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MRT (free): Cartels Use App to Hunt Kidnap Victims // Record Airport Traffic This Week // TD Jakes Recovering // Cobos to Leave PUC // Rollins to USDA, Turner to HUD
Here's What You Need to Know in Texas Today.
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MustReadTexas.com – @MustReadTexas
BY: @MattMackowiak
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MONDAY || 11/25/24
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“If something of importance is known in Texas, Matt knows it. With a decline in the number of credible news organizations, the Must Read Texas morning email is indispensable for anyone that wants to continue to be informed.” – Former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX)
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TOP NEWS
“Mexican cartels use app for asylum seekers to hunt kidnap victims,” San Antonio Express-News' Jason Buch — “In early March, Pedro Arandia, a 29-year-old from Venezuela, and his two young nieces crossed the Suchiate River on Mexico’s southern border, paying the equivalent of $30 to be rowed from the Guatemalan side.
They stepped off the boat — and right into the arms of gangsters.
“That was my first experience getting kidnapped in Mexico,” Arandia said in a recent interview at a migrant shelter in Matamoros, just across the Rio Grande from Brownsville.
The one-time delivery driver said he and his nieces, 11 and 14, were taken to a building with small, crowded concrete rooms the kidnappers called “chicken coops.”
They were released once he paid the $100-per-person ransom — a pittance compared to a later ransom his family was forced to pay.
Arandia said he’d heard about Mexican immigration officials preventing asylum seekers from going north, so they avoided bus lines, where they would have been easy to identify as immigrants. He and his nieces sometimes traveled by foot and slept outdoors. It took them a month to make it to Mexico City, he said.
In the Mexican capital, they found a large community of expats planning to seek asylum in the U.S. Arandia learned from them that Mexican officials wouldn’t let them go any farther north without an appointment from the U.S. government, for which he needed a smartphone app called CBP One. So he installed it on his phone. (CBP stands for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.)
Arandia, who said he fled Venezuela because of its collapsing economy and increasing lawlessness, received notice in early May that he had been approved for an appointment in three weeks at the port of entry between Matamoros and Brownsville.
He purchased plane tickets to Reynosa, a border city near McAllen, because he was afraid taking a bus would make them easier targets for kidnapping.
He was right to be wary. In Reynosa, he and his nieces had to take a bus to Matamoros — there was no flight. Only a few minutes after buying their tickets, three men approached them in the middle of the crowded bus station. One of the men grabbed his youngest niece.
“And he says to me, ‘Keep quiet or face the consequences,’ and he shows me the gun in his waistband,” Arandia said.
At both the airport and the bus station, Arandia had to show his CBP One appointment to purchase tickets. He believes one of the ticket agents tipped off the kidnappers.
Asylum seekers and employees of non-governmental organizations that work with immigrants said in interviews they believe criminal gangs target people who have appointments through CBP One, one of the very few ways the U.S. government permits people to claim asylum at southwest border ports of entry.
Because asylum seekers need CBP One appointments to travel through Mexico, it’s easy to track their movements and set them up for kidnapping and extortion." SAEN ($)
AP: “TSA planning for busiest Thanksgiving week ever at airports” AP
DMN: “Two fintech founders indicted over fraudulent PPP loans” DMN ($)
DMN: “The Dallas-Fort Worth housing market is weird right now” DMN ($)
AP: “Megachurch founder T.D. Jakes suffers health incident during sermon at Dallas church” AP
HOU CHRON: “Lori Cobos to leave Texas utility commission at the end of the year” Houston Chronicle ($)
TX TRIB: “Texas reaches $12.6M settlement in connection with 2019 Port Neches chemical plant explosiont” Texas Tribune
