News Briefs: RGV migrant advocates call for human rights oversight, San Benito now under Flock surveillance, 2026 primaries analysis

News briefs
This is a regular news brief and daily media roundup we publish for the Rio Grande Valley. Reach out: newsroom@acrosstheamericas.com

RGV migrant advocates demand Humane treatment for nearly 70,000 ICE detainees

One week after the release of the Gámez-Cuéllar migrant family who was incarcerated by ICE while they sought asylum in the U.S., advocates in the Rio Grande Valley continue to call for due process for the nearly 70,000 people still detained nationwide as of February 7.

A coalition of organizations across the region gathered to protest on a McAllen overpass on Thursday in a public demonstration to demand that local law enforcement ensure legal and humane treatment for all people in immigration detention.

“The case of the Gámez-Cuéllar family is a reminder to all of us that there are thousands of people detained by ICE with no criminal record and that have the legal authority to be in the U.S.,” said Dr. Stephanie Alvarez, Co-Founder of Museo 956 & Save the San Juan Hotel Collective, two community projects working towards historical preservation in the region

The groups involved on Thursday included Mothers for Democracy, Museo 956, Save the San Juan Hotel Collective, LULAC, We The People RGV, and Carnalismo National Brown Beret - RGV Chapter.

Local counties, which are now legally required to collaborate with ICE on immigration enforcement under Texas Senate Bill 8, have taken a stance of reluctant compliance since the legislation was proposed. Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Treviño told KRGV that the bill requiring counties to sign the “287(g)” agreements that give them new powers to carry out immigration enforcement along with ICE was an “obligation.”

“If the governor says this is a new law that's now taken effect, we have to act on it,” Treviño told the news station.

Migrants in legal process are being incarcerated nationwide, a significant shift from previous practice, under which legal applicants were allowed to work and build lives as their cases were processed.

Alvarez called for law enforcement to police ICE. “Law enforcement must show up to any ICE activity and ensure they are following the law and have fully executed warrants,” Alvarez said. “Until ICE is held to the same legal standard as the people, we will not be safe.”

San Benito is now under Flock Safety surveillance

The San Benito Police Department has spent over $40,000 to install an automated system of license plate reader cameras throughout the city, as first reported by San Benito News.

The cameras, supplied by the Atlanta-based Flock Safety, track individual vehicles across a nationwide database that stores drivers’ travel information. The company has received plenty of criticism from privacy advocates, with some municipalities cancelling contracts beginning in early 2025 after learning the extent to which their local data was being shared “without city officials’ knowledge or intent,” according to NPR.

The company drew additional controversy this year when a Super Bowl ad showcased Amazon’s Ring household camera “Search Party”, a feature that could track lost dogs after users uploaded a photo of their pet. The ad drew negative attention to a separate planned partnership between Ring and Flock that would have routed home camera video to law enforcement. Amazon cancelled the Flock partnership shortly afterward.

“Flock is building a giant camera network that records people’s comings and goings across the nation," wrote Chad Marlow, Senior Policy Counsel at ACLU in 2023. “Such a system provides even small-town sheriffs access to a sweeping and powerful mass-surveillance tool, and allows big actors like federal agencies to access the comings and goings of vehicles in even the smallest of towns.”

"The San Benito Police Department will not use the cameras for immigration enforcement purposes. They will not be used to monitor individuals based on immigration status,” San Benito Police Chief Mario Perea told the San Benito News, adding that any searches in the system are logged to provide an audit trail.

Flock's data is stored in an encrypted cloud system and only user account-authorized personnel can access it.

Media Roundup

2026 Democratic voter turnout analysis

We saw two stories published today on the surge in Rio Grande Valley Democratic voter turnout during the 2026 primaries. Hidalgo and Cameron counties collectively saw 101,405 Democratic votes in 2026, compared to the 64,537 cast in the 2022 primaries, an increase of roughly 57%.

The monitor spoke with political scientist Mark Kaswan who says Democrats are beginning to recognize that their historical dominance in the region has been shaken over the past ten years.

Read the full story: Breaking down how the Democrats swarmed polls across the state, and showed up in the RGV

A write up in the The Texas Tribune makes the case that the Primary turnout  “could also signal that the state’s Latino voters are now neither reliably Republican or Democratic, but rather an independent group up for grabs.”

The report also says that Texas Majority PAC plans to spend $3 million in the Rio Grande Valley on congressional and state house races.

Read the full story: Democratic turnout doubles in Rio Grande Valley where four Hispanic counties previously went for Trump

About Across the Americas

Across The Americas is the newsletter of independent journalism from the Rio Grande Valley, covering the Texas-Mexico region and the deep roots its people share across the continent.

Join four-time award-winning journalist Pablo De La Rosa as he reports on the global forces shaping these regional communities today.

Pablo's voice has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, Texas Public Radio, The Border Chronicle, The Texas Standard and Lighthouse Reports documentaries. In 2022, Pablo helped launch and host the first daily Spanish-language newscast in public media for Texas, broadcasting from the Rio Grande Valley for San Antonio’s NPR member station.