Human Trafficking
What to know: Groups and agencies say there’s a direct link between social media and human trafficking.
The TPPF take: Criminal cartels use social media to recruit for their operations.
“Just last week, a 15-year-old led police on a high-speed chase in Mission, Texas, that ended with seven migrants bailing out of the vehicle on a dirt road,” says TPPF’s Melissa Ford. “The driver was charged with smuggling and evading and booked into juvenile detention. Earlier this month, a 12-year-old and 15-year-old transporting illegal immigrants near San Antonio, Texas, crashed their vehicle while trying to outrun cops in high-speed chase.”
For more on human trafficking, click here.
Terrorist Organizations
What to know: Designating Mexican criminal cartels as terrorist organizations could give law enforcement agencies more tools to combat them with.
The TPPF take: The Texas Legislature is considering a resolution urging the federal government to designate cartels as terrorist organizations.
“Cartels are not only smuggling and trafficking migrants, they often violently assault or rape them, and blackmail their families, while using them as a diversion to overwhelm Border Patrol,” says TPPF’s Carine Martinez. “The Mexican drug cartels qualify to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations—they both exercise incredible violence against civilians and are politically motivated, in that there is evidence they intervened in favor of state actors.”
For more on cartels, click here.
Annexation
What to know: Residents outside of Terrell are worried about a planned annexation of their area; they see it as a land grab by Terrell officials.
The TPPF take: Texas lawmakers have an opportunity to strengthen the state’s annexation—and disannexation—laws.
“Citizens have the right to determine their own political status,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Policymakers should rework the municipal disannexation process to better allow citizens to hold a referendum on whether to continue being governed by a particular city or whether to break free.”
For more on annexation, click here.