McCOOK – Texas Department of Public Safety troopers briefly detained and then released about 20 people suspected of being in the country illegally Saturday morning on a farmer’s land 24 miles north of central Mission, the landowner said.
About 8 a.m. Saturday, Lee Adams said he noticed “a lot of activity” in the brush on his large rural property. He called a DPS trooper, who called for backup. A group of troopers – which included five cars and two helicopters – eventually rounded up a group of people who appeared to possibly be in the country illegally, Adams said.
But in less than an hour, the cars and helicopters scattered, allowing the people they detained to do the same.
“They said there’s nothing they can do, the only thing they could do was detain them for 30 minutes and they’ve been there for 45,” Adams said. “Which I don’t agree with, I think all law enforcement agencies should work together.”
Adams then called a local constable’s deputy. He and the deputy found 27 people who were still on the property, he said. With Adams agreeing to press charges, the deputy held the people for criminal trespass until U.S. Border Patrol agents came in at least three waves between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to pick them up for suspected immigration violations.
“The constable’s service needs some help out here,” Adams said. “When we, the public, want law enforcement, you’re not just thinking about constable or sheriff’s department or Highway Patrol or Border Patrol. You’re thinking about all of them together. And that’s the problem – they’re not working together.”  (continue reading)