VAL VERDE COUNTY

The Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Border Patrol insist the 11 men, arrested under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border initiative, weren’t set up for trespassing charges. But a county attorney decided the case was too muddled to prosecute.

The almost 250 detained men, whose immediate release was ordered three days ago, are expected to be turned over to federal authorities to be detained again, deported or freed in the United States while their cases are being resolved.

The men were arrested by state troopers and held for weeks without facing formal charges, a violation of state law. It’s the latest misfire in Abbott’s hastily assembled effort to involve Texas in patrolling the border.

Defense attorneys have started asking courts to set migrants free because local justice systems, overwhelmed by arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott's border security push, are routinely violating state law and constitutional due process rights.

Val Verde County commissioners say the migrants who were camping out in Del Rio are now cleared, just days after almost 15,000 people, most of them Haitians, were seeking asylum.

“Border Patrol is overwhelmed,” Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said. Haiti has suffered...

After nearly two months in a Texas prison, Ignacio watched through a computer screen last week as a border county prosecutor announced he was dropping the criminal trespassing charge against him.

Officials said immigration authorities weren’t interested in taking migrants who had no criminal conviction into federal custody. But without documentation, at least one newly released migrant soon found himself back in detention.

Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push, Texas state police have arrested hundreds of migrants in the conservative county, usually after spotting them on cargo trains or walking remote ranch lands. Sent to a state prison retooled as an immigration jail, many men were left without lawyers for weeks.

After more than three weeks in jail, a trespassing charge against the man was dropped because state troopers shouldn’t have arrested him under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push. He wound up in bureaucratic limbo for days as federal agencies passed the responsibility for resolving his immigration status.

Through a small Zoom square from inside a Texas prison, nine immigrants in orange jumpsuits appeared for the first court hearings Wednesday under Gov. Greg Abbott’s new directive for state troopers to arrest people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and jail them for state crimes.

DEL RIO — Nerio stepped out of the Rio Grande with his wife last week, put his feet on the sandy Texas ground and quickly found himself in handcuffs. He should not have been arrested. But law enforcement on the Texas border has become a blur of overlapping agencies as Gov. Greg Abbott floods the region with state troopers and Texas National Guard personnel in an unprecedented state effort to arrest migrants after they enter the country illegally.

DEL RIO — Nerio stepped out of the Rio Grande with his wife last week, put his feet on the sandy Texas ground and quickly...

The governor's decision to go all in on border security is evolving rapidly, and many of those on the ground don't know how it's going to work.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas is beginning to arrest migrants on trespassing charges along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's actions that he says are needed to slow the number of border crossings, jailing at least 10 people so far with more on the way, authorities said Thursday.

At least 10 people have been arrested. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott says the move is among actions needed to slow the number of border crossings.

Texas is beginning to arrest migrants on trespassing charges along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Texas is beginning to arrest migrants on trespassing charges along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's actions that he says are needed to slow the number of border crossings, jailing at least 10 people so far with more on the way, authorities said Thursday. The arrests put in motion plans that Abbott first announced in June, when he also said that Texas would continue building former President Donald Trump's border wall and called on other governors to deploy law enforcement and National Guard members to the southern border.

Converted Texas prison gets first immigrant detainees as Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security effort ramps up

Border-crossing immigrants are being arrested by Texas troopers on state charges like trespassing, and they’re starting to trickle into a prison emptied to house them.

Authorities say one person was was found dead when the wreckage of small plane was discovered on a ranch in rural West Texas.

According to the Department of Public Safety, the fatal crash happened at 1:26 p.m. Monday and nearly 30 miles north of Del Rio. Officials say that DPS troopers were chasing a red pickup truck on US 277 when it collided with a white Ford F-150. “Due to injuries sustained, eight undocumented passengers from the Dodge pickup were pronounced deceased on scene,” The Department of Public Safety told KSAT. AdOriginal:Eight people are dead after a head-on collision in Val Verde County, according to Texas Department of Public Safety officials. DPS officials said a trooper was in pursuit of a red Dodge Ram pickup truck when the truck collided head-on with a white Ford F-150.

click to enlarge Screenshot / YouTubeThe Cowboys Dancehall saga continues.In a Sunday Facebook post, Val Verde County Judge Lewis Owens had harsh words for a Del Rio-area resident who tested positive for COVID-19 yet attended a Cody Johnson concert at the San Antonio nightclub anyway, KSAT reports ”There’s Snapchat pictures evidently that y’all took with your mask on your wrist and y’all having a good time," the judge said in the post. "You’re positive. You should’ve never left, young lady.”Owens said after the picture surfaced, the woman lied to Del Rio city officials. "Then you have the nerve, the audacity, to lie to the tracers that you got in a fight with your mother and all this other stuff. That’s how come you weren’t home, and then you confess, you say, ‘Look, I messed up,’” Owens said.The judge said the woman was issued a citation.

