www.thecentersquare.com – By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-04 06:18:00
(The Center Square) – In another immigration sweep in the largest city of Texas, 174 criminal illegal foreign nationals were deported to Mexico from Houston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office agents deported 174 “criminal aliens” to Mexico, including 24 gang members.
Combined, those deported were convicted of 610 criminal offenses, ICE said. Many were previously deported multiple times. When including previous deportations, the 174 deported last month were deported a total of 415 times, according to ICE records.
The most recent deportations occurred between March 17 and March 28.
Among their 610 convictions, two were for homicide; four were for rape or sexual assault; five for child sex offenses; 72 for aggravated assault or assault; 49 for theft; five for firearms; 83 for drug trafficking or drug possession; 146 for driving while intoxicated; eight for hit-and-run and 22 for human smuggling, ICE said.
“Many of the criminal aliens removed to Mexico during the two-week period have illegally entered the U.S. numerous times and been convicted of multiple criminal offenses,” ICE said.
Among the Mexican national “criminal aliens” deported were:
A 36-year-old previously removed from the U.S. 39 times. His convictions include illegal entry, DWI, dangerous drugs, and fraud.
A 48-year-old previously removed from the U.S. 13 times. His 25 criminal convictions include narcotics offenses, resisting arrest, identity theft, domestic violence, assault, battery, larceny, kidnapping, illegal entry, illegal reentry, and destruction of evidence.
A 50-year-old documented Florencia 13 gang member previously removed from the U.S. eight times. His convictions include domestic violence, battery, possession of stolen property, drug possession, aggravated assault with a gun, and illegal entry.
A 60-year-old previously removed from the U.S. seven times. His convictions include eight DWIs, assault and illegal reentry.
A 46-year-old previously removed from the U.S. seven times. His convictions include three DWIs, multiple for illegal entry and reentry, obstruction, immigration fraud, narcotics possession, and burglary.
“This is just a small snapshot of the amazing work that the brave men and women at ICE do every day to enhance public safety in Southeast Texas,” ICE ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford said. “Each day they put their lives on the line to apprehend and remove dangerous criminal aliens, transnational gang members and foreign fugitives who have illegally entered the U.S. and are preying on innocent, hardworking Texans. Fueled by our unwavering commitment to protect the public from harm, and united in our determination to restore integrity to our nation’s system of laws, ICE will continue to aggressively pursue and remove anyone who threatens the safety of our communities and the national security of our country.”
The announcement comes after ICE ERO Houston agents arrested 646 illegal foreign nationals in a one-week targeted enforcement action last month, The Center Square reported.
Working with multiple federal, state and local law enforcement partners, ICE agents made the arrests including 543 who’d been charged or convicted of criminal offenses while in the country illegally, including seven documented gang members. The majority arrested, 140, were charged or convicted of an aggravated felony or other violent crimes like homicide, aggravated assault, or domestic violence, according to ICE records.
“In recent years, some of the world’s most dangerous fugitives, transnational gang members and criminal aliens have taken advantage of the crisis at our nation’s southern border to illegally enter the U.S.,” Bradford said. “After illegally entering the country, many of these criminal aliens have gone on to commit violent crime and reign terror on law-abiding residents.”
Their arrests, he said, sent a “resounding message to transnational criminal organizations everywhere that the law enforcement community in the Texas Gulf Coast is more united than ever and will not rest until we’ve eradicated these criminal elements from the country.”
The Trump administration has prioritized deporting the most violent offenders in what it hopes will be a mass deportation effort. Deportations are underway after a record more than 14 million foreign nationals illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported.
Under the Trump administration, illegal border crossings have dropped to record lows within two months of President Donald Trump being sworn into office.
Rural Texas communities face worsening health outcomes and limited access to medical marijuana, leading many to turn to hemp-derived THC products for relief from chronic pain, mental illness, and addiction. The state’s restrictive Compassionate Use Program offers limited dispensaries and costly treatments, making hemp products a vital alternative. Senate Bill 5, which would ban most THC products except CBD and CBG, threatens this access. Supporters argue the ban would devastate rural economies and cut off a safer option for those recovering from alcoholism and opioid addiction. Opponents cite concerns over regulation, child safety, and unknown long-term effects.
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MIDWAY — Some who live in Texas’ small towns say that if someone looks close enough, they will see why hemp-derived THC has taken root in rural regions.
