TEXAS, USA — Since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's order, hundreds of migrants have been arrested at the border for crossing into private property.
The Texas Tribune reported Thursday that the first nine men arrested have completed their 15-day sentences. The men all pled guilty for crossing onto private property in Del Rio last month.
A prison spokesperson told the Tribune Thursday that ICE officials picked up the nine men. What will happen next for the migrants after being placed into federal custody remains unknown.
“A plea of guilty or nolo contendere for the defense charged may result in deportation, the exclusion from admission to this country or the denial of naturalization under federal law,” Val Verde County Court Judge Sergio Gonzalez warned each defendant in the virtual hearings.
A RAICES attorney, Kat Russell, told the Tribune that immigration authorities have a lot of power in what happens next.
"They could just release them and ask them to report at a later date in whatever city they’re going to live, or they could send them to detention," Russell told the Tribune on Thursday.
Since Abbott ordered last month for state troopers to arrest people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, 230 migrants have been jailed at the Briscoe prison in Dilley, according to the Val Verde County sheriff. One-hundred fifty of those arrests have happened in Del Rio, the Tribune reported.
To read the Tribune's full report, click here.
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