2022.<\/p>\n

Rick Perry, who was Texas governor from 2000 to 2015, also deployed the state National Guard to the border to assist Border Patrol in surveillance and other support functions. But Abbott is the first Texas governor to send armed soldiers to arrest migrants as quasi-immigration officers.<\/p>\n

National Guard members deployed by U.S. presidents are barred from participating in civilian law enforcement duties under the Posse Comitatus Act. But guard members deployed by state leaders have more latitude.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Over the summer, soldiers and state police from the Texas Department of Public Safety, or DPS, began arresting migrants for criminal trespassing in Val Verde County and neighboring Kinney County. Instead of being turned over to Border Patrol, some are being charged with state misdemeanors and prosecuted by Texas counties.<\/p>\n\n

Since much of the Texas border is privately owned, DPS has sent teams to ask landowners to sign agreements allowing them access to their land. The landowner is then listed as the \u201ccomplainant\u201d on the trespassing charges against migrants. DPS said it plans to extend<\/a> these arrests to other counties but has yet to expand the initiative.<\/p>\n

Trevi\u00f1o Wright said the butterfly center, which is in Hidalgo County, has not signed an agreement allowing soldiers or DPS officers to patrol the center\u2019s land. After discovering that someone had cut through the center\u2019s barbed wire fence, Trevi\u00f1o Wright placed wildlife cameras at the location. Soon after, the center recorded footage of a soldier with a rifle appearing to examine the spot where Trevi\u00f1o Wright said the fence had been cut. Since then, she\u2019s recorded footage of soldiers at the center several times, despite the \u201cNo Trespassing\u201d signs posted.<\/p>\n

At press events, Abbott has said<\/a> the flooding of border communities with police and military is necessary due to \u201cthe Biden administration\u2019s open-border policies.\u201d But Biden continues to enforce Title 42<\/a>, an obscure public health regulation the Trump administration invoked to bar asylum-seekers from crossing during the pandemic. And this month, the Trump era\u2019s \u201cRemain in Mexico\u201d program<\/a>, which forces asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court dates, was reinstated due to a federal court order.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/p>\n

In September, thousands of Haitian asylum-seekers arrived at the port of entry in Del Rio, Texas<\/a>; two months later, Abbott announced further militarization of the border. The state launched Operation Steel Curtain to \u201csurge personnel, equipment, and capabilities to anywhere in the state of Texas \u2026 so we can repel and block any large caravans and illegal activity coming across,\u201d according to Maj. Mike Perry, the National Guard\u2019s border public affairs officer. Perry said in a November press briefing that DPS and the National Guard were training at the port of entry in Eagle Pass, bringing in Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters and military police with \u201ca contingency reaction force that have non-lethal force and riot gear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Intercept and Type Investigations asked Abbott\u2019s office whether a new threat had been determined that required soldiers to patrol with assault rifles in border communities. A spokesperson for the governor directed questions to the Texas Military Department, which oversees the National Guard. \u201cThere\u2019s no new threat on the OLS mission,\u201d a spokesperson for the military department wrote in an email. \u201cAbbott has the authority to arm us at any time should the situation arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the protocol that soldiers follow for use of lethal force, the spokesperson wrote, \u201cRules for self-defense are in place \u2026 all service members receive training on these rules prior to their deployment on the mission.\u201d The spokesperson said that they could not release detailed information about the rules, however, because \u201cit could endanger our service members and law enforcement officials on the border.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\"national-guard-zapata-county\"\n

A video Elsa Hull recorded on her phone on\u00a0Dec. 12, 2021, outside her home in Zapata County, Texas.<\/p>\n

