TRLA Sues for Release of 144 Migrants from Texas Prison

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DEC. 23, 2021   

Contact: Robert Elder, TRLA Communications Director | (512) 374-2764, relder@trla.org 

UPDATE: On Dec. 23, a three-page panel of the Fourth Court of Appeals said there is “a serious question” concerning the issues TRLA raised on behalf of its clients. The appellate panel ordered the state to respond by Jan. 3. The same panel said the allegations against Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan require “further consideration” and invited a response from Shahan within 10 days.

AUSTIN – Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) is seeking immediate release of 144 migrants being held illegally under Gov. Greg Abbott's "Operation Lone Star" border security program. 

In a Dec. 22 emergency motion to the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio, TRLA said the detainees should have been released when the state failed to prove it was ready for trial within 30 days. The migrants have now been in custody on Class B misdemeanor trespass charges for between 79 and 115 days – more time than the prosecutors themselves said they would likely serve if they were found guilty. None of the migrants has yet even been arraigned in court. 

The state's refusal to even claim, let alone prove, that it is ready for trial means that the defendants are kept in prison. They remain exposed to variants of the coronavirus and face pressure to plead guilty to a crime they did not commit only to avoid indefinite pretrial incarceration. State law is clear: If the prosecution isn't ready for trial, "the defendant must be released either on personal bond or by reducing the bond requirement to an amount the defendant can pay." 

TLRA attorney Jerome Wesevich said the Fourth Court's decision on the motion could produce a timely and efficient way to handle the more than 1,000 similar cases pending in South Texas under Operation Lone Star. But the appeal also speaks to important questions about the criminal justice system's role, he said. 

"Why does anyone need laws, courts, or judges if poor people can just be thrown in jail until they're miserable enough to plead guilty?" said Wesevich, who helps represent the migrants. "I only hope Jesus forgives the daily injustices that our state is causing these migrants to suffer." 

TRLA is raising money to pay bonds for more than 100 migrants languishing in jail after being arrested under Operation Lone Star. TRLA represents the migrants, who were arrested by state troopers in the summer and fall and charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing. Bonds range from $1,000 to $15,000. Most of the migrants have been in jail for at least three months, with the prospect of spending many more months in custody before trial. 

Separately, private attorneys in Austin on Dec. 22 challenged the legality of the actions of Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan, whose county has the majority of Operation Lone Star cases. The workload overwhelmed Kinney County courts, prompting Stephen Ables, the presiding judge of the Sixth Administrative Judicial Region, to appoint three experienced judges to help handle the cases. 

On Dec. 8, Shahan fired the appointed judges, who released some migrants on no-cost bonds after pleading not guilty. Shahan replaced them with at least two county judges -- neither of whom is an attorney -- who presumably share his view that no migrants should be released on bond. 

Shahan's order also cements his control over judicial proceedings county-wide. He ordered that his court coordinator "shall have sole authority in setting any and all court dates . . . for all cases" in the county. 

In a motion to the Fourth Court of Appeals on behalf of a migrant who has been incarcerated for 56 days with no bond hearing, Austin attorney Keith Hampton said Shahan "has no authority at all regarding the (dismissed) judges' performance of their appointments." Hampton asked the Fourth Court to vacate the county judge's order because, under the state's Court Administration Act, Shahan has no authority to remove the judges or control their dockets. 

Hampton filed a similar motion on behalf of another migrant arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. 

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid provides free legal services to people who cannot afford an attorney. We work in 68 South and southwestern counties, including all the U.S.-Mexico border. TRLA attorneys specialize in more than 45 areas of law, including disaster assistance, family, employment, landlord-tenant, housing, education, immigration, farmworker, and civil rights. Our hotline is open 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (CST) Monday – Friday: 956-996-TRLA (8752).