Migrant's arrest under 'Operation Lone Star' ruled unconstitutional
ABC News
A Travis County judge ruled a migrant's arrest under Texas' Operation Lone Star is unconstitutional.
The arrest of an Ecuadorian migrant under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's initiative "Operation Lone Star" was ruled unconstitutional by a Texas county judge Thursday.
Some immigration advocates are hopeful the ruling by Travis County Judge Jan Soifer could potentially set a pathway for other migrants arrested under the controversial program.
Jesús Alberto Guzmán Curipoma, an engineer from Ecuador who hoped to submit a request for asylum, was arrested in September 2021 at a railroad switching yard in Kinney County on a criminal trespassing charge.
Guzmán Curipoma's attorneys, Angelica Cogliano and Addy Miró, argued that Operation Lone Star violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution which establishes that federal law takes precedence over state laws and therefore prohibits state laws form interfering with immigration enforcement by the federal government. Cogliano told ABC News that her client should have been able to submit a claim for asylum, but was instead arrested and detained for weeks.
