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SAN ANTONIO – Homeland Security Investigations arrested 14 people last week at an AirBnB in Texas in what the department is calling a trend, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Officials said they arrested one accused smugger and 13 migrants on August 8 at the short-term rental property in El Paso. It was the second “stash house” bust in one week,

HSI stated the AirBnB property owner contacted the department after they suspected the home was being used for trafficking while it was being rented. Officials said they believe the migrants were at the home for a day and described the group as “crammed into small quarters.” “Airbnb stash houses are a new trend. It’s become the popular alternative to motels or hotels because smugglers can book them online in their home country and check in remotely without having to meet the property owner in person,” HSI El Paso acting Special Agent in Charge Jason T. Stevens said in a news release.

AUSTIN – The Houston Chronicle reports that House lawmakers on Friday called for a legislative response after the state’s insurer of last resort voted this month to raise rates for homeowners along the Gulf Coast, signaling they may be open to broader reforms in the state’s insurance market. The Texas Windstorm and Insurance Association’s nine-member board voted for a 10% rate increase after a staff analysis found that the insurer has for years been unable to cover expected costs, which include paying claims on damage from storms such as Hurricane Beryl. Lawmakers largely agreed that TWIA’s current funding structure was unsustainable. “There’s no business that I know out there that wants to keep going if they got to pay to keep the business open,” said Rep. Richard Raymond, a Laredo Democrat.

TWIA was created decades ago to insure homeowners who couldn’t afford wind and hail coverage on the private market. It insures Texas’ 14 coastal counties and a corner of Harris County. David Durden, TWIA’s general manager, said the cost of providing wind and hail coverage along the coast has increased, largely with the rising cost of reinsurance, a form of insurance for insurance companies that distributes risk over geography and sectors. As the number of TWIA policies has spiked — 38% since 2020 — it must hold more reinsurance to cover its liability, Durden said. Roughly half of premiums go to cover TWIA’s reinsurance costs, he said, a “dramatic increase” from 2021. Reducing TWIA’s reliance on reinsurance, either by using state reserves to fund the nonprofit’s catastrophic reserve fund or otherwise propping up a state-sponsored reinsurance fund, would help lower rates. TWIA is funded through premiums paid by policyholders as well as assessments paid by private insurers operating in other parts of the state. That means that ratepayers throughout the state help subsidize TWIA. Rep. John Smithee, an Amarillo Republican, said the problems with TWIA were indicative of larger challenges in the insurance industry in Texas and that he was open to more fundamental changes to how insurance is regulated in the state.

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Jurors in Texas are expected to resume deliberations Monday on whether the parents of a Texas student accused of killing 10 people in a 2018 school shooting near Houston should be held financially liable for damages.

The victims’ lawsuit seeks to hold Dimitrios Pagourtzis and his parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, financially liable for the shooting at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018. They are pursuing at least $1 million in damages.

Victims’ attorneys say the parents failed to provide necessary support for their son’s mental health and didn’t do enough to prevent him from accessing their guns.

“It was their son, under their roof, with their guns who went and committed this mass shooting,” Clint McGuire, representing some of the victims, told jurors during closing statements in the Galveston courtroom.

Authorities say Pagourtzis fatally shot eight students and two teachers. He was 17 years old at the time.

Pagourtzis, now 23, has been charged with capital murder, but the criminal case has been on hold since November 2019, when he was declared incompetent to stand trial. He is being held at a state mental health facility.

Lori Laird, an attorney for Pagourtzis’ parents, said their son’s mental break wasn’t foreseeable and that he hid his plans for the shooting from them. She also said the parents kept their firearms locked up.

“The parents didn’t pull the trigger, the parents didn’t give him a gun,” Laird said.

In April, Jennifer and James Crumbley were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison by a Michigan judge after becoming the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. Pagourtzis’ parents are not accused of any crime.

