Texas
New Hampshire National Guard encounters new challenges at Texas border
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/PUT233IRUREIJDHJZIHMZYJKJ4.jpg?ssl=1 "New Hampshire National Guard encounters new challenges at Texas border")
Bulletin writer Annmarie Timmins will be reporting from Eagle Pass, Texas, this week, in collaboration with New Hampshire Public Radio, while shadowing the 15 National Guard soldiers sent by New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu to assist with border patrol. You can find her reporting at New Hampshire Bulletin and NHPR, both on air and online.
Two weeks into their mission in Eagle Pass, Texas, New Hampshire National Guard soldiers said they are seeing more attempts to cross the border illegally than expected. That’s true even for those who’ve been deployed to the border before.
“This mission differs immensely in terrain, number of integral breaches in our barriers, as well as the difficulty of operation effectiveness,” said Sgt. Connor Decker in an email. “The way cartel runners or illegal immigrants alone breach through secure border are evolving and cannot be so easily solved with a static solution.”
The Bulletin communicated via email last week with four of the 15 soldiers Gov. Chris Sununu deployed earlier this month to assist the Texas National Guard in securing the border. It’s a state-paid $850,000 trip unlike the prior deployments, which were federally ordered and funded.
New Hampshire is paying the Texas National Guard $200 a day per soldier for room and board as well as other base expenses. The state funding will also cover salary and benefits.
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In asking lawmakers to approve his funding request in February, Sununu said he believes all states should send troops to help Texas stop the illegal crossings by undocumented migrants and the smuggling of fentanyl, the drug responsible for the most drug overdose deaths in New Hampshire in 2022, according to a state medical examiner’s report.
Though, U.S. Sentencing Commission data showed that Americans account for a huge percentage of fentanyl trafficking convictions. In 2022, it was 90 percent.
Some Republican governors have sent fewer soldiers — Montana deployed 10 this month — while others have sent more, such as Iowa, which deployed 100 in early April.
The New Hampshire soldiers, all of whom volunteered to go to Texas, are working in teams of three or four, alongside soldiers from the Texas National Guard and Louisiana National Guard. They are working 10-hour night shifts, and while they are with a military police unit in New Hampshire, they are not arresting or detaining individuals, said Greg Heilshorn, spokesman for the New Hampshire National Guard.
He described this as an “eyes and ears” deployment in support of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. The soldiers are watching for illegal crossings at observation posts and roving patrols, looking for breaches in the fence. They are scheduled to return in June.
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Pfc. Macenzi Connors is serving her first deployment to the southern border and is one of three women who volunteered. She said the partnership with Texas has been rewarding.
“Knowing that I get to help out a fellow state to deter illegal immigrants and report … any suspicious activity that we see is a good feeling on its own,” she said in an email. “So far, it has been a lot busier than we thought, but working as a team and knowing that the people I came down with will always have my back makes being down here a lot easier.”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, federal law enforcement is reporting fewer encounters in the Del Rio sector, which includes Eagle Pass, each month since December, when it spiked to 71,048. In April, the agency reported 11,281 encounters.
Spc. Carson Geha is also serving his first mission. Even with the drop in the number of encounters, he too has been surprised by the number of cartel “runners” cutting the fence to cross illegally. “Working side by side with the Texas National Guard has brought a sense of teamwork in order to deter illegal immigrants and keep our border secure.”
Spc. Connor Sills spent about a year at the southern border as part of last year’s federal deployment. He told the Bulletin he volunteered to return to help the soldiers who haven’t been through the experience. In an email last week, Sills said the Texas soldiers are doing the same. He has spent his nights roving the fence line, separating the Rio Grande from Texas.
New Hampshire Bulletin is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Hampshire Bulletin maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Dana Wormald for questions: info@newhampshirebulletin.com. Follow New Hampshire Bulletin on Facebook and Twitter.
Saturday started out a bit warm and sticky outside in North Texas, but there will be plenty of sunshine in the afternoon. Temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 80s. Most of the area will stay dry today, but there is a chance for an isolated storm that could reach severe criteria late tonight for counties to the northwest of the metroplex.
Make sure you have an indoor plan for Mother’s Day celebrations tomorrow! Sunday morning will start warm, muggy, and dry for most with the exception of an isolated storm possible along the Red River.
