Archive for the ‘Migrant Crisis’ Category

Penny Pennington, one of few Fortune 500 women CEOs, shares the best career advice shes received – Fortune

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! This is Paolo Confino, filling in for Emma. Texas governor Greg Abbott sends a bus containing migrants to Vice President Kamala Harriss D.C. residence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will introduce stock trade restrictions for Congress, and Edward Jones managing partner Penny Pennington shares the best advice shes received in her career.

Career advice. Every day, do something that terrifies you.

Those words come from Edward Jones CEO Penny Pennington, who considers this the best advice shes received in her 22-year career. Getting comfortable with new challenges invited me to raise my own hand from time to time and to say to my sponsors and my mentors, Ive never been at that table before, but Ive got something to say,' she tells Fortunes Susie Gharib in a wide-ranging interview about how she built her career and Edward Jones approach to navigating periods of volatility.

Its an approach to self-advocacy thats paid off for Pennington whos one of only 44 women CEOs on the Fortune 500. (Thats a paltry 8.8% of companies headed by women.) Within finance, Pennington is even more of a rarity. Shes just one of five women leading a brokerage firm with at least $1 trillion in assets under management on the Fortune 500.

Its a representational shortcoming thats prevalent across all leadership levels in financial services. Although women have achieved gender parity at the entry-level, commanding 52% of these jobs, according to a McKinsey study, their representation dips to 45% as soon as they move into their first management roles. The trend only worsens as they advance up the corporate ladder so that by the time they get to the C-suite, women make up only 27% of executive positions. For women of color, the drop-off between entry-level and C-suite jobs is even more drastic at 80%.

There are many women who say stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and mathnot my thing, Pennington tells Gharib. But this industry is fundamentally about knowledge and empathy. [Its about] helping families have possibilitiesThats when deep, empathetic people of all genders say, Thats something I want to be a part of.'

Hiring more women is a priority at Edward Jones, she says, where only 22% offinancial advisors are women. The company is targeting 30% by 2025.

We need more women in financial services because we need a womans perspective on how women are living today and what theyre concerned about. We need it as financial advisors and as senior decision-makers to make the best decision about the guidance we share with our clients and the products and services we want to build, Pennington explains.

Though Pennington, who was appointed CEO in January 2019, hasnt indicated she is considering stepping down from the firm, she is reflecting on her legacy. I want to be a purpose-driven, human-centered, courageous leader that helps foster the conditions where peoples minds are blown about the lives they get to have, she says.

Paolo Confinopaolo.confino@fortune.com@paolo1000_

The Broadsheet is Fortunes newsletter for and about the worlds most powerful women. Todays edition was curated by Paige McGlauflin. Subscribe here.

- Migrant crisis. Two buses carrying migrants arrived outside of Vice President Kamala Harriss residence in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, apparently sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Their arrival follows Wednesday's news that Abbott unexpectedly directed a plane containing 50 migrants from Venezuela to Marthas Vineyard in Massachusetts. CNN

- Selling stocks. House Democrats will introduce legislation placing new restrictions on lawmakers ability to buy and sell stocks this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday. Pelosi declined to provide details on the legislation other than calling it very strong. But the announcement comes after months of increased scrutiny on members of Congress and their families trading stocks that could create conflicts of interest with their public duties. New York Times

- Dress recode. The Washington State Human Rights Commission has accused Alaska Airlines of discriminating against nonbinary and gender nonconforming employees through its strict policy requiring employees to choose between masculine and feminine uniforms.Reuters

- Popular opinion. Over 70% of Americans dont believe politicians are informed enough about abortion to craft related policies, a recent study from the 19th* and SurveyMonkey found. Over 61% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, including 36% of Republicans. Most religious groups surveyed support abortion rights with the exception of Mormons and evangelical Christians. 19th*

MOVERS AND SHAKERS:Former Williams Sonoma chief financial officer Julie Whalen is joining Expedia Group as chief financial officer. Pinterest has named Wanji Walcottchief legal officer and general counsel. Health care company Thirty Madison has hired Quan Zhang as chief financial officer. Former Citadel chief communications officer Julie Andreef Jensen has launched advisory firm Jasper Advisors with former 2U chief strategy and engagement officer David Sutphen. Direct-to-customer healthcare company Getlabs has hired Amanda Souders as vice president of people and Karen Maher as general counsel.

