LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - Gabriel Gonzalez, a 58-year-old man sought by authorities for allegedly sexually assaulting a child in south Texas, was caught at Gateway to the Americas International Bridge (Bridge #1) in Laredo.

Gonzalez, who had been on the run, encountered a major setback at the Laredo bridge when customs officials became suspicious during a secondary inspection. Following their standard procedures, they cross-referenced his biometric data and made a startling discovery: Gonzalez was wanted in connection with a serious assault case originating from the city of Sinton, Texas. Gonzalez was then detained.

Subsequent coordination between local and county law enforcement agencies facilitated Gonzalez’s transfer from the Webb County Jail to the custody of the San Patricio County Sheriff’s Office.

LAREDO, TX (KGNS) - A woman is facing charges following a high-speed chase that started near Encinal and ended in west Laredo.

Authorities arrested Jennifer Lynn Csombok, 40, and charged her with evading arrest.

The incident happened on Wednesday at around 12:41 p.m. on I-35 when Encinal Police attempted to stop a gray Nissan Altima due to a driver being involved in a theft case.

The driver refused to stop and sent officers on a chase that was pursued by DPS Troopers near mile marker 20.

Border Patrol was successfully able to deploy a tire deflation device that was able to slow down the Nissan.

The vehicle eventually came to a stop at a neighborhood near Convent.

Csombok was transported to the Webb County Jail.

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The number of asylum-seeking migrants in federal detention in July reached its highest level in three years, according to recent data.

As of July 30, there were 30,438 migrants held in detention facilities operated either by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In mid-July, there were 31,064 non-citizens detained, which is the most held in U.S. detention since April 2020 under the Trump administration, Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University reports.

On August 2019, during the Trump administration, detentions exceeded 55,600 and then dropped to below 30,000 by late April 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A report obtained by NPR found “negligent” conditions in ICE detention facilities dating back to that time period. The inspection reports were written by experts hired by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties who examined more than two dozen facilities in 16 states from 2017 to 2019.

NPR sued under the Freedom of Information Act for the release of the information. On Wednesday, NPR published a story citing several examples of medical care denied to detainees, unsanitary conditions, racial abuse of detainees and improper treatment of detainees. This occurred, according to the report, at facilities managed by private for-profit corporations that contract with the federal government like GEO Group and CoreCivic.

In response to questions on the report Thursday, a DHS spokesperson told Border Report: “ICE takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously. ICE has closed or scaled back multiple immigration detention facilities since the start of this administration. We are committed to ensuring, to the extent possible, that individuals remain in a facility that is close to family, loved ones, or attorneys of record. The agency continuously reviews and enhances civil detention operations to ensure noncitizens are treated humanely, protected from harm, provided appropriate medical and mental health care, and receive the rights and protections to which they are entitled.”

So far in Fiscal Year 2023, the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, has held the largest number of ICE detainees, averaging 1,252 per day.

Migrant advocates want more use of alternatives to detention methods and better federal government oversight of these facilities.

“The federal government must ensure that it is treating people with dignity and respect,” Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum said in a statement Thursday. “The administration should move to increase the use of alternatives to detention, which have proved effective and save money, and decrease the number of people in detention facilities to begin with. It also should follow through on reducing its dependence on for-profit private prisons.”

There were just under 200,000 asylum-seekers placed in ATD programs in July, which is down from a high last September, TRAC reports.

(TRAC Graphic)

Earlier this month, ICE announced it was expanding a controversial ATD program that imposes curfews on asylum-seekers but keeps them out of detention facilities.

“Migrants have human dignity, and ICE detention centers must prioritize humane treatment,” Murray said. “The Biden administration must ensure that the conditions described in these reports do not persist today.”

Although the reports of mistreatment did not occur during the Biden administration, DHS officials in the Biden administration still refused to release the information, NPR reported.

Border Report has asked ICE officials why the information was not released, and for a copy of the inspection reports. This story will be updated if additional information is received. .

