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Migrants walk along the Rio Grande past the recently installed buoys in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 28, 2023. As there is concertina wire installed along the Urbina’s property, migrants are told to walk to the end of the property, taking them approximately an hour from that point. Many make that walk which can be difficult to do through slippery rocks in the water, the current and the inclined river bank, while some find spots through the concertina wire and manage to get through.

Eagle Pass residents sour on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star

After initially supporting the governor’s efforts to stem illegal immigration, many residents say Operation Lone Star has gone too far.


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Hugo Urbina, 52 and Magali Urbina, 52, both Republicans, pose for a photo at her pecan farm in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 30, 2023. Magali and her husband bought the property two years ago, also allowing DPS to put a fence to keep migrants from crossing through their property leaving trash behind. At the time they could go through the gates and still have access to the river to go fishing. They did not know that later they would install concertina wire along their property in addition to blocking them off from accessing it at the riverbank. Her immigration views drastically changed once she saw a pregnant woman getting her arms cut in the concertina wire as she tried crossing to turn herself in. Urbina believes that there should be an immigration system that works for everyone. “Reading it [about migrants crossing the border] is one thing, seeing it is another. Until you live it, you shouldn’t have an opinion.”
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Shelby Park as seen in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. 
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Migrants walk along the Rio Grande passed the recently installed buoys in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. As there is concertina wire installed along the Urbina’s property, migrants are told to walk to the end of the property. Many make that walk which can be difficult to do through slippery rocks in the water, the current and the inclined river bank, while some find spots through the concertina wire and manage to get through.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
National Guard members install concertina wire along the river bank on private property owned by the Urbinas in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 28, 2023. 
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
A group of migrants follow a state trooper vehicle after turning themselves in in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. They crossed through a cap in the concertina wire in the Urbina’s property. Some will be sent back after being arrested for trespassing private property without allowing them to go through the immigration process in the U.S.

“Every challenge has its reward”

Migrants try to decide where to cross to turn themselves in to U.S. authorities in Piedras Negras, Mexico on July 30, 2023. 
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
A Colombian mother goes through concertina wire to turn herself in with her daughter and other people in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. As there is concertina wire installed along the Urbina’s property, migrants are told to walk to the end of the property, taking them approximately an hour from that point. Many make that walk which can be difficult to do through slippery rocks in the water, the current and the inclined river bank, while some find spots through the concertina wire and manage to get through.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
A Colombian mother and her daughter wait to be processed after turning themselves in in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. They crossed through a cap in the concertina wire in the Urbina’s property.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Alexander, 37, his wife Jocelyn, 30, and their six-year old daughter cross the Rio Grande to turn themselves in to U.S. authorities to begin their immigration process in Piedras Negras, Mexico on July 30, 2023. They were both civil engineers in Venezuela and decided to migrate for safety reasons and to give their daughter a better future.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune

Council reverses decision that allows DPS to arrest migrants in Shelby Park

Mayela Aldape, 34, an immigration attorney,  at a shelter where she works in Piedras Negras, Mexico on July 28, 2023. When speaking about the dangerous journey that migrants go through Aldape says, “How desperate does one have to be to risk their lives and the lives of their children?”
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Concertina wire, barbed wire fencing and the recently installed buoys from the Piedras Negras side of the border.

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