LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - Border Patrol agents arrest a man for criminal sexual conduct against a person under the age of 13.

Mariano Salazar Juarez was caught last Sunday while crossing through the Rio Grande illegally.

After running a check, Border Patrol agents found him to be wanted for sexual conduct with a minor.

A prior order of removal was reinstated and Juarez is now awaiting processing.

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - The man, 32-year-old Antwine King, was captured at the downtown Greyhound bus station Saturday afternoon.

He was wanted for murder and possession of a weapon without a permit out of Newark, New Jersey.

He was also found to be in possession of marijuana and crack cocaine at the time of his arrest.

King was taken to the Laredo Police Department for booking.

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Low-income migrants arrested in Texas under Operation Lone Star can receive legal counsel, the state’s highest court says, and that’s welcome news for a nonprofit that represents migrants in court.

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday renewed a previous order that grants qualifying migrants the right to a defense lawyer if they are arrested in any of the 58 counties that Gov. Greg Abbott has declared a state of disaster concerning border security.

This is “to protect the constitutionally and statutorily guaranteed right to counsel of indigent criminal defendants,” according to the court’s renewed “Emergency Order Regarding Indigent Defense and the Border Security State of Disaster.”

Migrants must be deemed indigent and brought before magistrates at a designated Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility, the order says.

Under federal immigration law, immigrants charged with a misdemeanor have the right to hire legal counsel, but public defenders are not provided for them.

But the state’s highest court says the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) must “provide for the appointment of counsel to represent defendants arrested and charged with jailable misdemeanors and/or felonies as part of Operation Lone Star in certain counties,” according to an explainer posted by TIDC on its website.

The number of indigent defense counsel needed to represent migrants in Texas could greatly increase if the Texas Legislature passes controversial immigration measures that would allow for the arrest and prosecution of those who cross illegally into the state.

Last week, in its third Special Session, the Texas House passed HB4, which would create a Class B misdemeanor for anyone to enter Texas illegally. The bill has been sent to the Senate.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, and three state representatives visited the South Texas border city of Eagle Pass on Tuesday, prior to the debate of HB4 to view Operation Lone Star law enforcement positioned on the banks of the Rio Grande, which has had an increase in migrant crossings in the past few months.

Under the Texas Supreme Court’s renewed order, migrants must request the appointment of counsel and fill out an affidavit of indigence to qualify. And courts must assign lawyers to migrants who qualify within 24 hours.

Priscilla Orta, supervising attorney for Lawyers for Good Government’s Project Corazon, which provides free legal aid for migrants, says she is glad that the state’s highest court understands the need for migrants in Texas to have legal representation.

“It does help folks. First, it helps them understand what is going on and what the consequences are. Second, it helps those that want to fight, and actually defend their cases. And third, it forces the government to be accountable for their actions,” Orta told Border Report on Monday.

“Most of the folks do know that attorneys are free for those that can’t pay for them — it’s a feature of the American justice system that they’ve seen on TV. In fact, some folks think that we give out attorneys for all cases. They don’t realize it’s only for criminal cases,” Orta said.

Defense lawyers appointed to represent migrants may include any lawyer authorized to practice within Texas, public defender offices, governmental entities, and nonprofits.

A standard fee of $150 per hour will be compensated to private lawyers who represent defendants arrested under Operation Lone Star felony cases, and $120 per hour for misdemeanor cases, according to TIDC.

In the two South Texas counties of Maverick and Zavala, where it’s been increasingly difficult to find representation for migrants, lawyers are being paid $200 per hour for felony cases there, the agency says.

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The State of Texas on Monday was granted a temporary restraining order that stops federal border agents from cutting razor wire the state has placed on the Rio Grande to stop illegal immigration from Mexico, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday filed a motion for a TRO on an emergency basis against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Del Rio, which granted the motion Monday.

The TRO request came the same week that the state filed a lawsuit against DHS for allegedly destroying state property and “undermining” the state’s border security efforts through Operation Lone Star.

But days after the lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, the alleged “federal agents escalated matters, trading bolt cutters for an industrial-strength telehandler forklift to dismantle Texas’s border fence,” according to the state’s TRO emergency request.

The state charges it’s a “brazen escalation,” and alleges that “repeated destruction of Texas’s concertina wire irreparably harms Texas because it facilitates increased illegal entry into the state.”

A DHS spokesperson told Border Report that the agency does not comment on pending litigation, but said “we will, of course, comply with the order issued by the court this morning.”

The DHS spokesperson added: “Generally speaking, Border Patrol agents have a responsibility under federal law to take those who have crossed onto U.S. soil without authorization into custody for processing, as well as to act when there are conditions that put our workforce or migrants at risk.”

The emergency order issued by the judge stipulated that the TRO does not apply to “any medical emergency that mostly likely results in serious bodily injury or death to a person, absent any boats or other life-saving apparatus available to avoid such medical emergencies prior to reaching the concertina wire barrier.”

Texas law enforcement has unspooled miles of concertina and razor wire along the banks of the Rio Grande in high-traffic areas, like Eagle Pass, and in the Rio Grande Valley.

The state also has put a 1,000-foot-long marine buoy barrier in the river in Eagle Pass to stop migrants from crossing from Piedras Negras.

The state has spent about $10 billion in two years on border security initiatives and recently received approval from the Texas Legislature for more funds to add additional border wall. Gov. Greg Abbott has repeatedly said that Texas is spending money and manpower to secure the border, charging President Joe Biden has shirked his duty to do so on the federal level.

Federal officials have reportedly cut razor and concertina wire in order to access the river’s banks and to walk large groups of migrants to processing locations.

“The federal government’s outrageous escalation in response to our lawsuit demonstrates Biden’s disturbing contempt for the State of Texas, for the citizens of the United States, and for our country’s entire foundation of the rule of law,” Paxton said in a statement Monday. “By acting quickly and monitoring their actions closely, we were able to secure a restraining order, and I am confident we will continue to prevail.” 

Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, who is running for U.S. Senate, said Monday’s TRO was not warranted.

“The United States should be able to remove the razor wire at the border unimpeded. Barbed wire and endless litigation are not solutions to our immigration issues. Women and children are dying at the border. Every day this razor wire is up, our Border Patrol agents are in even more danger,” Gutierrez said.

A hearing is set for Nov. 7 in federal court.

LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - It was a day to remember as a young boxer who is now part of Laredo’s history landed at the airport Sunday afternoon.

Many friends, family members and even the Laredo Mayor gathered at the Laredo International Airport lobby to welcome Jennifer Lozano.

Lozano returned home after being in Santiago, Chile competing in the Pan American Games where she claimed silver but got a better reward, as she qualified to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

It hasn’t come easy for Lozano.

She has made many sacrifices and has dedicated all her time to practicing.

“Usually, I train at like four in the morning and then I’ll train three times a day after that and it gets pretty intense because my life is usually revolved around training,” said Lozano. “I don’t have any time to waste. Free days are basically time to recover. I’m mostly home. My favorite days are basically going home and seeing my mom besides that I don’t slack off. Now my main focus is getting that gold no matter what and I’m going to that get that gold by any means necessary for sure.”

Lozano said her journey has had its ups and downs but with the support of her mom, grandma, and her team, she’s been able to push through.

She will fight in the Olympics in Paris next summer.

Lozano is the first Laredoan to go to the Olympics.

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) -A cold front is moving quickly south, will likely reach the Laredo area at around 8 pm Sunday evening. The cold airmass behind the front is large, and will be our weather control for a number of days. Moist gulf and Pacific air will flow above the cold north wind, bringing a cold and wet combination tonight and during Monday.