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - Gerardo Jalomo Jr., a 14-year veteran of the Laredo Police Department, found himself in police custody on Wednesday, August 15, following an arrest by the Texas Rangers, who are leading the investigation.

The arrest stems from a theft of property charge with an estimated value ranging from $2,000 to $30,000, as per court documents.

Jalomo was subsequently released on a $50,000 bond. He has been placed on administrative reassignment pending an internal investigation conducted by the Office of Professional Standards.

According to Laredo Police, Jalomo had been employed with the City of Laredo for 18 years and as an officer for 14 years.

PHARR, Texas (Border Report) — Several hundred asylum-seekers have relocated from a migrant camp on the banks of the Rio Grande to a facility in Matamoros, Mexico, that the government and nonprofits have renovated for their safety, Border Report has learned. 

About 600 asylum-seekers on Tuesday moved what little belongings they have from the sprawling outdoor encampments on the river banks to an abandoned hospital that has been readied for them 4 miles away in downtown Matamoros, Sister Norma Pimentel of Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley told Border Report on Wednesday.

But there are still about 900 people living along the banks who have not moved to the new location and remain living under plastic tarps pitched on the dirt near the Gateway International Bridge, which leads from Brownsville, Texas.

They are waiting for asylum appointments with U.S. immigration officials that are scheduled at U.S. ports via the CBP One app. This is now a requirement for asylum claims after Title 42 was lifted.

Several organizers told Border Report that the move is going smoothly and that more migrants were expected to relocate on Wednesday and in the coming days once they realize there are showers, toilets, security guards and regular meals for them at the new site.

But they don’t expect all 1,500 migrants living on the river to move.

“That was the plan all along, that it was going to be a step-by-step process. They knew that not everybody would go at the same time,” Andrea Rudnik, of the nonprofit Team Brownsville, told Border Report on Wednesday. “They’re kind of giving people a chance to see how it is and then the word will spread if people feel like it’s a safe place if it’s a good place to be. The hope is that then the word spreads that ‘OK we’re good. This is nice. This is good. And we can live here.'”

Pimentel says 800 have committed to relocating.

Volunteers with nonprofits from the United States, as well as the Catholic Diocese in Matamoros, are helping to register the migrants, and the State of Tamaulipas is overseeing the facility.

“Some were still worried of going. Hopefully today more will go,” Rudnik said.

Jim Howard, the pastor of West Side Baptist Church in Atlanta, Texas, has been helping the migrants with the move and trying to get a water filtration system for the new facility.

He was back in Matamoros on Wednesday morning and said more were moving in already.

He said hundreds of tents were set up for those who arrived on Tuesday.

And organizers have to give out a total of 1,000 tents that were donated to Catholic Charities RGV to help the asylum-seekers south of the border, Rudnik said.

Howard said Mexican immigration officials with the National Immigration Institute (INAMI) were on hand Wednesday to help with the transition.

“They started moving yesterday. Everything was very orderly,” Howard said. “We discussed the water situation with the leaders and talked to the city water engineers so things are moving forward.”

Rudnik says some of their biggest concerns are about getting potable running water for the new facility, and she said she hopes a donor and the system come through quickly.

In the meantime, Rudnik on Wednesday and her band of volunteers were at a U.S. store in Brownsville, Texas, stocking up on groceries and other supplies to take to the migrants to help them in their new homes.

Howard’s church donated about $1,500 worth of water pallets that they have delivered to the hospital and to the encampment in the past week.

They also donated a swing set that was assembled and put up for the children on Wednesday.

As the afternoon sun was heating temperatures back up into the triple-digits on Wednesday afternoon, he said that more and more migrants came to the new facility and a registration line was forming.

The facility has iron gates and security surrounding what used to be the Pumarejo Hospital in Matamoros.

Information on how to donate to Team Brownsville can be found here. Information on how to donate to Catholic Charities RGV can be found here.