Author: KVIA

Texas Tribune

by Lomi Kriel, The Texas TribuneJune 4, 2026

A 23-year-old Guatemalan woman in immigration detention, who has been denied surgery for a painful ovarian cyst for four months, was released earlier this week, her lawyers said. 

Andrea Pedro Francisco crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019 with her mother seeking asylum and had been living in Minnesota ever since. In February, days before doctors scheduled her for an urgent surgery to remove an ovarian cyst about the size of a lime, federal agents detained Pedro Francisco and her mother in Minnesota as part of the Trump administration’s controversial Operation Metro Surge.

That initiative, the administration’s most recent high-profile immigration operation, resulted in the detention of about 3,400 immigrants from Minnesota who were sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement centers in Texas.   

Pedro Francisco, a leader and musician in her Minnesota evangelical church, was transferred to El Paso’s controversial Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent camp at the city’s U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss. Her arrest came six days before she was scheduled for surgery for her ovarian cyst in Minnesota after years of increasing pain, according to her family and medical records.

Two days after arriving at Camp East Montana, ICE staff called 911, records show, and rushed Pedro Francisco to the hospital for what she said was her debilitating condition. Ever since then, her health has deteriorated, she and her lawyers said. But ICE officials and a federal judge have repeatedly denied her release or outside OB GYN- specialists.

In a statement, Pedro Francisco said that she was in “shock” at what she called her sudden release. She said that she was eating earlier this week when an ICE official told her that she was going to be freed.

“They told me that I was going home,” she recalled, adding that she was “stunned,” and thought it was a “joke.” She said that she is excited to see her family, especially her two younger siblings who she helped raise, and to play musical instruments again.

 Her attorney, Ruby L. Powers, called her release “nothing short of a miracle,” adding that now that Pedro Francisco is going home, “she will finally obtain the care she needs and deserves.”

But, Powers added, “we know that there are many others suffering in detention, away from family and being neglected medical treatment. Today, this outcome renews faith in humanity and in what is possible.”

Pedro Francisco’s other attorney, Asra Syed, said that her release “took so many people – her lawyers, her legislators, her friends, her family, organizers – working together.”

Nine experts who reviewed more than 200 pages of her medical records, obtained by The Texas Tribune with Pedro Francisco’s consent, agreed that she urgently requires surgery and not doing so could result in her inability to have children. At worst, some experts argued that it could even result in her death if her cyst is cancerous. The experts said that her treatment in ICE detention amounts to potential medical malpractice because it fails to provide the industry’s standard of care and contradicts what external doctors recommend.

Dr. William Weber, who practices emergency medicine in Minnesota and also reviewed Pedro Francisco’s records, said on Thursday that he is grateful Pedro Francisco could finally get the care she needs now that she is freed.

“Unfortunately, there are many more in ICE detention with unmet medical needs and we need systemic changes,” said Weber, who helps lead the Medical Justice Alliance, a nonprofit focused on care in detention facilities.

Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to questions. 

Previously, Leticia Zamarripa, a spokesperson for ICE, said in a statement that medical staff determined Pedro Francisco’s condition “does not make her a candidate for surgical intervention.” 

“This is the best healthcare that many individuals have received in their lives,” Zamarripa argued.

An unnamed Department of Homeland Security spokesperson added in an email that Pedro Francisco had seen onsite medical staff while in ICE detention and been evaluated at a local behavioral health center, in addition to the ER visit. The official declined to answer detailed questions.

As Trump has ramped up deportation efforts, Pedro Francisco was one of more than 60,000 people in ICE detention as the administration continues to pursue mass ICE warehouses in its push for expanded removals. Like her, the majority were arrested in the interior of the country and have no criminal convictions. At least 18 people have died in ICE custody this year, nearly a third of them in Texas. That record-breaking number is on pace to surpass the nearly three dozen deaths in 2025, which were the most ICE fatalities in more than two decades.

Experts say this is the result of the administration’s push to detain a far greater number of immigrants than some ICE facilities have capacity for while contracting with companies that either have problematic records or little experience in detention management. At the same time, many medical providers which work with ICE have been unpaid since the fall in a bureaucratic change made by the administration as it switched billing methods. 

