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As migrant apprehensions soar, Texas politicians jockey for air time to criticize — or defend — President Joe Biden

A group of asylum-seeking migrants' walked towards the border wall after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico, in Penitas, Texas, on Friday. Credit: REUTERS/Go NakamuraSign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. Texas’ Republican and Democratic elected officials on Friday battled for camera time on the state’s southern border as the Biden administration continues to come under fire as an ever-increasing number of undocumented immigrants are being apprehended. AdU.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who was among the Democrats in Carrizo Springs, said she was a child refugee who fled danger in Somalia to come to the United States. She said the migrant children in the Carrizo Springs facility told the members of Congress that they want to be treated with dignity and that they don't know who the current U.S. president is.

Castro leads congressional delegation of Carrizo Springs facility tour for unaccompanied migrant children

CARRIZO SPRINGS, Texas – U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio on Friday led a Democratic congressional delegation tour of the Carrizo Springs Office of Refugee Resettlement facility for unaccompanied children at the border. Castro said the lawmakers visited the facility to make sure the children are being “respected and humanely treated” and to make sure they are placed with their family sponsors or relatives as soon as possible. Castro said the current problems at the border were created by the Trump Administration. President Biden inherited a situation where the previous administration had sought to dismantle the infrastructure for processing asylum seekers in the United States,” Castro said. Castro also said the Trump Administration used the pandemic as an excuse to expel people who were seeking asylum.

Biden taps VP Harris to lead response to border challenges

President Joe Biden speaks with Vice President Kamala Harris about the southern border during a meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Washington. In delegating the matter to Harris, Biden is seeking to replicate a dynamic that played out when he served as President Barack Obama's vice president. As the first Black woman elected vice president, Harris arrived on the job as a trailblazer. The Biden administration has in recent weeks moved to open more than 10,000 new beds across the Southwest in convention centers and former oilfield camps. The White House faced criticism for limiting media access to Wednesday’s tour, keeping it to just one TV crew.

Child migrant facility reopened by Biden administration in South Texas draws criticism from immigration advocates

As long-term facilities for immigrant children reach capacity, the Biden administration has reopened a surge facility in South Texas, drawing criticism from lawmakers and immigration advocates alike. The emergency shelter spans 66 acres and includes stations for legal services, classrooms and hair salons. These children have relatives in the country and should be immediately reunited with them,” the organization said in a statement. The Biden administration’s decision “represents a chilling continuity of the Trump administration’s attitudes towards immigrants,” the organization said. AdThe Trump administration’s use of those facilities sparked protests in 2019 and drew heavy criticism from Democrats.

Feds: South Texas man helped relatives wanted for arson at George Floyd protest in Minnesota

CARRIZO SPRINGS, Texas A Carrizo Springs man was arrested for providing false information to federal agents and helping two relatives suspected of setting a store on fire during George Floyd demonstrations in Minnesota evade arrest, U.S. Attorney John F. Bash and U.S. Marshals on Tuesday arrested Leeroy Felan, 29, in Carrizo Springs on charges of being an accessory after the fact. Carrizo Springs is in Dimmit County, about 115 miles southwest of San Antonio. The couple is wanted in connection with a fire set at a Goodwill retail store in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 28. Surveillance cameras show the two suspects setting fire to the Goodwill stores back room, officials said.