Immigration

Texas DPS official: Cartels at the border ‘enriched’ with military-grade weapons and cash

Published

6 months ago

June 7, 2021

Staff Writer

Lieutenant Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety appeared on “The Sara Carter Show” last week to talk about his department’s newest duties. Governor Greg Abbott recently launched an initiative to integrate DPS with the Texas National Guard to tighten border security.

While their main duties tend to pertain to criminal activity and traffic violations, DPS is lately pitching in to help with the border crisis, too. Since the governor launched Operation Lone Star on March 4th till now, Olivarez says they’ve seen 35,000 migrants cross the southern Texas border. That is a number “we have never dealt with before,” Olivarez says. So, they’ve got 1,000 troopers, investigators, Texas Rangers, tactical operators, marine aircraft and Intel personnel dedicated to the border.

Olivarez says that their efforts are helping national security, because many of the contacts they make are with migrants smuggling weapons. “We’re talking about military grade weapons, fully automatic weapons, 50 caliber rifles that are coming across, going into Mexico to supply the cartels. And it is a threat, it is a threat because they’re within miles from the southern border,” the lieutenant said. He’s also found others smuggling currency and narcotics.

“Just all we can say is regardless of political views,” Olivarez said, “there is a crisis right now that’s taking place, and we got to do something about it.”

You can follow Jenny Goldsberry on Twitter @jennyjournalism.

Immigration

DHS Secretary Mayorkas Says We Cannot Remove ‘11 Million Undocumented Individuals’ Unlawfully in U.S.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 19, 2021

Staff Writer

DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Troubling details were unearthed during the questioning of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by the Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Grassley asked Mayorkas about a DHS memo from September 30 which reads: “The fact an individual is a removable noncitizen will not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.”

“Does that reasoning apply to the [1.2] million illegal immigrants who have received due process and been given a final order of removal by an immigration judge?” Grassley asked Mayorkas.

“We cannot remove 1.2 million individuals, nor can we remove more than 11 million undocumented individuals, individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States, who might not have final orders of removal” Mayorkas answered.

Mayorkas also stated that he had issued the due process policy after drawing on “tremendous experience not only as a member of the Department of Homeland Security but as a federal prosecutor.”

Grassley pressed Mayorkas, asking, “should any of them be removed?”

“Of course,” Mayorkas said. “I do believe that individuals who pose a public safety threat, who pose a national security threat, who pose a border security threat, should be removed, and we should be smart and effective in our use of resources, and we should focus on the well-being of our communities and prioritize individuals for removal.”

In his opening statements, Grassley addressed Mayorkas and stated, “When you allow the ACLU and open-borders immigration activists rather than career law enforcement professionals to dictate the terms of your immigration and border policies, then you shouldn’t be surprised when record-shattering numbers of people start showing up at the border to take advantage of that.”

Grassley continued, “When you run DHS like it’s an ‘Abolish ICE’ fan club, you shouldn’t be surprised when you have an illegal immigration crisis on your hands.”