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September 16, 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 304,700 migrant apprehensions and more than 19,800 criminal arrests, with more than 17,400 felony charges reported.

Texas has also bused over 8,000 migrants to our nation's capital since April and over 2,500 migrants to New York City since August 5. More than 600 migrants from Texas have arrived in Chicago since late August. 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 Announces Migrant Bus Arrivals At Vice President's D.C. House

Governor Abbott yesterday announced the arrival of two buses of migrants from Texas outside Vice President Kamala Harris' residence at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. This arrival of migrants comes days after Vice President Harris' trip to Houston, where she claimed the southern border was secure and denied the existence of a border crisis.

"The Biden-Harris Administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years," said Governor Abbott. "Our supposed Border Czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to even visit the border to see firsthand the impact of the open border policies she has helped implement, even going so far as to claim the border is secure.

Read more about the Washington, D.C. migrant arrivals.

WATCH: Governor Abbott Discusses Chicago Mayors Hypocrisy Over Migrants

This week, Governor Abbott joined Fox News Jesse Watters Primetime to discuss Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoots hypocritical response to receiving migrants from Texas in her sanctuary city. After receiving a few hundred migrants, the mayor began busing the new arrivals to the Chicago suburbs rather than welcoming them into her city.

[Mayor Lightfoot] is the epitome of being a hypocrite for doing exactly what she was criticizing me for but also not even acknowledging what President Biden has done, said Governor Abbott. President Biden has been flying migrants around the entire country, sometimes in the darkness of night. She's never said a word about what he has done.

WATCH: DPS, Local Officials Detail Scope Of Border Crisis For Full Measure Report

DPS joined local border officials and Texans from Eagle Pass to describe the full magnitude of President Bidens ongoing border crisis to Full Measures Sharyl Attkisson. The border special highlights the need for Operation Lone Star to combat the chaos caused by the Biden Administrations continued refusal to enforce the policies that would prevent illegal border crossings and apprehend illegal immigrants.

DPS Locates Stash House In Laredo Hiding 73 Illegal Immigrants

DPS special agents, with the assistance of Border Patrol and local law enforcement, this week discovered a stash house in Laredo hiding 73 illegal immigrants60 males and 13 females. The illegal immigrants were from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. They were all referred to Border Patrol.

WATCH: Texas National Guard Soldiers Describe Pride In Operation Lone Star

Texas National Guard soldiers describe the pride they take in being a part of Operation Lone Star and protecting Texas communities from drug and human trafficking and other transnational crimes.

Its definitely rewarding to be able to give back and support the community Ive grown up in and continue to live my life, said Airman First Class Medelez of the 432nd Air Expeditionary Group. With this mission, were helping Border Patrol mostly because theyre overwhelmed with the amount of people coming in from the southern border.

We have to uphold the rules and laws of Texas and the United States, said Senior Airman Kwame Asbill.

WATCH: Human Smuggler Leads DPS Troopers On High-Speed Vehicle Pursuit

A human smuggler led DPS troopers on a high-speed vehicle pursuit in Willacy County. The smuggler eventually lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll over and crash. The smuggler was charged with smuggling of persons, and 12 illegal immigrants were referred to Border Patrol.

WATCH: Texas National Guard Soldier Details Role As Part Of Operation Lone Star

A Texas National Guard soldier described the duties he performs as part of Operation Lone Star. Working alongside DPS and other local and federal law enforcement agencies, the soldier detailed patrols along the southern border while ensuring his fellow guardsmen have the resources needed to carry out their duties.

[The mission] is important because we need to secure our border; we need to protect our way of life, our economy, and keep drugs out of our communities, he said.

WATCH: DPS Discover Attempted Smuggling During Traffic Stop

DPS special agents and Highway Patrol troopers discovered four illegal immigrantsthree females and one childhiding in a vehicle during a traffic stop in Hidalgo County. A personal amount of marijuana and a handgun were also recovered from inside the vehicle. The driver was charged with smuggling of persons and possession of marijuana.

Texas National Guard Soldiers Apprehend 30 Illegal Immigrants On Banks Of River

Texas National Guard soldiers from the Tactical Response Unit (TRU) brush teams apprehended 30 illegal immigrants on the banks of the Rio Grande River one night recently. The TRUs brush team covers different ground sectors each night to deter criminal activity.

We are a quick reaction force that is intelligence-based, and we have the freedom to maneuver throughout all the zones, said Sgt. First Class Stephen Mata. We go to the area that is hot that week and pick and prod and try to find the illegal immigrants in that area.

TRU operates with brush teams on land and boats patrolling the river, while partnering with other state and federal agencies to eliminate transnational criminal activity.

More:
Operation Lone Star Spotlights Sanctuary City Hypocrisy, Buses Over 11000 Migrants - Office of the Texas Governor

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Advocates have called Thursdays drop of men women and children at the Naval Observatory a political stunt amid the ongoing migrant crisis in D.C.

The city nor local nonprofits knew the two busloads were coming that Texas governor Greg Abbott sent.

States like Arizona, however, do provide notice. Advocates say many migrants on those buses felt lied to.

Local nonprofits have processed and are helping dozens of migrants dropped off at the vice presidents doorstep Thursday morning.

Theyre using vulnerable people weaponizing them and then using them for their political gain, said Abel Nunez, executive director of the Central American Resource Center.

Nunez says many migrants felt abandoned.

They feel lied too, because theyre like, if you gave me a bus, you would have at least put me in a place where I could get resources, Nunez said. But no, they get dumped in the middle of nowhere. And I think that is shocking to them because they dont know whats going on.

Hes happy Mayor Bowser wants to start the office of migrant services, as immigrants continue to come to D.C., not just on buses.

We dont know how big this crisis could become. We know what theyre dealing with on the southern border. But we also dont want to be in the middle of a political stunt thats really harming human beings, said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

One of the things that weve been asking (for) is space, an actual respite center, welcome center, where the buses can actually land and when they do stunts where they go get dropped somewhere else, we can quickly move them into that, Nunez said.

He says centralized resources are key to helping people get settled or on to their final destination.

You can do it a different way. The way Governor Abbott is doing it and to a certain extent Desantis, its just to hurt people and its unnecessary, Nunez said.

Nunez says Arizona on the other hand, gives them reports every four hours of whos coming to D.C.

They tell us where theyre at. They give us a manifest of whos on the bus, family units, needs, contact information, Nunez said.

He wants this situation to be a turning point for action.

It will be wonderful if we can turn this around and be a model where states are putting in money to actually get them closer where they want to be, municipalities that receive them have centers where they can land, Nunez said.

Last week Mayor Bowser announced a $10 million dollar plan for the Office of Migrant Services. D.C. City Council will vote on it on Tuesday September 20.

Read the original here:
Nonprofits helping migrants bussed to D.C. - DC News Now | Washington, DC

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.

This is the web version ofThe Broadsheet, a daily newsletter for and about theworldsmost powerful women. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.

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

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.

Read the rest here:
DC declares public emergency on migrant crisis, establishes Office of Migrant Services - FOX 5 DC

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