Texas
Why Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan went to Texas with Bill Hagerty amid border crisis
A man found dead in Wilson County during January’s snow event sparked a homicide investigation that’s been difficult to move forward.
The case involves undocumented immigrants and is one example of what Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan and other law enforcement leaders claim is the impact of the nation’s “border crisis” on Tennessee.
“We know people with information in this case have left the country,” Bryan said about the death of Octaviano Gonzalez-Ramirez, 40. “We can’t track down these people.”
Bryan, who ran as a Republican, was part of a group of Tennessee sheriffs, county mayors and district attorney generals who recently traveled to the southern border in Texas with U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.
Republicans have blamed Democrats and President Joe Biden for reports of millions of people entering the country illegally.
Republicans have pointed to undocumented immigrants committing crimes against U.S. citizens and taxing law enforcement with illegal drugs, human trafficking and potential terrorists as being part of the immigration crisis that is a polarizing political issue in this year’s presidential election.
Democrats counter that Republicans won’t cooperate on a solution and have killed legislation to establish tougher border policies in order to damage Biden’s reelection bid.
U.S. Rep Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., has said “solving the immigration problem is not in Donald Trump’s best interest as he runs for president,” and that Republicans are using the border issue to help the Trump campaign at the expense of a solution.
Tennessee Democrats have also argued ongoing anti-immigration rhetoric has emboldened dangerously racist views. Such rhetoric was front and center at a recent white nationalist march in downtown Nashville, where masked marchers unfurled Nazi flags and chanted “deport every Mexican” and, “Save the white man.”
Undocumented inmates in Tennessee jails
Wilson County booked approximately 7,800 inmates into its jail between January 2023 and the end of February this year, Bryan said. About 200 of those inmates were undocumented – not overwhelming, but trending up, according to the sheriff.
The Sullivan County jail had seven undocumented inmates in February, including one released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Sheriff Jeff Cassidy who went on the trip and is also the Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association president-elect.
The Sullivan Sheriff’s Office made 63 arrests of persons without Social Security numbers in 2023, Cassidy said.
“The majority of all our drug seizures originate at the Southern border and are distributed via source cities,” Cassidy said. “The drugs simply do not cross the Southern border without cartel involvement.”
Bryan said he saw people swim from Mexico across the Rio Grande instead of using one of the nearby bridges available to enter the country legally in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby, and 12th Judicial District Attorney General Courtney Lynch were among others who went on the trip to Texas.
There were conversations with personnel connected with the local residents, and representatives of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the National Guard and others involved in border patrol.
“We’ll continue the fight we’re fighting,” Bryan said. “I’m all for legal entry into the United States. What is coming across our Southern border (illegally) is directly impacting the citizens of our country, state and Wilson County. … The catch and release program is not working.”
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.
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A Texas state trooper was killed in a crash in the Panhandle, becoming the 244th Texas Department of Public Safety officer to die in the line of duty since 1823, according to the agency.
Sergio Romero, 27, died Wednesday after a semi-truck pulled in front of him as he attempted a traffic stop around 4 p.m. on U.S. 287 in Childress County, DPS said.
In a statement, Col. Freeman F. Martin praised Romero’s courage, integrity, and service.
“Today, we grieve the loss of one of our own,” Martin said. “… Our hearts break alongside his family, friends, fellow troopers, and all who loved him. We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice he made in service of his fellow Texans.”
Romero previously served with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office before joining DPS as part of Class B-2025 in Childress, the agency said.
He is survived by his wife, Francisca, and their two young sons.
Funeral arrangements are pending. The crash remains under investigation.
Flash flood warning in Texas as streets fill with water
Flash flood warnings are active as heavy rain swamps roads across central Texas and rising waters pose danger to drivers.
Texas is keeping more than half of its counties under a state of emergency.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott renewed three statewide disaster declarations on Tuesday, June 16 — covering flooding, drought and border security — which together place 164 of the state’s 254 counties under emergency authority.
Each of the orders, signed by Abbott and filed with Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, authorizes the use of “all available resources of state government and of political subdivisions that are reasonably necessary to cope with this disaster.”
Here’s a look at what the proclamations are for and which counties are under them.
Flood disaster from deadly 2025 Hill Country storms holds across 30 counties
On July 4, 2025, Abbott issued a disaster declaration following heavy rainfall and flooding that caused widespread and severe property damage, injury and loss of life in several counties.
The Camp Mystic flooding, which killed 27 campers and counselors, also occurred during this time frame. The original declaration included 21 counties located in the Texas Hill Country and the Concho Valley in the central part of the state.The disaster order has been renewed over the past year, expanding to include 30 counties in the June 2026 renewal and does the following:
- Suspends all laws that prevent the transfer of bodies to families as soon as possible.
- Suspends all laws regarding state agencies’ contracting or procurement rules that would impede its emergency response necessary to protect life or property threatened by the declared disaster.
- Temporarily suspended — with written approval from the governor’s office — laws that would prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action to respond to the disaster.
Drought disaster covers 111 Texas counties as wildfire risk persists
Abbott amended and renewed a drought disaster order originally issued on July 8, 2022, and it has been renewed several times over the past four years.
When it was originally signed, the order impacted 158 counties across the entire state, from the Texas Panhandle to the Permian Basin to the Texas Hill Country.
The original order states that the persistent drought conditions in the state have increased the wildfire threat in the region. The June 2026 renewal order states that the Texas Division of Emergency Management has confirmed that those same drought conditions persist; however, only 111 counties are listed in the renewed order.
The order does the following:
- Suspends all laws regarding state agencies’ contracting or procurement rules that would impede its emergency response necessary to protect life or property threatened by the declared disaster.
- Temporarily suspends — with written approval from the governor’s office — laws that would prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action to respond to the disaster.
Border security disaster spans 70 counties in fifth-year renewal
The original order was issued in May 2021 in response to a “surge of individuals unlawfully crossing the Texas-Mexico border posed an ongoing and imminent threat of disaster for a number of Texas counties.”
The original 2021 order affected 34 counties along the Texas border from El Paso to Brownsville, with Abbott saying it was in response to former President Joe Biden’s open-border policy.
“President Biden’s open-border policies have paved the way for dangerous gangs and cartels, human traffickers, and deadly drugs like fentanyl to pour into our communities,” Abbott said in a June 2021 statement. “Meanwhile, landowners along the border are seeing their property damaged and vandalized on a daily basis while the Biden Administration does nothing to protect them.
The order has been renewed and amended several times over the past five years, with the June 2026 order impacting 70 counties from El Paso through the Hill Country and the lower Rio Grande Valley.
The renewed order declares a state of disaster for those counties and for all state agencies impacted by the prescribed disaster.
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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