Faded crosses on the side of the road and faces of once-promising teens on “Don’t drink and drive” and fentanyl overdose billboards reveal the scars left behind in the isolated parts of Texas, where tight-knit communities have been permanently changed.
Anti-drug hardliners can argue rural Texas’ struggle with substance abuse is why THC has proliferated there and why it needs to be banned, but many cannabis users in the state’s small communities say it has spared them from spiraling further into the destruction of alcoholism and drug addiction.
“I spent over 10 years in the fire service, and I can tell you have seen more fatality and messed up accidents because of alcohol than any other drug,” said Timothy Mabry, a hemp proponent from Canyon Lake. “Also, the difference between someone who is violently drunk and someone who is happily high is drastic. And many of us here have seen it firsthand.”
Hemp supporters say a ban on THC, which lawmakers are mulling, would be catastrophic to rural Texas.
The lack of access to the Texas Compassionate Use Program, the state’s tightly regulated medical marijuana program, and other traditional forms of medical care in those communities has steered users — even those who qualify for prescription drugs — toward consumable hemp products. This has unfolded as rural areas are home to some of the state’s sickest and oldest populations, many of whom are looking for relief from mental illness or chronic pain and find an antidote in cannabis use.
Amid growing addiction problems that hit rural communities harder than their urban peers, some have used hemp products to wean off alcohol or opioids, and farmers and small-town retailers are eager to meet those needs in hopes of boosting their downtown economies.
“My family lives in Belleville in Austin County, a big farm community with maybe 4,000 people total. That little town has maybe 30 storefronts, and three of them are hemp CBD shops. It’s a big part of the economy in these rural areas,” Andy “Doc” Melder, a Navy veteran and founder of Warriors Integrating Possibilities, a group aimed at ending veteran suicide and the opioid epidemic, especially in rural Texas.
On Wednesday, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 5 by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, which would criminalize products containing any “detectable amount of any cannabinoid” other than cannabidiol and cannabigerol, better known as CBD and CBG, non-intoxicating components of cannabis. This bill would eliminate the majority of hemp products, including those that are legal under the federal definition.
Hemp opponents have given various reasons for a ban, saying the industry is unregulated, caters to children, and that the long-term health effects of cannabis use are still unknown.
The effort by Republican lawmakers who support a ban has spurred blowback from their usual ardent political allies: rural Texans, from farmers to veterans, and the older generation.
Zach Lindeen pets Ruger, one of Romana Harding’s dogs, as he listens to his mom, Piper Lindeen, speak about how cannabis quiets Zach’s seizures. Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
Limited access to medical marijuana
Texas has one of the largest rural populations in the country, with about 5 million of its approximately 31 million people living in rural areas. The health outcomes of Texans who live in these regions are significantly worse than their urban peers, partly due to the lack of physical and mental care access.
The inability to find help has driven some people to seek relief elsewhere.
“The funny thing is, my parents sent me to rehab when I was 15 for my cannabis use, and they hated the thought of it. Now they are using cannabis themselves for pain relief,” Melder said.
Some lawmakers have insisted the Texas Compassionate Use Program is the best route for cannabis users with mental illness and chronic pain. However, those who live in rural parts of the state don’t have access to those dispensaries, and if they do, products are expensive and limited.
“We don’t have additional options,” said Ramona Harding, a Navy veteran who lives on a 10-acre farm in Midway.
Currently, the state has two medical marijuana dispensaries, both of which are based in Central Texas, and a third one that has been deactivated, according to lawmakers. Because state law requires those dispensaries to drive products they sell in other parts of Texas back to a designated storage site every day, overhead costs are high, which has contributed to the expensive medical marijuana products.
A $15 bag of hemp-derived THC gummies purchased online could be more effective than a $75 bag of medical marijuana gummies, hemp supporters have said.
Many rural Texans also don’t have insurance to pay for the doctor’s visits required to sign up for the program and medical marijuana usually isn’t a covered benefit under most plans. The costs to participate start to add up, Mabry said.
“There is only a select number of doctors who can do it, so you have to travel, and anytime something touches a doctor’s hand, it costs more,” he said.
Legislation passed earlier this year expanded the medical marijuana program by increasing the number of dispensaries and satellite locations while offering more types of products to users and removing the storage restriction. Medical marijuana producers say the law will help drop prices and increase accessibility but that it could take a few years to happen, including in rural Texas.
Even when the dispensaries expand, some families are unsure if it will still meet their complicated needs.