The American Civil Liberties Union and other Texas advocacy groups sued the administration last month about its treatment of immigrants at Camp East Montana, where Pedro Francisco was held for a few months. Before she arrived, the facility had seen at least three detainee deaths, including a homicide involving staff. Compounding the problems there was a nearly monthlong measles outbreak and nearly 50 detention standards violations as reported by ICE’s own inspectors, prompting calls for the camp’s closure from immigrant advocates and Democratic lawmakers.

The suit last week argued that conditions at the facility are “unconstitutional punishment,” violating detainees’ due process rights, and that the negligent conditions are “longstanding, pervasive, and well documented.” 

Help us report on Texas ICE detention

The Texas Tribune is continuing to report on the record deaths in the state’s immigrant detention facilities and the conditions inside. We’re seeking people who can speak about the quality of care at ICE’s two dozen centers in Texas, including El Paso’s Camp East Montana and the Dilley facility for parents and children, as well as anyone who can provide information on the new detention warehouses slated to open in Dallas, El Paso, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley.

We take your confidentiality seriously and will protect your identity.

Among the people we would like to hear from are:

Immigrants and their relatives who have been held at Texas ICE detention centers and who can speak to the quality of care and treatment by staff there in the past decade. .

Family and attorneys of those who died either in Texas ICE custody or shortly after being released or deported, or those who experienced medical harm during or as a result of detention. 

Current or former ICE employees and contractors, such as medical staff and safety inspectors, as well as emergency officials and health care workers who have treated ICE detainees.

You can contact us anonymously on Signal, an encrypted, secure app, or on Whatsapp, via phone or through email:

Lomi Kriel (se habla español): 832-729-3421 (Signal, Whatsapp, cell) or lkriel@texastribune.org 

Colleen DeGuzman: 956-605-9321 (Signal, Whatsapp, cell) or colleen.deguzman@texastribune.org

Mail us: Lomi Kriel and Colleen DeGuzman, The Texas Tribune, 919 Congress Ave, STE 600,  Austin, TX 78701.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

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Rishi Oza

UPDATE (June 5, 2026) — Along with declaring financial exigency and cutting positions, EPISD said it will get rid of its substitute teacher pool.

EPISD said 89 teachers will stay on payroll and work as substitutes.

Board members said 40 contracted and 54 teacher positions will be cut.

Trustee Call said he voted against the plans because he wasn’t confident in the financial numbers presented at the meeting.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Brian Lusk said the action was needed to get the district’s finances organized for the next school year.

“Ultimately, we have a job to do,” Lusk said. “We have a job of serving our students, serving them well and ultimately, we have to balance the budget.”

Board President Leah Hanany agreed the decision was necessary, but extremely difficult.

The meeting lasted more than four hours.

UPDATE (10:04 p.m.) — The board also approved to reduce some areas of employment due to financial exigency.

They would cut about 228 positions and lay off 54 teachers.

The deficit would then lie at $4.3 million, according to the district.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

UPDATE (9:36 p.m.) — EPISD’s board approved to declare financial exigency with a 5-1 vote.

Trustee Daniel E. Call voted against the declaration.

Trustees Valerie Ganelon Beals was absent.

Now, the board is discussing whether to cut 228 positions. Forty of them are contracted and 54 of them are teacher positions.

UPDATE (6:38 p.m.) — The board is out of executive session.

UPDATE (5:57 p.m.) — EPISD’s board went into executive session after hearing public comments.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees will discuss and vote on cutting more than 400 jobs and declare financial exigency at its meeting Thursday.

A financial exigency declaration means a school district’s financial resources aren’t enough to supports its instructional programs, according to the Texas Education Agency. It’s similar to bankruptcy for educational institutions.

The district faces a $53 million budget deficit. Cutting the jobs will save them $28 million, EPISD said.

Superintendent Brian Lusk put the items on the agenda and will discuss his plan to reduce personnel costs.

If the board votes in favor, it will implement a savings plan that includes the layoffs.