- Funeral arrangements. Wondering how to watch Queen Elizabeth's funeral from across the pond? The funeral will take place in London on Monday, Sept. 19 at 11 a.m. local time (6 a.m. ET/3 a.m. PT). The major networks like NBC News, CNN, ABC, and Fox News will air the funeral. NBC News Now on Peacock, Apple TV, and YouTube will stream the service online. Harper's Bazaar

- Indiana abortion ban. The first abortion ban passed by a state legislature post-Roe took effect in Indiana on Thursday. Lawmakers passed legislation banning abortions with limited exemptions for rape, incest, and some medical complications and emergencies in early August. NPR

- Sweden elections. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson resigned Wednesday after conceding defeat in the countrys tight election. Anderssons party, the Social Democrats, still holds the most parliamentary seats at 30% but lost to a slim multi-party right-wing coalition led by the far-right Sweden Democrats. Guardian

- Out of date. Texas health officials are delaying the publication of the states first updated count of pregnancy-related deaths until next summer, after missing a key window. State legislators will likely not be able to use the data in their upcoming biennial session, meaning the analysis wont be used until 2025. The most recent data available is nine years old. Houston Chronicle

The shaky future of a post-Roe federal privacy law Wired

Rommy Hunt Revson, creator of the scrunchie, dies at 78 New York Times

Let the woman rest The Cut

Johnson & Johnson and a new war on consumer protection New Yorker

I think people are so quick to associate women with being vulnerable, but theres nothing wrong with that. I think thats also part of toxic masculinity. We should be able to be vulnerable, and we should be able to feel emotional and be able to express ourselves.

-British singer Dua Lipa.

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Penny Pennington, one of few Fortune 500 women CEOs, shares the best career advice shes received - Fortune

DC declares public emergency on migrant crisis, establishes Office of Migrant Services – FOX 5 DC

DC Mayor declares public emergency over migrant situation

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Thursday that she is declaring a public emergency and creating a new office to provide services for migrants being bused into the District from border states such as Texas. FOX 5's Stephanie Ramirez reports.

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - D.C. is declaring a public emergency and creating a new office to provide services for migrants being bused into the District from border states such as Texas, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Thursday.

Texas and Arizona have reported that approximately 9,400 people have been bused to D.C. since April. Both states have pledged to continue and expand busing operations indefinitely.

The public emergency will direct the Director of the Department of Human Services to provide temporary services and supports to migrants arriving from southern border states.

It also authorizes the City Administrator and agency directors to establish new programs and expand or modify existing programs in response to the emergency.

Declaring a public emergency grants Mayor Bowser administrative authority not typically held by her office for 15 days, such as creating the Office of Migrant Services.

D.C. is declaring a public emergency and creating a new office to provide services for migrants being bused into the District from border states such as Texas, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Thursday.

Mayor Bowser says she will be submitting a request to the DC Council to extend the emergency.

The new office will be called the Office of Migrant Services and $10 million has been allocated for it with the District seeking reimbursement from FEMA. It will provide support with the reception of migrants, meals, temporary accommodations, urgent medical needs, transportation, connection to resettlement services, translation services and more.

The District is putting in place a framework to meet all buses and facilitate onward travel for those who plan to move on from D.C.

READ MORE: Advocacy groups call for officials to provide more help for DC migrants

The framework also includes triaging the needs of people arriving in D.C. and tending to their basic needs.

The District also plans to set up a system that is separate from the homeless services system to respond to migrants being bused into D.C.

Mayor Bowser says declaring the public emergency gives the District more flexibility on the procurement of resources to assist migrants. She says she plans to emergency legislation to the DC Council to codify new migrant services.

