Texas Faces Lawsuit Over Provision of Border Security Law

[Draggingtree]

Texas Tribune: Texas Faces Lawsuit Over Provision of Border Security Law

by Julián Aguilar / Jan. 25, 2016 / 20Comments

 

Taking aim at a new Texas law making it a state felony to harbor undocumented immigrants, a national civil rights group announced Monday that it is suing the state.

 

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, filed suit Sunday against Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and the Texas Public Safety Commission, which oversees the DPS. The group alleges that the state has violated the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause because immigration enforcement is only a federal responsibility. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of two San Antonio landlords and the director of an immigrant services agency, also says the new provision violates the plaintiffs’ guarantee to due process.

[Draggingtree]

State Nearing Goal of 250 New Border Troopers

by Julián Aguilar / June 30, 2016 / 6Comments

 

The Texas Department of Public Safety is nearing its goal of permanently assigning 250 additional troopers to the state’s border with Mexico. And after initially concentrating its efforts in the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas, the agency is now expanding its target area to include West Texas and Big Bend.

 

By the end of August, the DPS academy will have graduated 209 of the 250 border troopers required by House Bill 11, an omnibus border-security measure passed in 2015 mandating the increase in staffing levels.

Agency spokesman Tom Vinger said most of the new recruits are in the agency's Region 3, which extends from Val Verde County to Cameron County on the Gulf Coast and includes the McAllen, Laredo and Corpus Christi districts.

 

Of the 123 troopers that graduated earlier this year, about half were assigned to Region 3 and 20 to Region 4, which spans from El Paso County to Terrell County. That’s in addition to other troopers assigned in West Texas to help fill vacancies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=casRL0BmpMs

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/30/dps-nearing-goal-250-border-troopers/