The lawsuit was filed by relatives of seven of the people killed and four of the 13 who were wounded in the Santa Fe attack. Attorneys representing some of the survivors talked about the trauma they still endure.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – U.S. Air Force security guards exchanged gunfire with someone who twice opened fire on an entrance to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland early Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the base.

“It was an off-base shooting from a passing vehicle that fired shots towards the gate, prompting our security forces to respond,” base spokesperson Stefanie Antosh said in a statement. “There is no threat to the installation. We had no injuries, no fatalities.”

Antosh said the shooting was being investigated by San Antonio police, who said in a release that the first shooting occurred about 2:15 a.m.

“The security personnel stated they heard several shots fired as well as the fired rounds go past them,” Sgt. Washington Moscoso said in the release. “After this incident, the security personnel added more armed guards as a precaution.”

A vehicle later stopped near the same entrance shortly after 4:30 a.m., Moscoso said.

“For a second time, shots were fired at the Air Force security personnel, however, with the additional security personnel present, multiple Air Force personnel returned fire toward the suspect vehicle,” Moscoso said.

The vehicle then fled. No injuries were reported and the shootings remained under investigation, Moscoso said.

It was not known how many rounds were fired, how many shooters there were, or what their motive was, according to Antosh.

The entrance was closed for several hours after the shooting before reopening about 9:30 a.m., but the base was not locked down, according to Antosh.

In addition to Lackland, Joint Base San Antonio includes Randolph Air Force Base and the Army’s Fort Sam Houston and the Camp Bulllis training camp.

Lackland is home to more than 24,000 active duty members and 10,000 Department of Defense civilians, according to the base website. It includes the 37th Training Wing; 149th Fighter Wing; 59th Medical Wing; the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency; 24th Air Force Wing, 67th Network Warfare Wing; the Cryptologic Systems Group; the National Security Agency; and 70 associated units.

(ABC) – A 78-year-old man has now been charged with a murder committed over 40 years ago after genetic genealogy helped investigators identify him as a suspect.

Deck Brewer Jr., a man already imprisoned in Massachusetts, has been charged with the 1980 murder of 25-year-old Susan Leigh Wolfe, according to the Austin, Texas, Police Department. Wolfe had just enrolled as a nursing student at the University of Texas at Austin when she was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed on Jan. 9, 1980, according to police. Wolfe was kidnapped one block from her home while walking to a friend’s house at around 10 p.m. A witness saw a car stop before the driver exited and grabbed Wolfe in a “bear hug,” placed a coat over her head and forced her into the back of the car, police said.

Wolfe’s body was found the next morning in an alley in Austin. Her body had evidence of ligature strangulation and the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, police said.

During an autopsy, a pathologist found evidence of a sexual assault by one of two unknown suspects seen in the car, police said.

For a year after the murder, investigators followed dozens of leads and tracked down dozens of cars that fit the witness’s description. Police said over the years they had over 40 persons of interest and conducted interviews with at least six suspects.

In April 2023, detectives submitted evidence related to Wolfe’s sexual assault to the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory, where forensic experts evaluated it and determined it was suitable for testing, police said.

In February, Austin police received the test results — which produced a male profile for the suspect — and eliminated the six suspects who were not a genetic match with the evidence police had, police said.

Police then entered the profile into the Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, which operates local, state and national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence and missing persons, police said.

In March, Austin police received a notification for a possible match in Massachusetts, where Brewer is currently incarcerated on unrelated charges, police said.

Detectives conducted a short interview with Brewer in which he said he had been in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, around the time of the murder, police said. Brewer asked for his right to a lawyer when he was told DNA was found at the scene of a murder, police said.

After the DNA comparison was conducted, an Austin court found probable cause to charge Brewer in the murder of Wolfe, police said.

(AP) – A South American crime boss wanted in the killings of at least 23 people in Peru was captured this week in New York, three months after U.S. immigration authorities arrested and then released him after he illegally entered the country at the Texas-Mexico border.

