Free Republic

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - After Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther was released from jail Thursday afternoon, the question remained about what she would do with the $500,000 that a GoFundMe page raised for her since the situation began two weeks ago. **SNIP** Throughout her fight, supporters have been donating to a GoFundMe page that was set up for her. It eventually met its goal of $500,000. Now, Luther says she wants to spread that wealth to those who need it. After using some of that money to help pay her legal fees and mortgage, she says she has other plans in...

Two women allegedly violated the emergency management plan when they offered their beauty, cosmetic services from home. Their arrests were initiated for violations imposed by the COVID-19 Emergency Management Plan on Wednesday. Laredo police said they launched investigations on the cases after receiving anonymous tips via the LPD app. "Both of the violators independently solicited customers via social media. On both cases, an undercover officer working on the COVID-19 task force enforcement detail made contact with each solicitor to set up an appointment for a cosmetic, beauty service that is prohibited under the emergency ordinance," police said in a statement....

Pandemic or not, Border Patrol intends to award the contract to construct the initial 32 miles of border wall in the Laredo area by mid-May... When construction begins will depend on how much land is acquired. “So we won’t necessarily be acquiring all of the land to start the project, but we need to acquire sufficient real estate to allow the project to start,” he said. Federal agents have been working to convince local landowners to sign right of entry documents so that they can survey their properties without having to go through court proceedings, saving time and possibly leading...

The federal government on Monday released for the first time the proposed alignment of the border wall in Webb and Zapata counties, a continuous barrier for 69 miles starting at the Colombia Solidarity Bridge and ending just south of San Ygnacio. This is a proposed 30-foot-tall steel bollard structure with a 150-foot-wide “enforcement zone” that entails clearing all vegetation between the river and the wall. The maps show a proposed alignment running relatively close to the Rio Grande, following its contours.

Like Laredo City Council last week, Webb County Commissioners Court on Monday will be approached by the federal government as they attempt to fast-track construction of President Trump’s border wall... Government officials told the city that Congress’ recent $1.3 billion appropriation for the border wall has funded 52 miles of barrier in Webb County and 18 miles in Zapata County, which is essentially the span from the Colombia Solidarity Bridge to San Ygnacio. They have been granted the right of entry by about 40% of the affected landowners they have reached out to in the Laredo area, said Paul Enriquez,...

First local landowner receives notice of court action for border wall surveys. Last week Tony Medina Jr., who owns about three acres (near the Max A. Mandel Golf Course) right off Santa Isabel Creek — at the tip of a horseshoe bend in the Rio Grande — was notified that the government will be filing for the condemnation of his property in federal court, a process where the government seizes private property and compensates the owner. This is the first such case that has come to light in the Laredo area. “As of December 2, 2019, we have not received...

LAREDO, Texas -- The white tents that sit here on the very edge of the U.S border, with Mexico a literal stone’s throw away, represent one of the jewels in the crown of the Trump administration’s recent efforts to get a grip on the immigration crisis. They are the temporary courtrooms set up as part of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) -- known colloquially as the “Remain in Mexico” policy. That policy, established earlier this year, involves sending migrants who are trying to claim asylum back to Mexico during their proceedings -- instead of releasing them into the U.S. while...

Hearings in tent courts in South Texas are underway for asylum-seekers forced to wait in Mexico while their immigration applications are considered. Monday's hearings mark the formal opening of the courts. Twenty-one migrants lined up in Mexico to cross the border for their appearances. Officials say they want 200 migrants appear each day in the tents in Laredo. A judge in a brick courthouse in San Antonio is presiding over the Laredo court via video chat.

LAREDO, Texas — Three people landed behind bars for beating up a 60-year-old man, according to Laredo police. Dunick Edward Garcia, 18, Fernanda Robles, 17, and Luis Alberto Valdez, 20, were arrested on Tuesday after being served with warrants. Each was charged with aggravated assault. Laredo police officers responded to an aggravated assault report at about 12:30 p.m. June 15 at Laredo Medical Center. A 60-year-old man stated that, several individuals had assaulted him the night before. Officers said they noticed the man had facial, bodily and internal injuries. The man said the assailants forced their way into his...

A U.S. policy to make asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases wind through clogged U.S. immigration courts expanded to a fourth Mexican border city Tuesday with the arrival of a first group of migrants to the violent city of Nuevo Laredo... Nuevo Laredo marks the first new city for the policy since U.S. and Mexican officials struck an agreement on June 7 that called for its immediate expansion. Extending what U.S. officials name the “Migrant Protection Protocols” policy was a key piece of the accord to stave off President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs to see if new...