\nStill: The Intercept<\/p><\/div>\n

Trevi\u00f1o Wright is not the only Texan noticing the change. Last Sunday, Elsa Hull, who lives near the Rio Grande in Zapata County, was startled by two armed men in uniform who she says followed her as she walked home from the river. In the encounter, which she filmed on her phone, the two men said they were just checking on her after reports that an individual had come up from the river.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just totally freaked me out,\u201d Hull said. \u201cI mean, who are these guys? And what are they doing at my gate? They didn\u2019t have any patches or anything identifying them. One of them was wearing a helmet. Is he expecting bombs to drop from the sky?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Intercept and Type Investigations sent Hull\u2019s video and footage from the butterfly center to the Texas Military Department, asking why armed soldiers were on private property and what precautions they\u2019d take in a public setting with schoolchildren and visitors present. We also asked them to confirm that the two men who approached Hull were National Guard members.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson responded, \u201cThe Texas Military Department has used federal property co-located near the National Butterfly Center while working in support of missions along the Texas-Mexico border. Our service members are under strict guidance to remain on federal property while working in this area.\u201d The spokesperson did not confirm whether the men in Hull\u2019s video were part of the National Guard or explain the presence of soldiers at the privately owned nature preserve.<\/p>\n

Trevi\u00f1o Wright and Hull are especially concerned about the lack of information around the protocol governing soldiers patrolling communities and their reasons for being armed. There has been little detail from state officials outside of information they provided to the Center for Immigration Studies \u2014 designated<\/a> an anti-immigrant hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center \u2014 for an article<\/a> the group published in late October.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me a break. This is all fabricated by Abbott for personal and political gain.\u201d<\/blockquote>\n

DPS Director Steve McCraw explained to CIS that soldiers would receive 40 hours of police training in Fourth Amendment rights and use of deadly force. The training was being given by DPS officers at military bases and in the field along the border, officials said. \u201cUnder the new initiative,\u201d according to CIS, \u201csoldiers who have undergone the deadly force training will be fully armed and, while trained to understand restrictions on use of force, will be authorized to use it if directly threatened.\u201d The soldiers will not be allowed to pursue fleeing suspects in vehicles, according to the article.<\/p>\n

Some Texas Democrats, including Rep. Joaquin Castro, have asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Operation Lone Star. \u201cAbbott\u2019s continued misuse of the Texas National Guard has led to an excessive militarization of our border communities,\u201d Castro told The Intercept and Type in an email. \u201cIt\u2019s unwarranted, can lead to real consequences and trauma, and is a dangerous way for the governor to try and score political points.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a letter<\/a> sent to Mayorkas and Garland, Castro and several other Democratic members of Congress said Operation Lone Star establishes \u201ca separate state immigration policy \u2026 which is wreaking havoc on Texas\u2019s judicial system.\u201d Flooding the border with military and state police has \u201ccontinued to militarize Texas\u2019s border communities and interfered with the federal immigration system,\u201d the letter went on. \u201cEven more egregiously, these programs have directly led to a violation of state laws and constitutional due process rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz also voiced concerns about the state\u2019s operation in an interview<\/a> with Texas Monthly. \u201cI really would prefer to see border security left to the border-security experts,\u201d he said. \u201cI want other agencies\u2019 help; I certainly need it at this time, but coordination has to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trevi\u00f1o Wright said she\u2019s more concerned about the conduct of armed soldiers and police in her community than she is about any migrant caravans. \u201cWe were just voted one of the best botanical gardens in the state and now we\u2019re crawling with National Guard soldiers,\u201d she said. \u201cGive me a break. This is all fabricated by Abbott for personal and political gain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hull said she\u2019s afraid for her family after coming across the armed soldiers near her home. \u201cI\u2019ve lived here for 20 years,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve never had any problems with people crossing, breaking in, or vandalizing anything. This is a peaceful area. But now I\u2019m worried. I don\u2019t want to get shot. I don\u2019t want my kids to get shot. This is just a tragedy waiting to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Texas National Guard Filmed Trespassing During Border Operations<\/a> appeared first on The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on The Intercept<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soldiers patrolling border communities with assault rifles is the latest escalation in Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s Operation Lone Star.<\/p>\n

The post Texas National Guard Filmed Trespassing During Border Operations<\/a> appeared first on The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437671"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437671"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":439037,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437671\/revisions\/439037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}