By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-26 19:34:44 | Updated at 2024-11-28 17:47:21
1 day ago
Texas on Tuesday offered up more land to the incoming Trump administration to build deportation facilities — naming the project after a 12-year-old girl allegedly raped and murdered by two illegal migrants.
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, standing along a portion of the state’s border wall, said her office is expanding its earlier offer by adding more identified land that could be used by the Trump White House “on Day One” to hold violent criminal illegal migrants before they are deported from the US.
Buckingham said the project has been named the “Jocelyn initiative” to honor the life of preteen Jocelyn Nungaray, who was allegedly raped and murdered by two illegal migrants and suspected Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members released into the US earlier this year.
“The new project that the general land office is gonna embark on that I have created is the Jocelyn initiative, in which we will locate appropriate land under my jurisdiction to lease for the construction of violent criminal deportation facilities,” Buckingham said — speaking next to Jocelyn’s mom Alexis and grandmother Jackie.
“My office has identified several of our properties and is standing by ready to make this happen on Day One of the Trump presidency,” the Texas official said.
“We are going to do everything in our power to ensure no other parent has to feel the pain that Alexis and Jaclyn are feeling right now.”
Jocelyn’s grandmother said the family supports the effort.
“We’re taking back power, we’re taking back our peace, and we’re taking back hope so that no other families have to go through what our families go through cause this should’ve never happened,” she said.
“Those monsters should’ve never been here,” she said of her granddaughter’s accused killers.
Buckingham recently offered the Trump team a1,400-acre border ranch to help with its mass-deportation effort.
Buckingham told The Post she made the additional offer because the Lone Star State is “looking to be a good partner” in ensuring “that these violent criminals that are hurting our sons and daughters that are here illegally are off our soil.”
Trump’s “border czar” pick, Tom Homan, recently told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that the Trump administration “absolutely will” use the land Texas has promised.
Homan said the new administration will first deport criminal illegal migrants. He recently told The Post that the effort will employ US military for “non-enforcement” duties related to the plan.
“The more non-enforcement work [the Department of Defense] can do releases more enforcement officers on the street to look for the bad guys,” Homan said.
In September, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told The Post his state has already spent a whopping $10 billion to fight to secure its border with Mexico during the Biden administration.
During Tuesday’s announcement, Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy said he’d work to get that ongoing expense reimbursed by the feds.