The meeting started at 5 p.m.

ABC-7 will have live coverage of the meeting online through this blog and on air on ABC-7 after the game and at 10.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The dust-prone desert of the Borderland may be ideal for solar energy, a new study at the University of Texas at El Paso found.

Thursday, UTEP shared findings from a study conducted in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where researchers monitored six solar panels from 2022-2024. Twenty-two dust events happened during the research timeframe, UTEP said.

Results suggested solar panels in Alamogordo lose only 2-3% of their power output when dust gets on them.

UTEP said that’s much lower compared to solar facilities in other deserts around the world. At sites in Iran or China, soiling losses reach 10-80%, according to UTEP.

The Borderland’s wind and rain patterns help solar facility operators clean their panels less frequently, UTEP said.

“What we found is that this location is genuinely favorable for solar energy, not just because of its abundant sunshine but because of how the dust behaves here,” said German Rodriguez Ortiz, the study’s lead author.

Rodriguez Ortiz said gypsum, the mineral blown from White Sands, is less harmful to solar panel performance compared to other dust around the globe.

Gypsum, the mineral blown from White Sands, absorbs less light, meaning its interference with panel performance is limited. With the regions’ weather patterns lowering demand for cleaning panels, operators are saving water, labor and costs, UTEP said.

“Our location in the Chihuahuan Desert is not just a backdrop — it is a living laboratory, and this work shows how deeply understanding your local environment can generate insights with real economic and energy consequences for the region,” Thomas E. Gill, co-author of the study.

UTEP’s study published in a journal, Atmosphere, in April 2026.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Department arrested two parents after the father allegedly drove while intoxicated with children in the car.

Tuesday, deputies stopped a car that didn’t use a turn signal and didn’t stay in a single lane, EPCSO said.

Deputies identified the driver as 25-year-old Ricardo Rivera and said he showed signs of intoxication, such as the smell of an alcoholic beverage from his breath, documents said.

Two children, aged 2 and 3, were in the back of the car, EPCSO said. Sitting with the children was a “friend of his baby mama,” documents said.

According to documents obtained by ABC-7, Rivera admitted to having a few drinks, including two beers while visiting his friend.

They arrested Rivera for driving while intoxicated after a field sobriety test. Rivera’s blood alcohol concentration registered as 0.204, EPCSO said. That’s nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.

Later, Rivera said he drank Miller High Life “caguamas,” which are 32-ounce beers, documents said. He also said he stopped at a Circle K while dropping off the children’s mother at home and bought more alcoholic drinks.

According to documents, he admitted to drinking and driving.

A deputy searched Rivera’s car and found two Miller High Life beers in the front and six in the back that were “cold to the touch,” according to documents. Some of the drinks were empty or had less of its original amount.

After investigating Rivera, deputies said the children’s mother, 29-year-old Cynthia Garcia, allegedly put the children in danger.

Deputies got two warrants for abandoning or endangering a child for Garcie, and issued them with no bond.

Both parents booked into the Downtown detention facility.

Rivera was charged with DWI with a child and a $2,000 bond, EPCSO said.

EPCSO noted the arrest marks Garcia’s second charge for abandoning or endangering a child within the last three months. According to another arrest document, she left her daughter alone in their apartment while she drank at a different apartment.

In March, a deputy went to an apartment in Canutillo for a welfare check, documents said. People reported hearing Rivera’s daughter crying and yelling for her mother for more than an hour.

The deputy couldn’t find anyone but later found the girl crying behind a screen door of Rivera’s apartment.

Documents said the girl walked to the deputy with her arms extended and seemed “relieved to have [the deputy] present, however appeared scared and was pointing towards the apartment door.”

The deputy carried the girl while searching the area. Garcia appeared from two properties away, documents said, holding a 32-ounce Miller High Life beer.

Garcia told the deputy she lived at the apartment where the deputy found her daughter. Documents said the girl “had been fussy throughout the day” and fell asleep. Garcia said she left her daughter sleeping in the apartment 30 minutes before meeting the deputy.

