This discussion originated in Hopkins County, Texas and as such contains many references to that area.

There are estimates from numerous outlets of 20,000 to 200,000 illegal aliens currently located within the counties of northeast Texas.

I have witnessed buses and large vans filled with transient people stopping along I-30 for food and fuel with some wandering off into the surrounding neighborhoods as the vehicles move on. As Trump administration efforts proceed, there will be those who flee the cities (Dallas-area in this case) and seek refuge in our East Texas countryside, dramatically increasing the local impact. No northeast Texas county currently has the facilities to safely accommodate this effort.

I believe the following discussion could, and should, lead to a “Model Concept” that can be quickly deployed in several locations around the State. Hopefully, our elected officials in Austin and Washington, D.C. will take notice and act on this, one of the most pressing issues we face at this time.

The Trump Administration has begun to locate, detain, and deport those who’ve entered the United States illegally utilizing Border Patrol, ICE, and local law enforcement, specifically county sheriff’s offices. Those with the most egregious known crimes—Wants & Warrants—are being rounded up first with those who just illegally entered the U.S. following close behind.

Options for enforcement:

Arrest of criminal element(s) by ICE via known location.

  • ICE appears to be immediately removing those arrested in this manner remanding them to a federal/state facility to await deportation. Though unlikely, this action could be performed without Sheriff’s Office participation other than communications resulting in little to no disruption in local operations and local detention would not be required, which would not put any strain on existing facilities.

Warrants/Detainers issued for criminal elements to the Sheriff’s Office such that upon arrest they are relocated by ICE within a short time to a federal/state facility.

  • However, “short time” is undefinable without further agreement with ICE. The sheriff’s office would be required to locate and arrest per warrants and then detain them as required by ICE agreement, which will require manpower—placing a strain on the local sheriff’s office capacity. Current facilities are near maximum capacity and cannot handle this additional load.

Sheriff’s Office day-to-day operations naturally involve those committing crimes or having warrants within their jurisdiction and are anticipated to be handled by the local judicial system.

  • Once an investigation reveals illegal status, that individual will be handled through the local judicial system and then handed over to ICE for deportation. In many cases, this will include local incarceration for a duration determined by the judge based on local originating crime. There is no situation anticipated where an individual or family, once found to be in violation of current immigration law, would be allowed to remain within local jurisdiction indefinitely. Upon time served they will be moved into ICE control. In some cases, local crime committed is significant enough to allow adjudication with a deferred sentence and then handing over to ICE immediately.

Hopkins and surrounding county facilities can currently handle normal judicial and incarceration activities, however, incarceration of individuals/families scheduled for deportation will not be safely possible at some number based on the current operations. With these two variables unknown, the failure point cannot be determined until it arrives. Existing facilities have a finite expansion possibility and that limit has been reached since the last upgrade.

Local law enforcement, the sheriff’s office, and associated personnel required by statute to man facilities will be tasked with this additional population bringing into focus variables such as family units, religious contexts, language barriers, medical needs, etc.

Local law enforcement, the sheriff’s office, and the judicial system are currently budgeted and staffed to contain anticipated criminal activity occurring within our jurisdiction. This increase in apprehensions and detainment necessitates additional officers, deputies, judges/magistrates, and associated personnel to be trained and hired effective immediately as enforcement ramps up.

Our Proposal:

We want to get ahead of these issues so that this Trump administration operation can be completed safely, effectively, and swiftly with the least impact to existing county law enforcement and judicial activities.

The complexity of this endeavor cannot be overstated.

We propose utilizing existing county property to quickly construct facilities capable of housing low to medium-security individuals & families.

In Hopkins County, we currently have several possible locations with expansion as an option. One such property is adjacent to existing jail facilities, has good ingress-egress, adequate utilities available, and currently no adjacent residential areas. It is located adjacent to privately owned commercial property that can likely be purchased, allowing a larger facility or quick expansion if needed. We believe we can construct a building on this original property that could house approximately 700 temporary detainees. This facility would be kept separate from existing criminal incarceration facilities making the potential housing of families possible.

There is property owned by Hopkins County located outside city limits with some parcels larger in size and more isolated. Facilities built outside city limits and separate from existing Sheriff’s Office operations would require additional security measures and personnel. Proposed locations have adequate utilities currently available.

Other counties around Texas have their own issues that must be dealt with on an individual basis. We welcome input from them as a “group discussion” could be quite helpful for all.

We also anticipate a cessation of Trump administration deportation operations over the next 3-5 years.

Although the construction and operation of a facility designed for this purpose are limited in scope for future uses, there are some ideas we would like to propose.

Utilize a portion of the facility to further the current separation of high & medium-risk inmates from low-risk inmates.

This would allow more effective use of available personnel and costs per inmate would be more accurately distributed, making future budgets simpler and more specific.

Utilize a portion of the facility to provide a much-needed training environment for Hopkins County law enforcement, Sheriff’s Office, and emergency responders as well as surrounding counties who have limited or no training facilities of their own.

This would require scheduling and communication between counties resulting in a much better cohesive law enforcement effort among our northeast Texas partners. Also, this centralized training would add to the consistency and safety of all involved while performing day-to-day law enforcement and emergency operations.

Make the facility available for emergency response operations.

Although very large in scope, the ongoing North Carolina and Los Angeles events are an example of an emergency where such a facility could be very helpful. Providing temporary offices for incoming federal, state, and supporting agencies would simplify their operations. There is currently no such facility available within the several surrounding counties. This will require an increase in our current number of deputies, additional personnel trained to work in jail environments, and the associated admin and safety personnel to accomplish increased day-to-day operations.

In Summation:

The federal government’s actions and/or inactions are mostly to blame for this fiasco along with periods of acquiescence by state officials. We are requesting financial help from both to combine with our efforts to make the corrections necessary within our counties.

Our goal, as always, is for Hopkins and all other Texas county individuals and families to have an environment where they can thrive safely and long-term. The Trump administration has made a promise that we believe will help us accomplish this but it’s going to take effort on our part as well as effort by those we elected to help us in situations such as this. We have the drive but we’re going to need help with the costs.

We need to discuss at once all possible state and federal funds available as well as the steps required to accomplish at least some of these scenarios. We realize it’s a complex task however the alternative, “winging it”, is not an option.

We want to thank those in our Texas House, Senate, and our Governor Greg Abbott, for giving time and attention to this matter. This is a current issue, not a future request, and we believe all concerned should treat it as such.

As promised, the Trump administration has started acting on “Day One” and citizens of Hopkins County as well as all other counties in Texas must get a plan in place and be working on that plan to the best of our ability and for the betterment of our Great State of Texas.

Let us shake off yesterday’s dust and get started on the work at hand.

This is a commentary published with the authors’ permission. If you wish to submit a commentary to Texas Scorecard, please submit your article to submission@texasscorecard.com.

Rick Murray

Rick Murray is a design and building contractor. He has lived in the Sulphur Springs area for 25 years. A lifetime Texan, Rick has been married for 41 years and has four children and eight grandchildren.

Lewis Tatum

Lewis Tatum is the Sheriff of Hopkins County. A U.S. Navy veteran, Lewis has served in the Sheriff's office for over 40 years.

RELATED POSTS