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A strongly worded letter from the Department of Homeland Security to the State of Texas demands access to the U.S.-Mexico border on land seized by the State in Eagle Pass. DHS officials ordered the State to cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around Shelby Park “and remove all barriers to access” by the end of the day on January 17.

In the early dawn's orange glow, a Texas Rangers commander briefs a heavily armed invasion force. They're preparing to seize a remote, 170-acre Mexican cartel-controlled island in the middle of the Rio Grande River overlooked by sniper nests and potentially booby-trapped. Some of the dozens of assembled men shift from one foot to another or reposition their M-4 rifles as they listen to their commanders' instructions. 'Keep a close eye on those structures up there that have height advantage on us,' he warns. 'In case we do get engaged and someone is shot' medical evacuation plans are in place and...

Investigative journalist Huey Freeman has written a compelling book challenging the notion that Border Patrol Agent Nick Ivie was killed by friendly fire. In Who Shot Nick Ivie?, Freeman lays out the case that contrary to the government’s claims, smugglers, probably from the Sinaloa cartel, shot Ivie in an ambush of him and two other agents. And he explains why the Obama administration put that spin out there. While working one night in October 2012, Ivie was dispatched to check out a sensor alarm that had been tripped near the border between Arizona and Mexico. Two other agents followed him...

For the fourth time in five months, the number of migrant families crossing the southwest border has broken records, border enforcement authorities said Tuesday, warning that government facilities are full and agents are overwhelmed. More than 76,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization in February, more than double the levels from the same period last year and approaching the largest numbers seen in any February in the last 12 years. “The system is well beyond capacity, and remains at the breaking point,” Kevin K. McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, told reporters in announcing the new data. Diverted by...

The cross-border migrant inflow may reach 100,000 people in March, according to the Washington Post.

Caravan migrants are telling reporters that as their numbers reach 20,000, they plan to invade the United States using the highway at San Ysidro, and they will challenge US control over their border. They say they have NO PLANS to apply for asylum and will knowingly and willfully break US law in order to enter the country, whether we like it or not. There could be a major fly in the ointment. The new president of Mexico takes over very soon and he seems to want to have an improved relationship with the United States. Andrés Manuel López Obrador has...

Obama Skips Border Chaos, Will Fundraise in Austin with Director of Pro-Illegal Immigration Film President Barack Obama is refusing to visit the turbulent U.S.-Mexican border, where a flood of illegal immigrants continues to overwhelm the region. Instead, Obama will visit the home of Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez this week as part of a trio of Texas fundraisers. The Austin visit features tickets ranging in price from $5,000 to $32,400. The July 9 fundraiser also will feature actors Rosario Dawson, Danny Trejo and Jessica Alba. Both Trejo and Alba star in Rodriguez's ultra-violent Machete franchise. The first film in the series...

Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said Friday that many of the illegal immigrant children his agents are encountering trying to slip across the U.S.-Mexico border have never even seen a doctor before. He described scenes of Border Patrol agents changing diapers and heating baby formula in order to care for some of the youngest children, and said agents are being asked to do things way beyond their skill set — particularly for so many of the agents who are young, single men. “I’ve been down there, a lot, and spent a lot of time and I’ve...

Turkey returned fire after Syrian mortar bombs landed in a field in southern Turkey on Saturday, the day after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned Syria that Turkey would not shy away from war if provoked. It was the fourth day of Turkish retaliation for firing by Syrian forces that killed five Turkish civilians on Wednesday. Turkey has nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory, has allowed rebel leaders sanctuary and has led calls for Assad to quit. Its armed forces are far larger than Syria's.

Laredo police on Tuesday and Wednesday rounded up five people they say carried out hits for the notorious Zetas drug cartel on this side of the Rio Grande. Customs officers on Tuesday night detained Nicolas Reyes Sanchez, 48, identified in an arrest warrant affidavit as the supervisor of a group of Zetas operating in Laredo, as he attempted to enter the U.S. at one of the city's international bridges. Starting early Wednesday, police launched a series of raids nabbing four more people accused of being Sanchez's subordinates and taking part in three homicides last year. Another man was arrested on...

ESCOBARES — Fifteen gunmen crossed the Rio Grande into the U.S. near a shootout between the Mexican military and a group of gunmen was taking place. Several area SWAT teams were responding about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to a ranch near Escobares, just across the U.S.-Mexico border where a shootout broke out south of the Rio Grande. The shootout reportedly began shortly after noon but details were not readily available. Residents on the U.S. side reported seeing members of the U.S. Border Patrol and Starr County Sheriff's Office near the border securing the area. A U.S. law enforcement official confirmed a...

Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott has penned a letter to President Barack Obama requesting he take action following the recent Mexican drug cartel activity in Texas. The letter cites some of the incidents that have occurred in the Rio Grande Valley in the past couple of weeks, including the arrest of three Gulf Cartel leaders — two in Cameron County. It also mentions incidents that occurred in El Paso and Fort Hancock. Abbott writes of the criminal organizations: "Their presence in our country is more evidence that the cartels increasingly view the porous border as no more than a line...

HIDALGO COUNTY - The six suspects accused of taking part in Sunday’s shooting of a Hidalgo County deputy went before a judge to face charges Tuesday. The suspects were charged with possession of marijuana. Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino says five of the suspects are illegals and only one is a U.S. citizen. Trevino says his office is working to add more charges linked to the deputy's shooting. He says the suspects will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. The injured deputy is expected to recover. Sheriff Lupe Trevino says the shooting was a case of spillover...

HIDALGO COUNTY - The sheriff says the shooting involving a Hidalgo County sheriff deputy has a cartel connection. Sheriff Lupe Trevino says Sunday’s shooting can be linked to the death of Samuel Borrego Torres, also known as “Metro Tres,” of the Gulf Cartel. Trevino says Daniel Gonzalez Perez from Rio Bravo, a known member of a gang called Partido Revolutionaro, is the man who opened fire on his deputies. The sheriff says this gang was contracted to find a lost load of marijuana for the Gulf Cartel when Metro Tres was killed. Hidalgo deputies rolled up on Perez and three...

WESLACO - It's been six years since CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke with members of Los Zetas. Back then, they told us they were already in the United States and it was only going to get worse. Now CHANNEL 5 NEWS is speaking with a law enforcement officer about how things have changed since 2006. The officer has asked we conceal his identity so the cartels or his peers can't find out. We're going to call him "Pete". "There's people that wait to see when you leave work," he says. "Pete" says his family would be in danger if his identity...

As the Gulf Cartel’s internal struggle continues, the residents of Reynosa, Matamoros and Valle Hermoso have been subjected to various firefights. In one of those firefights, the plaza boss of Valle Hermoso — a man known as Comandante Guerra — reportedly was gunned down. The firefights between the Gulf Cartel’s warring factions — the Rojos and the Metros — began Tuesday evening and continued into late Wednesday morning, said a source outside law enforcement familiar with the situation. The first clash was reported in Valle Hermoso, some 18 miles south of Brownsville, where Comandante Guerra was gunned down. About 8...

The nephew of imprisoned Gulf Cartel kingpin Osiel Cardenas Guillen was arrested by U.S. authorities in Port Isabel during a traffic stop. Rafael “El Junior” Cardenas Vela was arrested Thursday night by Port Isabel police and was later charged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with immigration charges as well as possession and conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute, court records show. As of Tuesday night, Rafael Cardenas remained in federal custody. Cardenas was pulled over while he drove in a personal vehicle with an attractive woman, a local law enforcement official confirmed. Rather than get an...

ZAPATA COUNTY - Deputies are investigating a shooting at Falcon Lake. Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS that the incident happened two weeks ago on the Mexican side of the lake. The sheriff says a group of men were fishing in their boat when they came under fire. The sheriff says the men doing the shooting appear to be Mexican soldiers. No one on the boat was hurt, but the boat was hit. We're told a windshield was shot out.

One Man Killed Just Feet From The US/Mexico Border EL PASO, Texas -- A shooting in Juarez hits a little too close to home for Bowie High School students. At least one high-ranking Juarez police officer was shot and killed during a massive gunfight right across the U.S./Mexico border. A Saturday morning football practice and a volleyball scrimmage were interrupted when gunshots were heard nearby. Bowie High School principal Jesus Chavez was at home when he got a call about the shooting. He said even though he wasn’t at the school, the school officials who were there did an excellent...

DONNA — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers were processing 33 Mexican soldiers late Tuesday afternoon after the troops inadvertently crossed onto the U.S. side of the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge. Details of the incident remain unclear, but CBP spokesman Felix Garza said his agency was processing the soldiers for return to Mexico after they found themselves in U.S. territory with four Mexican Humvees.