The journey of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. begins when they surrender to federal immigration officials at the southern border. Once they are cleared through a federal immigration process, they are released on humanitarian parole status with a date to appear in immigration court.

After being released, some migrants have been offered free rides to D.C. paid for by the state they are coming from.

"Some people are taking this ride to get to their destinations along the way because it gets them closer to their final destination," says Mayor Bowser. "And some, because they have nowhere else to go and, quite frankly, I believe that some are being tricked or lied to."

Mayor Bowser's request for the National Guard to assist with the influx of migrants arriving in the District was denied twice by the Department of Defense. FOX 5 asked Mayor Bowser why a response like this was not initiated sooner.

"We think we're actually taking it at the right time," says Mayor Bowser. "We have responded in a lot of different stages not knowing the full capacity of what we would be dealing with day-to-day or month-to-month. So, we thought it was very appropriate that we worked with our partner organizations who are very experienced in this work, who have done migrant services work, to work with themThe volume of the work and our expectation that that could increase really necessitates a broader coordination from us."

READ MORE: Bowser's request for National Guard help with migrants denied by Pentagon again

The mayor continues to encourage support from the federal government.

Local volunteers on the front lines of the crisis have been calling on D.C. officials to step up additional resources for to help asylum seekers.

The DC Attorney General announced grants for specific local aid organizations providing assistance to migrants back in August.

Protestors aren't pleased with how Mayor Muriel Bowser is handling the migrant situation in D.C. On Thursday, demonstrators crashed her early birthday event in Southwest to ask her why she isn't providing sanctuary for the migrants being dropped off in D.C. from border states.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced an emergency appropriations bill last month that would provide an additional $50 million for humanitarian assistance, like food and shelter, for migrants.

READ MORE: Emergency bill seeks $50 million in humanitarian assistance for DC migrants

The District is also establishing an Office of Migrant Services to better direct resources from the D.C. government to assist with the migrant crisis.

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DC declares public emergency on migrant crisis, establishes Office of Migrant Services - FOX 5 DC

Two years after the fire, Moria refugee camps legacy still leaves its mark – The Guardian

Two years have elapsed since the huge Moria fire gutted what became known as Europes most notorious refugee camp. Squalid, gargantuan and rat-infested, the barbed wire-enclosed facility was established in a former military base below a hilltop village on the Greek island of Lesbos at the height of the migrant crisis.

By the night of 8 September 2020, when the first of a series of blazes tore through the camp, it was housing more than 12,000 men, women and children three times its capacity and had become a stain on the conscience of a continent keen to flaunt its democratic credentials.

Twenty-four months later, Aria Tajik, an Afghan refugee, remembers the chaos after the blaze was allegedly started by inmates now facing arson charges.

The fire swept through the camp very quickly, she says, as her toddler daughter, Aveesta, cries in the background. People were panicked, they were in tents shouting and screaming.

For two weeks Tajik, her husband, Hamit, and their then four-month-old child had to fend for themselves along with thousands of others in the camp.

It smelled awful. It was horribly overcrowded. If you were a woman you were afraid to sleep at night but at least [it provided] shelter, recalls Tajik, who had previously held a government post as a ministerial adviser in Kabul.

After the fire we spent weeks roaming the streets. We slept outside and for several days there was no food or water, says the 29-year-old, describing officials on the Aegean island as being overwhelmed. When we finally did get something to eat, we gave it to the children.

Tajik remains on Lesbos, housed in what authorities hoped would be a temporary camp. Built on the site of a military firing range as a stopgap solution for Morias displaced inmates, it is on an exposed location on the coast and is blasted by icy winds in winter and searing heat in summer. Earlier this year it was home to about 1,700 men, women and children as the Greek authorities continue to move people to camps on the mainland.

But for Tajik, as with so many others, it is as if time has stood still. There are containers instead of tents but it is still like a jail. Checks and controls everywhere, she says, explaining that her familys asylum request had been rejected three times until they received a positive response in the spring.

They kept saying we werent in need of asylum because of our former [high-level] jobs, despite the Taliban [takeover], she says. Our application has finally been accepted but we have spent months waiting for the fingerprint process [to happen] so we can get travel documents to leave Greece.