LAREDO, Texas — The edges of this small border city bustle with activity as construction vehicles clear flat expanses of land for massive warehouses, and semi-trucks moving American and Mexican goods appear to cover every inch of roadway. To James Gonzalez, 33, the sterile, boxy buildings and traffic congestion only a few miles from the five bridges that connect the U.S. to Mexico represent financial success and future business opportunities. The city's fortunes, based entirely on trade between the two countries, is forever tied to the United States’ kinship with or animus for its southern neighbor. The closeness of that...

The road rage suspect who killed a sheriff’s deputy, wounded a police officer and died in a central Washington state shootout this week was living in the United States illegally, the federal government said Thursday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Juan Manuel Flores Del Toro, 29, was a citizen of Mexico who entered the United States in 2014 at Laredo, Texas, on a temporary agricultural worker visa. The agency had no record that Flores Del Toro left the U.S. or extended his visa after it expired.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Saturday took part in a ceremony with Mexican officials and dignitaries on a bridge connecting the U.S. and Mexico. Pelosi could be seen in footage of the moment sharing a hug with a Mexican official as part of the International Bridge Ceremony, which is hosted by the Washington’s Birthday Celebration Association of Laredo (WBCA), a Pelosi spokesperson confirmed to The Hill. **SNIP** As part of the bridge ceremony, officials and dignitaries from Mexico and the United States share “abrazos,” or hugs, to symbolize “the amity and understanding between two neighboring nation,” the website also states.

An ambush by gunmen from a faction of Los Zetas killed one Mexican soldier and injured two others in Nuevo Laredo. Three attackers working for a convicted terrorist also died in the incident just south of Laredo, Texas. Mexican military officials have not released any information on the attack, however unofficial sources with direct knowledge revealed to Breitbart News the attack took place along the highway that connects Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey. Moving in various SUVs, a team of gunmen with the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) faction of Los Zetas attacked a convoy of soldiers patrolling the streets of Nuevo...

Two parents are facing multiple charges related to the investigation surrounding the death of their three-year-old -daughter. Laredo Police arrested the mother, 37-year-old Monica Dominguez and father, 32-year-old Gerardo Zavala Loredo for allegedly covering up the death of their daughter, Rebecca Zavala. The incident happened on Thursday afternoon at around 1:30 p.m. when police received an anonymous tip saying that something suspicious was going on in one of the apartments at the 1800 block of Jefferson Street. When authorities arrived at the scene, they began securing the area and requested assistance from the Laredo Fire Department HAZMAT Unit. When authorities...

A verified and convicted terrorist who attacked a U.S. Consulate with a grenade and automatic rifle fire has taken over the ruthless Los Zetas cartel, a group headquartered at the Texas border in the Nuevo Laredo-Laredo metropolitan border area. Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, sits immediately across the border from Laredo, Texas, and is the only urban location along the entire U.S.-Mexico Border that does not have any fencing or constructed security barrier of any kind. The convicted terrorist, Hector Raul Luna Luna, is known as “El Tory” and was convicted in the 2008 terror attack on the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey,...

Despite the capture of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the criminal group continues to export "wholesale" quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl through crossing points located along the Mexican-California border: AZ, NM, and W. Texas.... the Sinaloa cartel "maintains an international expansionary footprint" in comparison with other groups, says the Drug Control Administration (DEA) in its annual report on drug trafficking which was published this Friday. SINALOA- continues to export "wholesale" amounts of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl through crossing points located along the Mexican border .... These drugs are distributed in cities such as Chicago, Phoenix, Los...

Six Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended at the Texas border with Mexico in two separate incidents within a 12-hour period over the weekend. Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents during the month of October apprehended at least 75 Bangladeshi nationals, an increase of more than 10 percent over October 2017, Breitbart News reported During the fiscal 2018 year, which ended Sept. 30, Laredo Sector agents apprehended 668 Bangladeshi migrants, a rise of nearly 270 percent over the previous year’s total. Breitbart, noting the hundreds of miles of open river border in South and Central Texas, said the migrants paid up to $27,000...

Border Patrol agents in the Laredo Sector arrested a group of Central American migrants after receiving a call for assistance from local police officers. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Laredo South Station received a call from the Laredo Police Departments regarding a possible group of illegal aliens they encounter in a home near Slaughter Park. The agents responded to the location in south Laredo and found ten migrants who were detained by the local police, according to information obtained by Breitbart News from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials. The agents conducted an immigration interview with the ten migrants and...

Border Patrol agents arrested a DACA recipient for allegedly engaging in human smuggling. The arrest followed a high-speed pursuit after the Mexican national refused to stop at an immigration checkpoint. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Interstate 35 immigration checkpoint near Cotulla, Texas, observed a 2012 Mazda 6 attempting to avoid inspection by circumventing the checkpoint on July 21. When agents attempted to stop the Mazda, the driver failed to yield and led agents on a chase that ended south of Dilley, Texas, according to Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and deputies from the...