The top local stories this morning from KERA News:
National Guard troops sent to the U.S-Mexico border nearly four months ago have made a dent in illegal border crossings and drug smuggling.
Border Patrol officials at a U.S. House hearing on Tuesday said the National Guard assisted in 11,000 apprehensions of migrants along the southwest border, according to The Dallas Morning News.
That’s roughly one-of-every-10 border apprehensions since the deployments began.
Although National Guard Troops don't have direct contact with immigrants and don't conduct law enforcement activities, Border Patrol officials say troops help with operations like logistics and security monitoring free up border agents to perform other duties.
The operation currently involves nearly 1,600 National Guard troops along the southwest border, and it’s unclear how long the deployments will last.
Other stories this morning:
- Some state lawmakers are trying to come up with ways to increase accountability and transparency surrounding detention of migrants. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus is working with legal groups to get more access to detention facilities, which are licensed by the state. They also want more counselors and more no-cost legal representation. Caucus chair Diego Bernal says detained children have suffered significant trauma, especially those whose parents already have been deported.
- Creating useable prosthetics is now easier much cheaper thanks to 3-D printing. As part of our Breakthroughs series, Tom Dombroski, who heads the Biomechanical Medicine Clinic at the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth, talked with KERA's Justin Martin about printed prosthetics.
You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.