Garcia said she went to her sister’s apartment with her son and stayed to drink beer and eat wings, according to documents. She was on her way to check on her daughter when she saw deputies at her apartment, she said.

Documents said the girl was left alone for 30 minutes without adult supervision in an “unkept and unsecured apartment.” Additionally, the girl was left with hazards like fecal stains, soiled food, trash, sharp tools and cleaning chemicals.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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Gabrielle Lopez

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KVIA) — The Las Cruces Board of Education reviewed its student dress code Tuesday. With a new dress code possibly being approved, LCPS will host virtual meetings for students, staff and others to give feedback.

The new proposed dress code “emphasizes that students should be able to express their individuality without unnecessary discipline or body shaming, while also outlining standards related to safety, appropriate school attire and clothing that may disrupt the educational environment,” LCPS said.

Documents detailing the policy emphasized students should be able to wear clothes and style their hair to express themselves without fear of punishment or body shaming.

Furthermore, the policy said dress code enforcement will be equally enforced. It won’t be more strictly enforced based on race, gender, religion, income, body size and other factors.

As for schools with a uniform policy, they can still enforce uniforms as long as they are gener-neutral and inclusive of religious attire, LCPS said.

There are restrictions on the types of clothes students can wear, such as:

Clothes showing obscene language, violence or illegal activity

Don’t fully cover the stomach

Pajamas, blankets and slippers

Clothes that cover student’s faces to where they can’t be identified (with the exception of religious or medical headgear)

The policy review said student’s shouldn’t be disciplined or removed from class for violating the dress code unless their outfit is disruptive, hazardous to health or safety, or factors into harassment.

Here is the public meeting schedule LCPS provided. The virtual meeting links are embedded into the file.

Policy Feedback SessionsDownload

You can read the full proposed dress code below.

LCPS proposed dress codeDownload

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Gabrielle Lopez

DONA ANA COUNTY, N.M. (KVIA) — Software company Oracle announced an update to its power plan for Project Jupiter, an artificial intelligence data center planned in Doña Ana County.

Wednesday, Oracle said it filed an application to use Bloom Energy fuel cell technology, replacing its original design involving gas turbines and diesel generators.

Fuel cells generate electricity without combustion, Oracle said, lowering emissions and water use.

“Our updated plan delivers reliable on-site power with a smaller environmental footprint and avoids using public drinking water for power generation or data center cooling,” said Mahesh Thiagarajan, executive vice president, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

Compared to the project’s previous air permit application, the new plan is expected to reduce NOx (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) emissions by 92%, Oracle said. The system also requires minimal water for power generation after its first fill up.

Oracle said it will pay for its own power and fund energy infrastructure and electricity costs to avoid increasing residents’ electricity rates.

Oracle said the New Mexico Environment Department marked the permit complete and it will move to the next phase: public review. New Mexico residents can share their thoughts about the application through a 30-day public process.

You can send a comment to the NMED with this website.

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Heriberto Perez Lara

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says the country continues to face an unprecedented and evolving drug threat driven by illicit fentanyl, which the agency says is increasingly mixed with a dangerous array of synthetic substances emerging in the illicit market.

“These combinations are making an already deadly drug supply even more unpredictable and lethal,” the DEA said. “Law enforcement and public health officials are seeing fentanyl combined with highly potent substances such as xylazine, nitazenes, cychlorphine, and medetomidine. Many of these substances are not approved for human use and are often undetectable to the user.”

According to the DEA news release, Xylazine and medetomidine are used by veterinarians to sedate animals. Nitazenes and cychlorphine are potent, unregulated, synthetic opioids. New nitazenes tend to be introduced when regulatory actions, enforcement, and drug scheduling put pressure on existing analogues. DEA has reported 22 unique nitazenes compounds since 2020, 21 of which are listed as Schedule I controlled substances. 

DEA also classified why this matters for the community:

Extreme Potency: These emerging synthetic drugs can be significantly more powerful than fentanyl and greatly increase the risk of suffering a fatal overdose.

Hidden Mixtures: These substances are frequently mixed into counterfeit pills or fentanyl powder without the user’s knowledge.