When Piper Lindeen’s son Zach became the second child to be accepted into the state’s medical marijuana program, she felt pride. After fighting for several years, she and her husband finally had legal access to medical cannabis products that could slow down their son’s severe seizures.
At least that’s what they thought.
Although the Lindeens remain in the program to support it, Zach doesn’t use medical marijuana because some of the chemicals removed from it under state regulations are needed to stop their son’s seizures. They order hemp products from Oregon, which could become illegal if lawmakers approve a ban.
“There is no hope to control his seizures, and we tried,” the Sugar Land resident said of the medical marijuana program.
Amy Harper and Romana Harding embrace during an interview on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, outside of Midway. Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
Combating alcohol and opioid addiction
In June, the Texans for Safe and Drug-Free Youth, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council of Deep East Texas, the Andrea’s Project in Amarillo, the Sheriffs Association of Texas, along with other anti-drug groups, sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking him to ban THC due to concern for children and the risk of impaired driving increasing.
Perry has said multiple times that cannabis might be responsible for veteran suicide, not preventing it, and has questioned the medical benefits since studies he has seen show long-term use causes dementia.
With all those risks and the lack of resources in rural communities to address them, some rural lawmakers like Perry fear THC could wreak havoc in the neighborhoods they represent.
Research has yet to definitively show what long-term impacts of THC use in a community can be, but rural users said they envision safer environments free from more dangerous addictions like alcoholism and opioid abuse.
“I know so many people who have used [hemp-derived THC] to get off tobacco, alcohol, or other pills… and I think that is one of the biggest things it could be used for,” Harding said.
All 177 rural counties in Texas are federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas for Mental Health, meaning there are not a lot of addiction treatment options in these regions.
A 2022 study by UT Health San Antonio’s substance use disorder response program, Be Well Texas, found that more opioid prescriptions are dispensed to rural Texas residents per capita than to urban residents, contributing to increasing overdose rates and illegal drug markets.
For Harding, cannabis is how she can function each day, as she bears the physical and mental scars from a rape she endured while in service. If cannabis is taken away, she said her only other options are either the pills that were killing her liver slowly or alcohol, which killed her mother, father and brother.
“I have run into so many people and lawmakers who are like, ‘Well, go have some whiskey’. No. It killed my family, and it almost killed me. Alcohol isn’t the answer for everyone in Texas,” she said
Rural Texas farmers told The Texas Tribune earlier this year that banning THC would mean they would have to stop growing hemp altogether. Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
The economic costs of a ban
While there isn’t specific data on how many THC shops have opened in the rural parts of the state, a 2025 report by Whitney Economics, which studies data and does economic reports on global hemp and cannabis industries, found the number of physical locations had increased from 5,072 in 2022 to 7,550 in 2024 and was steadily growing all around Texas.
Hemp-related licenses have increased steadily since 2022 for both retailers and manufacturers, the latter of which are usually located in the rural parts of the state. The $5.5 billion industry is estimated to employ more than 53,000 workers, receiving $2.1 billion in wages.
Rural Texas farmers told The Texas Tribune earlier this year that banning THC would mean they would have to stop growing hemp altogether, even if it’s not going to be consumed, because there’s no way to have or manufacture this plant with no detectable THC in it.
Whitney Economics estimated a complete THC ban would shift $10.2 billion in economic activity out of the state, and it would disrupt the hemp supply chain throughout the United States.
“The worst part is if this ban goes through, it’s going to send thousands of farmers, workers, retailers, and more around here and all over the state, belly-up, and for what? No reason,” said Mabry.
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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This article largely highlights the struggles of rural Texans with substance abuse and limited medical options, emphasizing empathy for cannabis users and advocating for their access to hemp-derived THC products. It critiques restrictive legislation supported by conservative lawmakers and stresses the potential harm a ban could cause both economically and socially. The presentation leans toward supporting cannabis use as a harm reduction tool and addresses public health needs, reflecting a perspective more aligned with center-left viewpoints that favor drug policy reform and expanded healthcare access.
SUMMARY: Texas wide receiver DeAndre Moore compares quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning, saying the main difference is speed—calling one “baby wheels” and the other “super wheels.” Moore, a junior who caught 39 passes for 456 yards and seven touchdowns last season, will see an expanded role and appreciates Arch Manning’s faster, zip-style passes. Now a leader among Longhorns receivers, Moore learned leadership from past teammates and is still developing his style. He aims high, targeting Texas touchdown records, over 1,200 yards, the Biletnikoff Award, and contributing as a punt returner—ready to build on last season’s foundation.
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