All this waiting has made us sick. Im on antidepressants; my husband is on antidepressants. The Europeans talk a lot about solidarity but really this camp is a big shame, a shame for Europe.

EU containment policies have not only been blamed for trapping refugees on frontline islands such as Lesbos, but creating a mental health crisis that has led to a sharp rise in attempted suicides and cases of self-harm. The establishment of EU-funded closed controlled-access centres in remote areas on the islands has sparked further criticism of the treatment of refugees on Europes external borders.

But for Stratis Kitilis, mayor of Mytilene, Lesboss main port, Morias destruction elicits only relief.

The camp, he says, had achieved global notoriety and brought disrepute to Lesbos, which the island did not need. Its a huge relief, a nightmare that we have left behind, he says. We are very pleased that the borders, which are EU external borders, are now being properly patrolled.

By the end of this year, a new closed controlled camp will be completed 50 miles north of Mytilene. The conditions will be much better it will be the end of this terrible chapter.

A music school is expected to be built on part of the site where the camp once stood. Studies are under way, says Kitilis. The University of the Aegean will take over the rest.

However, Moria is not easily forgotten even by refugees who go on to successfully rebuild their lives. Ahmad Ebrahimi, who worked in Afghanistans film industry before spending six months in the camp, used his time there to create Citizen of Moria, a documentary that led to him finding film work in Athens, where he caught the attention of Talent Beyond Boundaries, a global organisation that finds opportunities for refugees and which has since helped him resettle in Australia.

Next week, the 34-year-old will move into a new house in Melbourne with his wife, Nagiz, and three children to start a new life that once must have seemed unimaginable.

I will never forget that camp, or the rain coming into my tent because my tarp was broken, and all the rats, he says. It was a place where absolutely anything and everything was possible. Im not surprised it went up in flames.

But it was not all bad. There were volunteers lovely people from around the world who helped. I found that beautiful, it gave me hope for humanity, he says.

The memory of Moria doesnt disturb me, it is just a part of me now, so much so that I have a tattoo of my tent there, done by a refugee tattoo artist on my right arm.

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Two years after the fire, Moria refugee camps legacy still leaves its mark - The Guardian

Melilla and Ceuta: What’s behind the deaths at Morocco’s land border with the EU? – The New Humanitarian

Early on the morning of 24 June, around 2,000 asylum seekers and migrants many from Sudan and South Sudan attempted en masse to cross the border fence separating the Moroccan town of Nador from Spains North African exclave of Melilla.

Moroccan security forces responded by firing tear gas and wielding batons. According to government accounts, 23 asylum seekers and migrants were killed. Local human rights groups say the true toll may be as high as 37. Dozens more were injured.

Months later, many of the details of what transpired and how the deaths occurred remain contested. International human rights organisations, the African Union, and the UN have called for an independent investigation, while the incident has thrown a fresh spotlight on Moroccos role in broader EU efforts to try to curb migration.

[The violence] shouldnt surprise us, Judith Sunderland, associate director for Human Rights Watchs Europe and Central Asia division, told The New Humanitarian. It is almost as if the EU has accepted that violence is part of their toolbox when it comes to migration control.

Morocco is the only African country that shares a land border with the EU, at Melilla and at Spains other North African exclave, Ceuta. At the closest point across the Strait of Gibraltar, Morocco is also only 13 kilometres away from Spain by sea. This proximity has led to Morocco being both a country of origin and transit for asylum seekers and migrants trying to reach the EU, with numbers ebbing and flowing over the years.

Following the 2015 migration crisis, as the EU acted to restrict the movement of people from Turkey and Libya the two main departure countries at the time towards Europe, arrivals from Morocco to Spain along what is known as the Western Mediterranean route spiked.

In 2018, more than 56,000 asylum seekers and migrants reached Spain via the Western Mediterranean route, making it themost activemigration route towards Europe that year. A further6,800crossed the countrys land borders in Melilla and Ceuta.