Reduced Reversal Effectiveness: Drugs like xylazine and medetomidine are not opioids, meaning naloxone may not fully reverse their effects, complicating overdose response. Other synthetics, such as nitazenes and cychlorphine, might require several doses of naloxone to be effective.

Severe Health Impacts: Xylazine has been linked to devastating soft tissue damage, infections, and prolonged sedation, while other synthetics can cause rapid respiratory depression and death.

Public Safety Guidance from the DEA:

Never take a pill that wasn’t prescribed to you and dispensed by a licensed pharmacy.

Assume all illicit drugs may contain fentanyl or other deadly additives.

Carry naloxone and be trained in how to use it, but understand it may not fully reverse all substances present.

Call 911 immediately in any suspected drug poisoning or overdose. Time is critical.

Stay informed and spread awareness. This threat is evolving rapidly.

“Today’s illicit drug supply is more dangerous, more deceptive, and more deadly than ever before. One pill, one try can kill,” the DEA added.

Public awareness and prevention are critical. For more information, visit DEA.gov/fentanyl free and DEA.gov/onepill.

Just recently, the DEA drug lab team investigated a deadly incident in Mountainair, which is close to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

ABC-7 will speak today with DEA El Paso Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeffery Castillo, who oversees the referenced lab team.

Watch the full story tonight in out later newscasts.

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Rishi Oza

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Wednesday, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality granted El Paso County a contested case hearing on its recent air quality permit requested for the Marathon refinery in South-Central.

A contested case hearing is a process similar to a civil trial in state court. The process will allow for more information to become public about the permit.

“I pushed for this hearing in response the concerns of nearby residents, who for years have reported impacts on their health and property from refinery emissions,” said County Commissioner David Stout. “There is a long history with the refinery, which in 2011 agreed to pay a penalty of $1.5 million and make $60 million in improvements to its operations after an Environmental Protection Agency investigation. Through the hearing process, we will be able to review in more detail what has transpired since then.”

TCEQ has 180 days to schedule the hearing.

Texas State Representative Vince Perez had one of his aides read a letter Wednesday urging the case hearing. He doesn’t want the refinery to be shut down; he wants the information to be out there.

“One of the commission’s own alternative dispute resolution processes can help resolve through mediation, in which the county, community and the company sit at the same table before a neutral judge,” Rep. Perez said in his letter. “The realistic goal is negotiated and foreseeable emissions concessions, not closure.”

ABC-7 will have more tonight on ABC-7 at 10.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — During his radio show Wednesday morning, KLAQ’s Buzz Adams got a makeover.

KLAQ’s crew surrounded Adams to watch his eyebrows and hair slowly come off.

The radio host lost a bet with Nico, a member of the show, on the Western Conference NBA Finals.

Adams and Nico said they chose the teams representing their home states, Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs, respectively.

As a result, Adams got his head and eyebrows shaved live on the air.

Nico said if he lost the bet, Adams would have poured honey on his head and swat flies on it.

“This really backfired on me,” Nico said. “I’m really regretting he’s looking better than I do bald.”

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Gabrielle Lopez

RUIDOSO, N.M. (KVIA) — The National Weather Service in Albuquerque issued a “life-threatening” flash flood warning for the South Fork burn scar, which is in and around Ruidoso and the Lincoln National Forest. Some roads in Ruidoso will flood Wednesday.

Flood warnings are issued when flooding is happening or will happen soon, the village posted on Facebook Wednesday.

The Village of Ruidoso said the flood warning stands until 6:15 p.m. The village said Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs, Alto, Glencoe and Hollywood could see flash floods Wednesday.

The expected heavy rains will cause creeks, streams and ditches within the burn scar to flood.

Expected excessive rainfall over the burn scar will impact these drainages, according to the village:

Upper Canyon

Brady Canyon

Perk Canyon

Cedar Creek

Eagle Creek

Rio Ruidoso (may extend downstream of Ruidoso Downs)

Debris flow could include rock, mud and other loose materials, the village said. Roads could be washed away and covered in debris, the village said.

The village said to climb to safety if you encounter flood waters.

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