Texas Department of Safety Director Steve McCraw walks past guardsmen prior to a news conference, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Express-News
Benjamin Wermund, Washington Bureau
Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw declined to update the commission overseeing his agency on Operation Lone Star on Thursday in his first appearance before the panel since the state deployed a wall of buoys in the Rio Grande, began separating families and faced accusations of mistreating migrants.
The Public Safety Commission agenda included an update on the border crackdown, but McCraw did not give one publicly. When asked by a commissioner if he planned to talk about Operation Lone Star, McCraw replied simply: “No.”
The commission moved on to other business — including giving McCraw a $45,437 raise later in the hearing. The panel of Gov. Greg Abbott appointees approved bumping the director’s salary to $345,250, which the agency’s general counsel described as in line with a pay rate set by the Legislature.
“We are truly fortunate to have somebody of the caliber of Steve McCraw,” said Chairman Steven P. Mach. “We cannot pay you enough to do this important job, so thank you for what you are doing.”
It is not clear whether McCraw updated the commission on Operation Lone Star during a closed session. DPS did not respond to a request for comment on why McCraw declined to give a public update.
Since he last addressed the Public Safety Commission in June, the border security initiative has drawn intense scrutiny, spurred multiple lawsuits and led to growing tensions with federal officials.
Notably, McCraw has not publicly addressed the separation of at least 40 migrant families by state troopers working on the border, a practice that was first reported by Hearst Newspapers earlier this month. Beginning in July, troopers began separating families by detaining fathers on trespassing charges, while the other members — including small children — were transferred to Border Patrol agents.
It was an apparent shift from longstanding policy: McCraw has testified multiple times before the Senate Committee on Border Security, including as recently as June, that it is standard policy to keep families together and refer them to Border Patrol. DPS has not answered repeated questions about whether it is an official policy.
The separations sparked calls from members of Congress for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and consider legal action.
The agency is already suing Texas to force it to remove a wall of buoys the state has put in the Rio Grande, part of an escalation of the border security initiative this summer. The state also took over a public park in Eagle Pass, where officers strung miles of razor wire, stacked shipping containers and arrested migrants for trespass, claiming the public land was owned by the mayor.
In July, Hearst Newspapers revealed disturbing accounts from a state trooper who wrote reported “inhumane” treatment of migrants, including young children. The trooper wrote that officers had been ordered to push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande, and have been told not to give water to asylum seekers even in extreme heat.
McCraw has denied the agency ever gave such orders and called for a safety audit. He has said DPS is investigating similar complaints from five troopers. It’s not clear where those initiatives stand.
Border Patrol, meanwhile, has warned that razor wire put up by the state is preventing federal agents from reaching at-risk migrants — including families with infants and unaccompanied children — and increasing the risk of drownings.
Gov. Greg Abbott has said the border tactics are aimed at deterring migrants from trying to cross into the state. The third-term Republican has said Texas is trying to secure the border because the federal government is not doing enough.
Jasper Scherer contributed to this report.