The EU responded by providing an aid package of 148 million euros to Morocco the vast majority of which went towards strengthening and supporting its ability to control its own borders. Arrivals on the Western Mediterranean route quickly dropped off, but starting in 2020, the route from Moroccos west coast to the Spanish Canary islands in the Atlantic Ocean became more active.

Read more Whats driving the deadly migrant surge from Senegal to the Canary Islands?

Moroccos contribution to managing irregular migration through the Atlantic/Western Mediterranean route is essential, a European Commission spokesperson told The New Humanitarian. The European Union wants to strengthen this partnership further.

With Morocco, the EU, and Spain all vowing to deepen their migration cooperation in the wake of the violence and deaths in Melilla, we take a look at some key questions:

The mass attempt by asylum seekers and migrants to cross the border into Melilla was not the first of its kind. On 17 and 18 April last year, an estimated 8,000 people including 2,000 minors swam or scaled the border fence to reach Spains other North African exclave, Ceuta.

Spanish soldiers and border guards responded by pushing people back across the border sometimes violently and rounding up and returning to Morocco the vast majority of those who managed to cross over. Meanwhile, Moroccan border guards were conspicuously absent from the other side of the border and at times appeared to assist people attempting to get across.

Spain and Morocco have had a stable relationship for years, and have coordinated closely with each other on border security since the 1990s although the extent to which Morocco prioritises restricting irregular migration is closely linked to external pressure and incentives from the EU and Spain.

A bilateral agreement signed between the two countries in 1992 allows Spain to request the readmission of people who have entered irregularly from Morocco. And Morocco has periodically cracked down on sub-Saharan asylum seekers and migrants in the country, including in 2018.

In April 2021, however, a diplomatic stand-off threatened this relationship when Spain allowed Brahim Ghali the leader of the Polisario Front, a Western Sahara independence movement to enter the country for COVID-19 treatment. Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975 after Spain withdrew as a colonial power, leading to a war with the Polisario Front that concluded in 1991 with a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Until recently, much of the international community, including Spain, remained neutral in the conflict and backed UN efforts for a negotiated solution. Morocco saw Spains decision to extend medical treatment to Ghali as a breach of this neutrality and threatened repercussions. A month later, the mass crossing in Ceuta occurred.

In the aftermath of the crossings, Spain attempted to make concessions to the Moroccan government. But relations did not improve until the Spanish government publicly announced its support for Moroccos territorial claim over Western Sahara in March this year. An agreement that paved the way for strengthened migration cooperation between Morocco and Spain went into effect around the same time.

It all went back to the issue of Western Sahara, explained Lorena Stella Martini, advocacy and communications assistant for the European Council on Foreign Relations.

While theres no direct evidence that the reinvigorated relationship between Morocco and Spain led to the violence in Melilla this summer, Sunderland said the actions follow a clear pattern also seen in other countries the EU partners with to curb migration.

[There are often] crackdown[s] on undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in those countries on the heels of renewed declarations of partnership, she said.

On 24 June, in response to the attempted border crossing, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez praised the Moroccan authorities for their efforts in handling what he said was a violent and organised assault, and placed the blame for the incident on what he called human trafficking mafias.

Later after images and videos emerged showing Moroccan security forces holding truncheons, beating and kicking people, and standing over injured and exhausted people laying in piles on the ground Snchez attempted to distance himself from his initial comments, while still placing blame squarely on the shoulders of the mafias.

The Spanish public prosecutor has since opened an investigation into the deaths. HRWs Sunderland, however, said she doubted it would be a truly impartial one [that] will lead to actual truth and justice.

Meanwhile, Moroccan authorities have focused on prosecuting individuals involved in or accused of facilitating the crossing. Last month, 13 men from Sudan, South Sudan, and Chad were issued with fines and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. In July, 33 people were sentenced to 11 months in prison for illegal entry and disobedience.

An inquiry by Moroccos state-affiliated National Council on Human Rights (CNDH) alleged that the deaths were likely caused by suffocation when people were crushed while trying to cross narrow border entry points, and maintained that Moroccan security forces only used violence in isolated incidents in response to the danger posed by asylum seekers and migrants carrying sticks and stones. Dozens of Moroccan border guards were reportedly injured during the incident.

