JIM HOGG COUNTY SHOWS THE SUCCESSES OF OPERATION LONE STAR
“Last night KGNS-TV in Laredo did a feature on the successes of Operation Lone Star, with plaudits from Jim Hogg County’s Democrat Judge and local residents. As the clip clearly shows, our southern border remains a problem, despite what delusional Beto O’Rourke would like for you to believe.” – Mark Miner, Communications Director
O’Rourke Says He Believed Deploying The National Guard To The Border Was A “Solution In Search Of A Problem.” O’ROURKE: “There are (national) guard members from Texas A&M who are on the border right now in Zapata, in Webb, in Hidalgo Counties to go be part of a solution in search of a problem.” (Beto O’Rourke, Remarks, College Station, TX, 3/8/22)
- Click HERE To Watch The Video.
Transcript Of Last Night’s KGNS News Exclusive On Operation Lone Star In Jim Hogg County:
HOST: “It’s been a year since Operation Lone Star became active here in Texas. Governor Greg Abbott started it with the intent of taking on illegal immigration. Our Lisely Garza went to Hebbronville and joined the boots on the ground for an up close look at how it’s going. It’s a KGNS news exclusive.”LISELY GARZA, KGNS: “56 miles east of Laredo is the town of Hebbronville. It has a population of over 4 thousand people. O.A. Farias is one of those residents. He lives on the outskirts of town. He has seen many more law enforcement in the area since he was once surprised by something he hadn’t seen before.”
O.A. FARIAS, HEBBRONVILLE RESIDENT: “One morning, when I was coming into work, I witnessed one and I called border patrol and they had me on the phone to keep surveillance of the car. They were hiding in the brush right in front of my house and down the street and the car just pulled up and the door opens, and they jumped into the car.”
GARZA: “Farias says this was the only time he has seen this happen but his mother and others have seen it multiple times.”
FARIAS: “Down the street the elderly lady was outside watering her yard and there was a man inside her house.”
GARZA: “He says the man inside of the house was trying to hide from law enforcement. Farias says a lot of people come through town on the train to the quote ‘pickup areas’ that the people (use for) moving undocumented people up north. Jim Hogg County Judge Juan Carlos Guerra says these areas are big hot spots in town.”
JUDGE JUAN CARLOS GUERRA, JIM HOGG COUNTY JUDGE (DEMOCRAT): “Well, we saw an influx of non-citizens coming into the community. So, we had bailouts during the day, we had limited law enforcement, border patrol was limited, so I went ahead requested additional help in speaking with our county sheriff from the State of Texas.”
GARZA: “During the first year of Operation Lone Star, they apprehended over 200,000 undocumented people, and over 3,000 criminal trespassing arrests, and this was only during the first year of Operation Lone Star. Operation Lone Star is a joint mission between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department between the Texas and Mexico border. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says its purpose is to alleviate illegal immigration and the illegal drug trade. The county judge says they have seen 20 to 30 men over the age of 18 being taken to the county’s detention center. If women and children are found in these hotspots, they are taken by border patrol. Sergeant Erick Estrada with DPS says before Operation Lone Star, the county had a lot of criminal activity since it connects many highways coming from the border.”
SGT. ERICK ESTRADA: “They’re wanting to bypass the checkpoint, so normally what they would do is they drop off right here, they go into this ranch right next to us, they’ll actually go through the checkpoint. Once they bypass the checkpoint or once they go through that checkpoint then they’ll just pick up down the road– pick up the people they just dropped off on that ranch.”
GARZA: “We got exclusive insight into one of the ranches that Sergeant Estrada says people walk through. Even though there wasn’t any activity at our time in the ranch, usually on a daily basis people are apprehended. DPS says they are seeing these smugglers have more technology, so agents have to adjust by bring new ways to search for them faster. In the middle of the brush, DPS troopers and national guard agents have teamed up. Some agents walking for miles daily while jumping over fences in search of criminal trespassing signs. Troopers ride ATVs in these ranches to get to these quote ‘hotspots’ faster. I spoke with people that live close to these ranches they told me they see this daily. They tell people to stay safe since things can take a turn for the worse at a moment’s notice. For KGNS News, I’m Lisely Garza.”
Original source can be found here.
