Maverick County Set to Launch Controversial Operation Lone Star “Catch and Jail” Program against Migrants
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
Maverick County officials met on Thursday, March 10, 2022 with representatives from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Del Rio District Office to discuss the implementation of the controversial Operation Lone Star “Catch and Jail” Program against undocumented immigrants seeking refugee or political asylum in the United States.
Operation Lone Star “Catch and Jail” Program was launched in July 2021 in Val Verde and Kinney counties by Governor Gregg Abbott, charging undocumented immigrants with state criminal misdemeanor charges of “trespass” of private property or other criminal offenses.
Among the Maverick County officials present at the meeting with DPS representatives were County Judge David R. Saucedo, Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber, Maverick County Attorney Jaime “A. J.” Iracheta, Maverick County Assistant County Attorneys Cecilia Mascorro and Luis Gurrola, and other staff members.
Maverick County applied for and received at least two known grants from Texas Governor Gregg Abbott’s Office for implementation of Operation Lone Star, including one grant to the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department for about $1.6 million and another for about $460,000 to Maverick County Attorney’s Office.
Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star “Catch and Jail” Program against undocumented immigrants seeking refugee or political asylum in the United States has been the subject of controversy since its inception in July 2021 in Val Verde and Kinney counties for violating migrants’ constitutional rights, the supremacy clause with the federal government having jurisdiction of enforcement of immigration law, migrants’ due process and speedy trial act rights, incarceration of migrants for longer periods of time than allowed by law or without a formal criminal complaint filed in court, and the funneling of migrants into private property in order to be charged with a misdemeanor offense of trespass of private property or other offenses.
In January 2022, Travis County District Court Judge Jan Soifer held that the Operation Lone Star “Catch and Jail” Program against an undocumented immigrant violated the constitutional rights of the migrant and the Supremacy Clause which grants the federal government exclusive jurisdiction on enforcement of immigration law, setting a legal precedent for future cases. The State of Texas is now appealing this decision.
In October 2021, over two dozen Democrat Congressmen requested the U. S. Department of Justice to investigate Governor Abbott’s controversial “Catch and Jail” Program for violating constitutional rights of undocumented immigrants and the federal government’s exclusive jurisdiction of enforcement of immigration law.
The “Catch and Jail” Program has been mired with problems since its inception in July 2021 because Texas lacked a court system to handle these type of cases, forcing it to create its own court system and prison system as the traditional county courts and jails along the Texas-Mexico border were quickly overwhelmed and overburdened with the large volume of criminal trespass cases being filed and migrants being detained in jail. Many cases have been dismissed for various legal and constitutional reasons.
Many legal scholars question the legality and constitutionality of the controversial “Catch and Jail” program. Some scholars have noted that the “Catch and Jail” program is a far-right plan to charge and get convicted tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants with criminal misdemeanor offenses to eventually affect their opportunity to legally obtain political asylum or other refugee status in the United States. Individuals with misdemeanor and felony convictions within the United States have a lesser probability of legally qualifying for an immigration visa or asylum.
Other critics of the “Catch and Jail” program cite that Governor Abbott is using it as a political public relations stunt as he seeks re-election and has his eyes on eventually running for the National Republican Party nomination for President in 2024.
Maverick County officials have chosen to embark in this controversial “Catch and Jail” program largely due to the significant increase of the total number of undocumented immigrants seeking refugee or political asylum apprehended within the community by the U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement partners.
Meeting with Maverick County officials included DPS Captain Joel Betancourt, DPS Lieutenant Isaac Gonzalez, Texas Emergency Management Division Ronny Taylor, and other state representatives.
