Immigration

On Wednesday, Abbott issued the order, allowing Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to reroute civilian vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry, or seize the vehicles, if police suspect the driver is transporting migrants who have COVID-19.

In a letter addressed to Tracy R. Norris, Adjutant General of the Texas National Guard, Abbott said, “As Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the State” under Article IV, Section 7, of the Texas Constitution, the governor can “call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State.”

A local group is partnering with artists to help brighten the new homes of Afghan refugees.

Despite promises from Abbott that transparency in the crowdfunding process for the border wall would be paramount, donor information released to The Texas Tribune for the first week of collections was bereft of any way to verify the identities of the majority of the donors.

The detainees are being held at what had been an empty state prison in Dilley, Texas, about 100 miles (160.93 kilometers) north of the border city of Laredo, said Robert Hurst, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He said the converted facility will be able to hold more than 950 people.

A Laredo man is facing 10 years in federal prison after arrest charges say he smuggled more than 100 undocumented immigrants in a refrigerated trailer.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden nominated Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez to serve as director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency that has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since 2017.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to El Paso, Texas, on Friday to make her first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts plans to send about two dozen state troopers to Texas later this month to help patrol the nation’s border with Mexico.