DMN: Editorial: “University of Texas free tuition program should be refined” DMN ($)
SAEN: “Bexar County DA case backlog is causing delays for defendants” SAEN ($)
DMN: Rob Curran column: “Moody's rating is a shot across Dallas' bow” DMN ($)
TX TRIB: “Texas bill would reclassify abortion drugs as controlled substances” Texas Tribune
TX TRIB: “Trump picks Texan Brooke Rollins to lead Agriculture Department” Texas Tribune
TX TRIB: “Trump nominates former Texas lawmaker Scott Turner to lead Housing and Urban Development” Texas Tribune
SA REPORT: “5 key takeaways from digging deep into Bexar County's election results” SA Report
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
> TX TRIB: "Texas bill would reclassify abortion drugs as controlled substances" TX TRIB
> DMN: "The stakes of Texas A&M vs. Texas go far beyond a renewed rivalry" DMN
> AP: "People on breathing machines struggle without power after weather disasters" AP
> COMMUNITY IMPACT: "Bullock Texas State History Museum brings Texas history to life through inclusive, rotating exhibits" COMMUNITY IMPACT
> FWST: "Two killed in shooting near AT&T Stadium Saturday; Arlington police investigating" FWST
> THE TEXAN: "Texas State Board of Education Votes to Adopt New State-Owned Instructional Material" THE TEXAN
> SA REPORT: "New report assessing Texas’ water needs points to San Antonio as example of planning ahead" SA REPORT
> KXAN: "Infant dead, 10 people sick in listeria outbreak tied to ready-to-eat meat and poultry" KXAN
> THE TEXAN: "Texas Supreme Court Sends Lawsuit Against Pro-Life Organization Back to Court of Appeals" THE TEXAN
> KXAN: "Austin non-profit increases efforts to end homelessness" KXAN
> TPR: "What Marco Rubio's State Department appointment could mean for Latin America" TPR
> MY RGV: "Donna father accused in toddler’s murder arrested at Anzalduas bridge" MY RGV
> TPR: "San Antonio looks at ways to produce art that casts a cooling shade" TPR
EXTRA POINTS
This past weekend's Texas sports scores:
Fri
> NBA: Houston 116, Portland 88
> NBA: Dallas 123, Denver 120
> NCAAF: UTSA 51, Temple 27
> NCAAM: #7 Houston 80, Hofstra 44
> NCAAM: #11 Tennessee 77, #13 Baylor 62
> NCAAM: Texas 67, St. Joseph's 58
> NCAAM: Mississippi State 84, SMU 79
> NCAAM: Texas Tech 79, Syracuse 74
> NCAAM: Stephen F. Austin 72, Monmouth 67
> NCAAM: Texas State 83, Princeton 80
> NCAAM: Trinity at Sam Houston State (ESPN+)
> NCAAM: Rice 61, Houston Christian 58
Sat
> NBA: Portland 104, Houston 98
> NBA: San Antonio 104, Golden State 94
> NHL: Dallas 4, Tampa Bay 2
> NCAAF: #3 Texas 31, Kentucky 14
> NCAAF: #11 Tennessee 56, UTEP 0
> NCAAF: #13 SMU at Virginia (ESPN2)
> NCAAF: Auburn 43, #15 Texas A&M 41 (4OT)
> NCAAF: Baylor 20, Houston 10
> NCAAF: TCU 49, Arizona 28
> NCAAF: Texas Tech 56, Oklahoma State 48
> NCAAF: UAB 40, Rice 14
> NCAAF: East Carolina 40, North Texas 28
> NCAAF: Georgia State 52, Texas State 44
> NCAAF: Jacksonville State 21, Sam Houston State 11
> NCAAM: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 82, LeMoyne 61
> NCAAM: Stephen F. Austin 64, Youngstown State 57
> NCAAM: Northern Colorado 114, Prairie View A&M 98
Sun
> NFL: Dallas 34, Washington 26
> NFL: Tennessee 32, Houston 27
> NBA: Miami 123, Dallas 118
> NCAAM: New Mexico 99, Texas Southern 68
Tonight's Texas sports schedule:
> 6pm: NCAAM: East Texas A&M at Stonehill (NEC)
> 6pm: NHL: Dallas at Carolina (ESPN+)
> 6:30pm: NCAAM: LeMoyne at UT-RGV (ESPN+)
> 7pm: NBA: Dallas at Atlanta (NBA TV)
> 7pm: NCAAM: Oregon State at North Texas (ESPN+)
> 7pm: NCAAM: UTSA at Troy (ESPN+)
> 7:30pm: NCAAM: San Jose State at UTEP (ESPN+)
> 8pm: NCAAM: Abilene Christian at Southern Miss (ACU)
DALLAS COWBOYS: "Late kickoff return TDs by Turpin and Thomas spark the Cowboys as they end their 5-game skid" AP
HOUSTON TEXANS: "Texans foiled by mistake after mistake in 32-27 loss to Titans" AP
HOUSTON TEXANS: "Houston Texans' stadium getting $35M makeover -- but bigger issues loom" Houston Chronicle ($)
TEXAS FOOTBALL: "Longhorns beat Wildcats, eye seismic showdown with Texas A&M" AAS ($)
TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL: "SMU's road success bodes well for clinching ACC berth vs. Virginia" Bryan Eagle
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