Watchdog groups, including the non-governmental Moroccan Association for Human Rights, said the CNDHs probe was incomplete, and reiterated their calls for an independent investigation.

At the EU level, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson condemned the loss of life at the Moroccan-Spanish border in a speech on 4 July, but quickly shifted to focus on the role of smuggling networks in facilitating and encouraging irregular migration.

Following a meeting in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, on 8 July between Johansson, Spains home affairs minister, and Moroccos interior minister, the EU and Morocco announced a renewed joint effort to cooperate on migration and counter people smuggling, focused on border management and enhanced police cooperation.

Said Saddiki, a professor of international relations at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fez, said Morocco does need more support from the EU to manage migration. He explained that EU policies have increasingly turned Morocco into a destination for asylum seekers and migrants instead of a transit country and said Morocco lacks the resources to integrate people into its economic and social life.

At the same time, he said theres also still a mutual distrust between Morocco and Spain stemming from colonial legacies and territorial disputes, among other issues, and Morocco like other North African countries does not want to act as a security guard for Europes borders without receiving anything in return.

Meanwhile, the reliance on Morocco when it comes to managing migration leaves the EU vulnerable to the issue being used to exert political pressure on the bloc and on member states as Turkey has done in recent years. International issues are intertwined, Saddiki added.

For asylum seekers and migrants hoping to transit through Morocco to reach Spain and the EU, the renewed focus on managing migration and tackling people smuggling will likely make it more difficult to reach Europe, said the ECFRs Martini.

It is key that harsher controls do not result in dramatic episodes such as the one that happened at the border between Morocco and Melilla in June, she added.

But human rights groups say that by putting the focus on combating people smuggling, Morocco and the EU are framing migration in a criminal context, which inevitably leads to directing hostile policies at asylum seekers and migrants trying to cross borders.

It is key that harsher controls do not result in dramatic episodes such as the one that happened at the border between Morocco and Melilla in June.

This is evident in areas close to Moroccos borders with Spain where, at any given time, hundreds of mostly sub-Saharan asylum seekers and migrants hoping to reach the EU live in informal camps or caves in extremely vulnerable, precarious conditions, according to Sunderland.

Moroccan authorities also have a history of violently raiding these camps and bussing people away from the borders of Melilla and Ceuta to impoverished areas of southern Morocco, far from the coast and the Spanish exclaves, Sunderland added. These types of raids are often justified as part of the fight against irregular migration and human trafficking.

Meanwhile, according to rights groups, those who do manage to make it to Spain face quickly being returned to Morocco, often without having the opportunity to apply for international protection, which is required under international law.

New legal migration pathways, as well as serious efforts to tackle the root causes that push people to leave in search of a better life, are desperately needed, according to Martini. It remains to be seen how the EU and its member states will work and also cooperate with important partners such as Morocco to reach such goals, she added.

Edited by Eric Reidy.

Excerpt from:
Melilla and Ceuta: What's behind the deaths at Morocco's land border with the EU? - The New Humanitarian

Operation Lone Star Buses More Than 10000 Migrants To Sanctuary Cities – Office of the Texas Governor

September 9, 2022 | Austin, Texas | Press Release

Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard are continuing to work together to secure the border, stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas, and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal behavior between ports of entry.

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to more than 302,600 migrant apprehensions and more than 19,700 criminal arrests, with more than 17,200 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 340.5 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.

Texas has also bused over 7,900 migrants to our nation's capital since April and over 2,200 migrants to New York City since August 5. Since last Wednesday, more than 300 migrants from Texas have arrived in Chicago. The busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities.

Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration's refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden's open border policies.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM OPERATION LONE STAR:

Governor Abbott Increases Reward For Reporting Criminal Stash Houses

Governor Abbott last week announced that his Public Safety Office, in conjunction with DPS, has increased the reward amount of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification of stash houses used in transnational criminal activity. The Texas Stash House Program encourages Texans to help combat transnational crime by anonymously reporting information on stash houses used to facilitate human trafficking, drug smuggling, and smuggling of people.

