Texas to empty prison to make room for detained migrants

The move comes amid wider efforts by Governor Greg Abbott to stop migrants from coming through the US-Mexico border.

The US state of Texas is transferring inmates from a state prison to make room for detained migrants, prison authorities said, amid sustained efforts by Governor Greg Abbott to rein in the number of Central American migrants coming from Mexico. Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) spokesman Jeremy Desel announced on Thursday that the prison system began moving inmates from the Dolph Briscoe Unit prison in Dilley to other prisons. “The state of Texas continues to deal with a record-high influx of individuals illegally crossing the border,” Desel said in the statement. “To address the ongoing crisis, Governor Abbott is directing state resources to arrest and confine those individuals crossing the border unlawfully and who have committed a state or federal crime.”