Gov. Abbott's border crackdown Operation Lone Star violates U.S. Constitution,
This is a great ruling
Gov. Greg Abbotts border enforcement effort violates the U.S. Constitution, a Travis County state district judge on Thursday ruled, threatening Operation Lone Star's future and opening the gates to a flood of court challenges.
Travis County state District Judge Jan Soifer's ruling came in a legal challenge to the detention of a man from Ecuador who is seeking asylum. His lawyers say he is among thousands of migrants arrested as part of Abbotts effort to combat illegal border crossings.
Soifer's ruling "sets a clear pathway for everybody arrested under Operation Lone Star to challenge their arrests," said Kristin Etter, a special project director at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which represents about 800 defendants arrested as part of the operation. Etter also testified during the hearing.
"We are in the process of evaluating strategies moving forward, and that is one of them," she said.