SAN ANTONIO – The Val Verde County Judge said someone from the Del Río area may have knowingly exposed hundreds of people to COVID-19 at a country music event in San Antonio. Judge Lewis Owens recently posted a strong and familiar message on Facebook about stopping the spread of the deadly virus. The girl Owens was referring to was issued a citation, and the judge said he plans to release her name as soon as possible to make an example out of her. TABC is also investigating possible alcohol violations from the events over the weekend. Related Stories:Cowboys Dancehall receives 2 citations for two-day Cody Johnson concert and large crowdsSan Antonio official explains process for shutting down businesses due to COVID-19 violations

In several places along the Texas border, the opposite happened. If Trump had performed like the rest of the Republican ticket, the border votes wouldn’t be a topic of conversation. Some actually flipped, like Val Verde County, where Del Rio is the county seat. In Starr County, where Rio Grande City is the seat, Trump lost by 875 votes — or 5 percentage points. But in Zapata County, just under 85% did, and in Starr County, about 79% made it.

No one in Del Rio knew the answer to that question — but so far, it’s not 48. Dionisia Valadez, 88, had been living in a long-term care facility in Del Rio when staff placed the building on lock-down in March. The lack of social distancing in Del Rio has made COVID-19 worse, and likely cost people their lives. Then in May, Texas began to reopen gradually and things in Del Rio changed over the course of the summer holidays. Gutierrez said the summer is when Del Rio adults want to be at Lake Amistad and Del Rio teenagers want to visit San Antonio.

Officials: Del Rio resident who tested positive for COVID-19 traveled through San Antonio airportA person that traveled through the San Antonio International Airport tested positive for COVID-19 in Del Rio, according to officials from Val Verde County. A person that traveled through the San Antonio International Airport tested positive for COVID-19 in Del Rio, according to officials from Val Verde County. Photo: JERRY LARA /San Antonio Express-News Photo: JERRY LARA /San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Officials: Del Rio resident who tested positive for COVID-19 traveled through San Antonio airport 1 / 1 Back to GalleryA person who traveled through the San Antonio International Airport tested positive for COVID-19 in Del Rio, according to officials from Val Verde County. Officials said in a news release on Tuesday that the person flew into the San Antonio airport with their family and then drove to Del Rio. It is unclear where the family had flown in from and when they arrived in San Antonio.

On this day in 1969, large hail, to the size of grapefruits, left behind extensive damage in Val Verde County.

On this day in 1969, large hail, to the size of grapefruits, left behind extensive damage in Val Verde County. Copyright 2019 by KSAT - All rights reserved.

VAL VERDE COUNTY, Texas - A 13-year-old girl from Val Verde County who was the subject of an Amber Alert was found safe and the man accused of kidnapping her was arrested, Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said. The alert was issued Monday for Betsabe Perez, who was believed to have been abducted by 19-year-old Erik Diaz-Tapia. An IP address from a cellphone helped law enforcement authorities locate the two at an apartment complex Wednesday morning in the Fort Worth area, Martinez said. Related: Girl, 13, from Val Verde County abducted; AMBER Alert issuedBetsabe is OK and is being evaluated by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Diaz-Tapia is being detained in Fort Worth.

DEL RIO, Texas - An AMBER Alert was issued Monday for a 13-year-old girl from Val Verde County. Betsabe Perez is believed to have been abducted by 19-year-old Erik Diaz-Tapia. Law enforcement officials believe Betsabe is in grave or immediate danger. Anyone with information about the abduction is asked to call the Val Verde County Sheriff's Office at 830-774-7513. AMBER Alert Flyer Betsabe PerezCopyright 2019 by KSAT - All rights reserved.

VAL VERDE COUNTY, Texas - In the wide-open spaces of Val Verde County lies the Devils River, one of the last pristine, wild rivers in Texas. For months, the Devils River Conservancy has promoted its "Dont Blow it" campaign in an effort to keep wind farms from calling Val Verde County, and specifically those areas around the Devils River, home. "It also has the possibility of disrupting ground water flows in karst aquifer systems like we have in Val Verde County, said Lewey. While Val Verde County is home to one wind farm already, additional wind projects also faced resistance from the city of Del Rio, home to Laughlin Air Force Base. After recent negotiations, the two energy companies involved opted to pull out of their respective projects.

In the wide-open spaces of Val Verde County lies the Devils River, one of the last pristine, wild rivers in Texas. Recently, it was at the center of a monthslong negotiation.