"As President Biden's dangerous open border policies continue to allow cartels and other criminal organizations to operate freely in our communities, it is more important than ever that Texans step up and report suspicious activity," said Governor Abbott. "These stash houses contain people or drugs that may haveotherwise made their way across Texas and the nation because of the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration's refusal to secure the border."

Read thepress release.

WATCH: DPS Lt. Olivarez Discusses Increased RewardFor Reporting Stash Houses

DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez joined the Rio Grande Valleys KRGV to discuss the new increased reward now being offered by the State of Texas for information on stash house criminal activity. The reward has been increased to $5,000 for information leading to a bust.

Its just an incentive for the public to actually report this activity taking place so we can try to prevent this criminal activity thats taking place in communities, Lt. Olivarez said.

WATCH: DPS Discover 14 Illegal Immigrants During Traffic Stop In La Pryor

A DPS trooper initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle hauling a travel trailer for a traffic violation in La Pryor. During the stop, troopers discovered 14 illegal immigrants. The driver was charged with smuggling of persons. All 14 illegal immigrants were referred to Border Patrol.

PHOTO: DPS Help Locate Stash House Hiding 21 Illegal Immigrants, Narcotics

DPS special agents, with assistance from Border Patrol, located a stash house in Webb County on Tuesday. Inside the house were 21 illegal immigrants16 males and five femalesall from Guatemala. Agents also discovered seven bundles of narcotics. One person was arrested and charged. All 21 illegal immigrants were referred to Border Patrol.

WATCH: Newsmax Embeds With DPS Aircraft Division On Border

Newsmax border correspondent Jaeson Jones embeds with elite DPS Aviation Division. Newsmax's 40-minute border crisis special provides a deeper look at the ongoing chaos at the border caused by President Bidens open border policies.

WATCH: DPS Lt. Olivarez Counters False White House Claims About Secure Border

DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez joined Newsmax to counter White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's claim that illegal immigrants are not just walking across the border.

They are walking across, in fact, said Lt. Olivarez. Once they get to Mexico from their country of origin, theyre paying a criminal organization to be smuggled into the United States, where they have to cross a river or in most severe cases, theyre having to cross the desert or mountainous terrain, like in West Texas.

WATCH: Smuggler Leads DPS On Pursuit, Over 20 Illegal Immigrants Bail Out

A human smuggler led DPS troopers on a vehicle pursuit in Mission, Texas. After running several red lights, the smuggler and nearly two dozen illegal immigrants bailed out and ran toward the brush. Fourteen illegal immigrants were apprehended, including two Chinese nationals.

Texas National Guard Employs Land, Water Resource To Interdict Illegal Activity

Texas National Guard soldiers in the Tactical Response Unit (TRU) employ both land and water resources to interdict illegal activity along the border. The TRU team uses fast boats on the water, while a team of soldiers on land in the brush stop criminal activity and illegal entry into the U.S.

Both teams radio Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies in the area for faster, more closely coordinated efforts. Border Patrol agents working cameras and agents on patrol can provide locations in real time to the TRU team. The TRU teams combined efforts every week average hundreds of turnbacks and roughly 50 apprehensions, which include human and drug smugglers, cartel members, and low-level criminals.

We see a good amount of traffic, by the time our boats are in the water, there are usually groups who have already crossed, said Sgt. Castillo, a member of the boat patrols. For those criminals or illegal crossers undeterred by the boats, our guys in the brush, they cover down.

WATCH: DPS Discover 16 Illegal Immigrants In Passenger Van During Traffic Stop

A DPS trooper discovered 16 illegal immigrants during a traffic stop along U.S. 90 in Kinney County. The driver was charged with smuggling of persons. All 16 illegal immigrants were referred to Border Patrol.

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Operation Lone Star Buses More Than 10000 Migrants To Sanctuary Cities - Office of the Texas Governor