The arrests Wednesday of Gianfranco Torres-Navarro and his girlfriend, Mishelle Sol Ivanna Ortíz Ubillús, ended an international search that gripped Peru in the wake of violence attributed to Torres-Navarro and his “Los Killers” gang. Their capture also raised questions about why the notorious gang leader was allowed to stay in the U.S. after his initial brush with immigration authorities in May.

Who are Gianfranco Torres-Navarro and
Mishelle Ortíz Ubillús?

Torres-Navarro, 38, is the leader of “Los Killers de Ventanilla y Callao.” Peruvian authorities say the gang, formed in 2022, has used violence to thwart rivals and further its core business of extorting construction companies in an area along the Pacific coast where Peru’s main port is located.

Torres-Navarro was previously a member of the Los Malditos de Angamos criminal organization, Peru’s Public Prosecutor’s Office said. He is also known as “Gianfranco 23,” a reference to the number of people he is alleged to have killed or ordered killed. He reportedly has the names of victims tattooed on his body.

Jorge Chavez-Cotrina, the head of Peru’s Special Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime, told The Associated Press that the crimes Torres-Navarro was wanted for include contract killings, extortion and running a criminal organization.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has described Ortiz Ubillús as Torres Navarro’s romantic partner, lieutenant and cashier. She has a sizable following on TikTok, where she’s shown off their luxe lifestyle, including designer clothes and resort vacations.

Online immigration detention records for Torres-Navarro and Ortíz Ubillús did not include information on lawyers who could comment on their behalf.
Who is Torres-Navarro accused of killing?

Col. Franco Moreno, the head of Peru’s High Complexity Crime Investigations Division, told AP that Torres-Navarro’s victims included rival gang leaders and their families.

Torres-Navarro “is a highly dangerous criminal who believed he was untouchable and responsible for 23 murders.” All of it was done “to increase his criminal leadership,” the investigator said.

Torres-Navarro and Ortíz Ubillús are believed to have fled Peru after he and the “Los Killers” gang were suspected of killing retired police officer Cesar Quegua Herrera and wounding a municipal employee at a restaurant in San Miguel in March.

Torres-Navarro also is suspected of ordering a February 2023 hit on the leader of another gang and five members of his family, including two children, Moreno said.

In some cases, Torres-Navarro “has personally executed the deaths of his rivals,” Chavez-Cotrina said.
When did Torres-Navarro enter the U.S.?

Torres-Navarro illegally entered the U.S. on May 16 near Roma, Texas, about 210 miles (339 kilometers) south of San Antonio, according to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested him the same day and released him with a notice to appear for immigration proceedings, ICE said.

Peruvian authorities say they didn’t order the location and international capture of Torres-Navarro and Ortíz Ubillús’ until July 3. U.S. authorities said they received information on July 8 that Torres-Navarro was wanted in Peru and subsequently moved to arrest him.

ICE arrested them in Endicott, New York, a small village about 145 miles (233 kilometers) northwest of New York City, the agency said.
What happens when someone enters the U.S. illegally?

U.S. Border Patrol releases tens of thousands of migrants each month who enter illegally with notices to appear in immigration court to pursue asylum or other forms of humanitarian protection.

Releases into the U.S. have fallen dramatically in line with fewer crossings as Mexican authorities have stepped up enforcement within their borders and the U.S. introduced asylum restrictions in June.

There were 27,768 releases into the U.S. in July, down from 191,782 in December. In May, when Torres-Navarro entered the country, 62,164 people were released with notices to appear in court.

The Border Patrol may refer migrants to ICE for detention while their cases go through immigration court, but the agency receives funding to hold only 34,000 people. Space is reserved for those deemed the highest security risks.

Migrants who are released are photographed and fingerprinted. They must provide a U.S. address where they will live.
Why didn’t border agents keep Torres-Navarro in custody in May?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to AP’s questions about Torres-Navarro, including what information it had about him in May or whether the Peruvian government had flagged him in databases it searches.

