Maverick County Joins Governor Abbott’s Controversial “Catch and Jail” Program of Undocumented Immigrants for Criminal Trespass
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo announced at a press conference held on Tuesday, August 31, 2021 that he had met last week with two Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) representatives from Governor Greg Abbott’s Office in the Rio Grande Valley, Mr. Escalon and Mr. De La Garza, and he had committed Maverick County to joining Governor Gregg Abbott’s “catch and jail” program of undocumented immigrants for alleged violations of criminal trespass, a Class A or B misdemeanor under state law.
County Judge Saucedo added that the Maverick County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Tom Schmerber will be responsible for arresting undocumented immigrants, together with DPS officers, for criminal trespass in Maverick County under Abbott’s “catch and jail” program and once arrested they will be transported to the State of Texas Temporary Processing Facility located in the parking lot of the Val Verde Correctional Facility in Del Rio, Texas—presumably to be magistrated by state contracted retired judges.
County Judge Saucedo added that “if necessary, they (undocumented immigrants) will go through our court process” in Maverick County by Zoom Video proceedings. Judge Saucedo cited that “we now have Maverick County residents complain” about undocumented immigrants trespassing on their private property as the reason for Maverick County joining the controversial “catch and jail” program, as well as supporting Governor Abbott’s Office and DPS.
Previously, Val Verde County started the controversial “catch and jail” program and later Kinney County joined it too and both counties have experienced administrative and legal glitches in operating the unprecedented and controversial “catch and jail” program. After their arrest and being magistrated, the undocumented immigrants are bused from Del Rio, Texas to Dilley, Texas, over 100 miles trip, to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison known as the Briscoe Prison, which was converted as a state jail facility to accommodate the detention of undocumented immigrants.
Under federal constitution and state law, the undocumented immigrants are entitled to be represented by an attorney and if they cannot afford an attorney, one has to be appointed to represent them. Often the detained immigrants go unrepresented by an attorney in violation of their constitutional rights and state law. The criminal trespass state charges filed against the undocumented immigrants have to be processed through the legal courts of the county where they were arrested in, generally causing an administrative backlog of cases to be filed and adjudicated in the small Texas-Mexico border counties.
Recently, more than 150 undocumented immigrants detained at the Briscoe state jail (former prison) were denied the appointment of an attorney within three days as required by state law and state prosecutors, usually county attorneys, had not filed criminal charges against them within 30 days required by state law despite being detained for more than 30 days. The constitutional and legal rights of some of these undocumented immigrants are flagrantly being violated due to the administrative logistical headaches arising from the hundreds of cases being charged and filed untimely.
Last week, there were approximately 630 undocumented immigrants detained at the Briscoe state jail in Dilley, Texas with over 440 of them being charged in the small, rural county of Kinney in Brackettville, Texas.
Now, Maverick County is going to join the controversial “catch and jail” program and will more than likely experience the same administrative logistical nightmares occurring in Val Verde and Kinney counties to the detriment of the migrants’ constitutional and legal rights.
Texas under Governor Abbott has already awarded a $25 million contract to a private contractor to build a two mile long concrete barrier and fence along State Loop 480 in Eagle Pass, Texas, south of the Eagle Pass International Bridge No. 2 and adjacent to the Rio Grande River. The controversial two mile long concrete barrier and fence has a hefty price tag of $12.5 million per mile. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is funding the Abbott concrete barrier and fence in Eagle Pass through its maintenance division.
The irony of this controversial “catch and jail” program is that after the State of Texas has spent hundreds of millions of state funds charging and detaining these undocumented immigrants, Texas turns over the migrants to the federal government (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for further proceedings such as deportation or removal.
Immigration and civil rights advocates contend that the controversial “catch and jail” program is nothing more than political posturing by Governor Abbott who is seeking re-election to a third-term and has drawn serious contenders within his Republican Party Primary in March 2022 as well as covets the National Republican Party’s Presidential Nomination in 2024 at the expense of Texas taxpayers. The Texas Legislature approved $1.05 billion for border security during the regular session plus another $1.88 billion at the just completed Second Special Session this week, totaling over $2.93 billion for border security.
