Texas is prosecuting migrants under Operation Lone Star after they’re deported, attorneys say

Migrants arrested on trespass charges under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border crackdown are being prosecuted even after they're deported, raising concerns from attorneys that their due process rights are being violated. In more than 20 cases so far, state-appointed lawyers have argued that deportations are preventing their clients from preparing for state trials or appearing in person to confront witnesses. Deported migrants are also receiving orders from trial courts to appear in person for hearings, creating impossible choices between trying to reenter the country or collecting new charges for not showing, the attorneys argue. Some lower courts have allowed migrants to appear virtually for procedural hearings and other matters, which has created its own logistical hurdles.

“I have clients that appear from shacks in Honduras and walk to the next village in Mexico to get cell service,” said Kristin Etter, an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, a nonprofit that is appealing the cases involving deported migrants. The prosecutions are part of Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s plan to fight illegal border crossings by ordering state troopers and National Guard members to arrest migrant men on various state charges, often misdemeanors for allegedly trespassing on private property near the border. Since the arrests began last summer, several thousand migrants have been detained in state facilities to await trial. Those released on bond are turned over to federal immigration authorities, who typically remove them from the country before they can file an asylum claim, according to defense attorneys. While it's not unprecedented for migrants to be prosecuted after they're expelled from the country, it's unusual for the cases to proceed over such low-level offenses, and on such a broad scale, defense lawyers said.