When Rio Grande Valley retiree Robert Chapa finally got his COVID-19 vaccine in March after months of trying to secure an appointment, it was a nearby school district that came through for him.
After a year of liv
Karen Brooks Harper and Carla Astudillo
Texas Tribune
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When Rio Grande Valley retiree Robert Chapa finally got his COVID-19 vaccine in March after months of trying to secure an appointment, it was a nearby school district that came through for him.
After a year of living in a national hot spot for the virus, where death rates at one point were among the highest in the nation, Chapa, 59, was anxious to get the shot.
“I was at high risk, with one kidney,” said Chapa, who lost the organ in a car accident decades ago. “I stood in line for three hours, I think. But if you gotta get it, you gotta get it.”
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The crisis at the southern border is so overwhelming to Border Patrol personnel and ICE that some major changes have been made. The use of ankle monitors is being phased out and replaced with a phone app. Border Patrol agents in the Texas Rio Grande Valley have stopped issuing notice to appear citations, too.
Instead of a notice to appear, illegal migrants are instructed to report to an ICE location within 60 days. Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security last week. He was questioned by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) about the Border Patrol using “prosecutorial discretion to include the issuance of notices to report to ICE often known as RTI or an I-385 to certain migrant families in the RGV sector of Texas due to severe overcrowding in CBP facilities.” Migrants are released from being detained due to overcrowding. The process is often referred to as catch and release.
Acting CBP Commissioner: Border Patrol Agents Not Giving Out Notices to Appear to Migrants in Rio Grande Valley cnsnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cnsnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.