LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - Laredo Police are asking the community for help in identifying a suspect involved in a burglary incident that occurred in downtown Laredo.

The Laredo Police Department reports that the incident took place on June 7, 2023 at Tito’s Restaurant, located on the 1600 block of Water Street.

According to police reports, the incident happened shortly before 7:45 a.m. Surveillance camera footage captured the suspect breaking into the establishment, stealing money and a cell phone.

The Laredo Police Department has released images from the security camera footage, urging anyone who recognizes the individual to come forward. Anyone with information regarding the suspect’s identity or whereabouts is urged to contact Laredo Crime Stoppers at 727-TIPS.

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - An agreement reached at last night’s city council is giving the greenlight for a new Border Patrol construction project.

However, the river road proposal was not always welcomed or without controversy.

Environmental groups and activists had initially voiced their concerns until agreeing to updated terms.

The Border Patrol Union had said that some of those concerns were misplaced with misinformation, like building a wall on the property.

Instead, the new proposal will allow Border Patrol agents access in areas to help them do their jobs.

“It’s going to help us patrol better along the Rio Grande River as opposed to us patrolling in the neighborhoods. It’s important to note that right now without any infrastructure, most of our patrolling happens in the neighborhoods--in the Azteca neighboord, in Santa Rita, in the town of El Cenizo. By having this river road, it will help us maintain our presence close to the river,” Union President Hector Garza said.

Construction is expected to begin in the next few months.

The agreement allows the federal government to build a road on six miles of city property along the river.

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Bob Gray’s company monitors cross-border commercial shipments and looks for ways to speed up the flow of goods at U.S. ports of entry.

To him, staying up to date on federal regulations and potential disruptions is paramount. That’s why he was among the hundreds of border entrepreneurs and professionals present at Wednesday’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection El Paso Field Office’s 2023 Trade Fair at El Paso Community College’s Administrative Services Center.

“It’s always good meeting with CBP as well as the trade industry to have a better understanding of the processes they’re going through and certainly opportunities to improve crossing times and security,” the senior vice president and chief technology officer for El Paso-based Secure Options software company said.

One of the most important changes in progress is the expanded use of X-ray scanners at all U.S.-Mexico ports of entry. The high-tech, low-level particle portals are going up at ports of entry like El Paso’s Bridge of the Americas and are already installed at selected commercial ports.

he scanners will be able to detect hidden guns and suspicious bundles inside passenger vehicles and provide CBP officers with an almost instant computer-generated graphic of the interior of a semi-trailer.

The Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism was another CBP initiative drawing interest at the fair. It’s a voluntary program offering reduced border wait times to companies that demonstrate to the U.S. government they are helping prevent national security threats.

CTPAT requires companies to identify security gaps beginning with their supply chain, implement security measures and present an action plan to the U.S. government. Those approved generally will be subjected to fewer inspections at ports of entry and get a chance to participate in government “trusted partner” programs. Those include becoming part of the supply chain for food, medicines, and medical equipment to the United States.

Hinojos said this is the first CBP trade fair in the region since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent adjustments put the event on hold for four years.

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are sending fewer immigration detainers to local law enforcement agencies during the Biden administration, as compared to the Trump administration, new data shows.

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University, reports that in 2020, monthly detainers issued averaged around 10,000 but fell to 2,200 when President Joe Biden took office in March 2021.

Detainers issued reached 15,000 for three months in 2018, but typically averaged between 13,000 to 14,000 until 2020, TRAC reports.

ICE detainers are requests made to law enforcement agencies “to notify ICE before a removable individual is released from custody and to maintain custody of the non-citizen for a brief period of time so that ICE can take custody of that person.” 

TRAC notes that although a detainer was issued, it does not mean that ICE actually took custody of that person. Since 2003, data shows that most detainers issued were actually done under the Obama administration.

The report also acknowledges that the government shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic also reflected a decrease in federal government detainers issued in early 2020.

Two-thirds of all detainers issued have been of Mexican nationals since 2003, although TRAC reports this percentage has been decreasing and fell to 57% in 2021.

Other countries with high detainer rates include Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

A list of all detainers issued by city and nationalities can be found at TRAC.

(The Hill) – U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, is forcing a House vote on impeaching President Joe Biden over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration policy, making a surprise privileged motion Tuesday evening that will require House floor action on the matter this week.

Walking off the House floor on Tuesday, Boebert said that while House GOP leadership was aware she would make the privileged motion, the date of further action was still being scheduled with leadership. 

A notice from House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Massachusetts, on Tuesday indicated that Democrats will make a motion to table the resolution when it comes up for a vote on the floor, a procedural move that would block the resolution from coming to the floor for a vote.

Boebert’s impeachment resolution, which she introduced earlier this month, includes two impeachment articles: one for abuse of power, and another for dereliction of duty.

In the first impeachment article concerning abuse of power, Boebert charges that Biden “knowingly presided over an executive branch that has continuously, overtly, and consistently violated Federal immigration law by pursuing an aggressive, open-borders agenda,” citing the high number of migrants released into the U.S. “without the intention or ability to ensure that they appear in immigration court to face asylum or deportation proceedings.”

And in the second impeachment article for dereliction of duty, Boebert’s resolution points to deportation cases being at historic lows, and deaths caused by fentanyl.

In response to Boebert’s move, the White House accused House Republicans of staging “political stunts.”

​​“Instead of working with President Biden on solutions to the issues that matter most to the American people, like creating jobs, lowering costs and strengthening health care, extreme House Republicans are staging baseless political stunts that do nothing to help real people and only serve to get themselves attention,” Ian Sams, White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, said in a statement.

Boebert did not predict whether her impeachment articles would pass or not.

“We’ll see. I mean, I hope that Republicans and Democrats alike can recognize the invasion that’s taking place at our southern border, and that the laws of our nation are not being faithfully executed, and that we have an opportunity to bring a check and a balance to the invasion that’s going on,” Boebert said.

Boebert’s impeachment push comes as her ideological ally, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, (R-Florida, is forcing another vote on censuring Rep. Adam Shiff, D-California, of his handling of investigations into former President Trump. 

And it also comes as Republicans have turned their focus on the business dealings of President Biden’s family members after his son, Hunter Biden, agreed to a plea deal involving federal tax and gun charges on Tuesday.

Asked why she was forcing the impeachment articles now, Boebert said: “It’s been time. It’s past time.”

Most House Republicans hungry for retribution over the U.S.-Mexico border have focused on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas rather than Biden. Last week, the House GOP launched an investigation that could serve as the basis of an eventual Mayorkas impeachment.