US Mexico border

Thousands of men, women and children – many seeking asylum – are lining up to turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents, just days before the court-ordered end of a pandemic-era policy known as Title 42.

Mike Sheppard was a jail warden for the West Texas Detention Center in Sierra Blanca — a privately owned detention facility that used to contract with the federal government to detain migrants. Louisiana-based LaSalle Corrections confirmed that he no longer worked with the company.

After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched a controversial program to bus migrants to other states, he appealed to private donors to help cover the costs. But contributions to the so-called "Border Transportation Funding" are well short of the $12 million that's been spent.

The migrants who boarded the plane have said a woman in San Antonio who identified herself as “Perla” lured them into boarding a plane and promising expedited work permits.

With a lack of concrete results and about a year left in the state’s two-year budget cycle, it’s unclear whether Texas can afford to continue running the border security initiative in its current form.

Ellis County is the latest in a list of Texas counties making similar declarations, citing increased border crossings, smuggling operations and drug trafficking. Critics say the language fuels anti-immigrant sentiments.

“The notion that borders are open is wrong, and it kind of fires up a very specific political base that's responsive to kind of fear mongering,” said Aileen Teague, who teaches international affairs at Texas A&M.

The authorities said the tragedy appeared to be the deadliest migrant-smuggling operation in memory. Sixteen people were taken to hospitals.

Texas has been using coronavirus relief money to help pay for the multibillion-dollar deployment.

Texas took $30 million from Texas Juvenile Justice — a problem plagued department that has repeatedly failed to protect kids from abuse and, at times, is the abuser.