A First Alert Weather Day is in place on Sunday due to a front that will swing across North Texas in the late afternoon through the evening. All modes of severe weather will be likely, but the main threat includes a significant risk of hail up to 2 inches in diameter and winds up to category 1 hurricane strength.
Once the front moves through, cooler temperatures will settle into the forecast on Monday. However, the cool down won’t last long. A warming trend returns and temperatures climb into the 90’s once again at the end of the next week. Stay tuned!
Just days before Mother’s Day, a North Texas father is grieving the sudden loss of his wife and unborn son after she died unexpectedly, only days before her due date. Avi Carey said he is still in shock over the death of his wife, Tiffany, whom he described as his “rock” and “soulmate.”
“Tiffany’s smile, her radiance, her presence … she didn’t meet a stranger,” Carey said.
Nearly two decades together
The couple had been together for nearly two decades, raising two children, Kingston and Kasyn, and preparing to welcome their third child, a baby boy they planned to name Kylo.
Carey said Tiffany began complaining of a severe headache just days before she was due to give birth. He recalled her sitting on the couch, dozing off multiple times – something he said was unusual.
A short time later, Carey found her unresponsive.
“I saw her face … her lips were blue. And I already knew,” he said with tears in his eyes.
A celebration turned to heartbreak
Tiffany Carey and her unborn son died May 2, leaving behind a grieving husband and two children. The loss came less than a week after the family had celebrated a baby shower.
“We went from celebrating the baby shower to planning a funeral in less than five days,” Carey said.
A crisis affecting Black mothers
Health officials say cases like this highlight a broader crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women in the United States are more than three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy‑related causes, and most of those deaths – around 80% – are considered preventable.
Carey said he is still searching for answers and now lives with questions about whether warning signs were missed.
“I would say educate yourself. Take everything seriously,” he said. “That should have been a red flag … the headache.”
Honoring Tiffany’s legacy
Now, surrounded by baby supplies meant for a child who never arrived, Carey said he is focused on honoring Tiffany’s memory and raising their children with the values she lived by.
“She always said, ‘You’ve got to lead with love,’” he said. “She did that in everything.”
Trump administration to release UFO files soon, president says
President Trump said his administration plans to release information and materials relating to UFOs.
Ever look up at the vast Texas sky and see something move across it? It could be a shooting star, a satellite — or a UFO.
The Pentagon released several documents Friday, May 8, detailing sightings of unidentified flying objects, or “bogeys,” in U.S. airspace, including reports from Texas.
The documents were released by the U.S. Department of Defense at the directive of President Donald Trump, marking the release of government files related to “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)” and UFOs.
“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a statement.
Here’s a look at the files related to Texas.
UFO spotted in 1948 above Abilene, Texas
A DoD incident summary shows that on Jan. 1, 1948, a man identified as “Mr. A. Schroeder” reported a UFO in the 1100 block of Highland Ave in Abilene, Texas.
Schroeder reported seeing a stationary bright blue-green bell-shaped object in the western sky above Abilene at 1:25 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.
Fort Worth man sees UFO above Alaska
Also in 1948, Lt. Aytch Johnson noticed a silver flat disk in the sky in Fairbanks, Alaska.
According to the incident report, the Fort Worth man observed the object flying over Alaska at around 1:06 p.m. on April 18, 1948, at an estimated speed of 250 to 300 miles per hour.
The report also noted that the sighting “may have been the reflection of sun from wings” of aircrafts flying in the area at the time.
Possible UFO sighting during the NASA Gemini 7 space launch
The DoD released the transcript and audio file of NASA’s Gemini 7 mission in 1965 when astronaut Frank Borman reported to NASA mission control in Houston his sighting of an unidentified object, which he referred to as a “bogey.”
While the launch didn’t take place in Texas, the report came back to space control in Houston.
The conversation occurred on Dec. 5, 1965 — 4 hours and 24 minutes into the flight — when Borman notified space control that there was a “bogey” on their left-hand side.
When asked to clarify what they are seeing, Borman said he was seeing “hundreds of little particles” on their left, about three to four miles away.
As NASA Public Affairs clarified, the bogey was an unidentified object, along with the particles.
Pentagon documents report of other possible sightings in Texas
Some documents have connections or reports of possible UFO sightings in Texas, but are missing details to understand the situation.
For example, the DoD received a clipping from the Yoakum Times-Record reporting UFO sightings by Mrs. Anna Banys in 1947, but it is unclear why she was writing to the DoD.
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
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