The agency provided a fact sheet stating that it “uses a range of resources and information, including information shared by partners worldwide, to inform screening and vetting and to target such individuals attempting to come to United States.”

The agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said it “has implemented enhanced screening measures at the border to identify known or suspected gang members” and that people confirmed as such are referred for criminal prosecution or detained for removal from the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to questions about whether those procedures were in place when Torres-Navarro entered the country and, if so, whether he was subject to such screening.
Has Torres-Navarro been in trouble before?

Torres-Navarro has been on the radar of Peruvian authorities for years, but he has largely eluded attempts to hold him accountable for his alleged crimes.

In 2019, while on the run from authorities, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegal weapons possession.

He remained at large until 2021, when he was arrested at a toll checkpoint near Peru’s capital city, Lima. Torres-Navarro was freed last December after an acquittal in that case.

Peruvian authorities said “Los Killers” soon ramped up its violence, culminating in the killing of the retired police officer in San Miguel.

In June, six reputed members of “Los Killers” were arrested in a series of raids and accused of homicide, contract killing, and extortion, the National Police of Peru said.

Moreno said his investigators began following the gang after the February 2023 execution of a rival gang boss and that man’s family. Moreno said Peruvian authorities tracked phone calls, geolocations and messages from Torres-Navarro and his gang of at least 10 members.
What happens to Torres-Navarro and Ortíz Ubillús now?

Torres-Navarro is being held at a federal detention facility about halfway between Buffalo and Rochester, New York, pending an immigration hearing, ICE said.

Ortíz Ubillús is being held at a processing center in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, according to ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System.

They are likely to be deported to Peru unless they are charged in the U.S.

___

Spagat reported from San Diego. Briceno reported from Lima, Peru. Associated Press reporters Carolyn Thompson and Phil Marcelo also contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico plummeted 33% in July to the lowest level since September 2020, a result of asylum being temporarily suspended, authorities said Friday.

The Border Patrol made 56,408 arrests last month, down from 83,536 arrests in June, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, its parent agency.

Asylum was halted at the border June 5 because arrests for illegal crossings topped a threshold of 2,500 a day, though a lack of deportation flights prevents authorities from turning away everyone. U.S. authorities say arrests dropped 55% after the measure, which followed a steep decline earlier this year that was widely attributed to Mexican authorities increasing enforcement within their borders.

“In July, our border security measures enhanced our ability to deliver consequences for illegal entry,” said Troy Miller, acting CBP commissioner.

The numbers, which were roughly in line with preliminary estimates, may give Democrats some breathing room on an issue that has dogged them throughout Joe Biden’s presidency.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has taken effective action, and the Republicans continue to do nothing,” said White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández.

More than 38,000 people were admitted at land crossings through an online appointment system called CBP One, bringing the total to more than 765,000 since it was introduced in January 2023.

More than 520,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela were admitted through July under a separate policy allowing people from those four countries to apply online with a financial sponsor and arrive at an airport. Permits were recently halted amid concerns about fraud by sponsors.

“(The Department of Homeland Security) is working to restart applications processing as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards,” CBP said in a statement.

CBP said Friday that it will expand areas where non-Mexican migrants can apply online for appointments to seek U.S. asylum on Aug. 23 to a large swath of southern Mexico.

Migrants will be able to schedule appointments on the CBP One app from the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, extending the zone from northern and central Mexico. Mexicans can apply anywhere in the country.

The move requested by Mexico could ease the strain on the Mexican government by allowing migrants to wait for their appointments in the south farther from the U.S. border and lessen dangers for people trying to reach the U.S. border to claim asylum.

U.S. Rep. Mark Green, Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized the Biden administration’s new and expanded legal pathways at the border.

“This administration is orchestrating a massive shell game, encouraging otherwise-inadmissible aliens to cross at ports of entry instead of between them, thereby creating a façade of improved optics for the administration, but in reality imposing a growing burden on our communities,” he said.