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Francesca D'Annunzio

@francescadnunz.bsky.social

2.7K followers 740 following 280 posts

Texas Observer investigative reporter covering the immigration enforcement, US-MX borderlands, AI surveillance tech, + extremism. multilingual, nosy, and probably filing records requests 📩 [email protected] https://linktr.ee/FrancescaDnunz

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Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · Mar 31

NEW: Under Operation Lone Star, Texas DPS has quietly built out an expansive surveillance apparatus—one that’s increasingly powered by artificial intelligence.

Proposed laws provide few guardrails.🧵

w/ @texasobserver.org + @pulitzercenter.bsky.social

www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-su...

Texas’ AI-Powered Surveillance Arsenal Has Ballooned. Proposed Laws Provide Few Guardrails.

Operation Lone Star has turbocharged DPS’ surveillance capabilities. Lawmakers say they want to prevent Texas from becoming a police state but have filed only modest legislation to regulate use of AI.

www.texasobserver.org

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Reposted by Francesca D'Annunzio

Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 1d

Citing the “martyrdom” of Charlie Kirk, Texas AG Ken Paxton says his office is pursuing sweeping undercover investigations into “leftist” groups. “To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."

"Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. Corrupted ideologies like transgenderism and Antifa are a cancer on our culture and have unleashed their deranged and drugged-up foot soldiers on the American people," said Attorney General Paxton. "The martyrdom of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America.
There can be no compromise with those who want us dead. To that end, I have directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells. To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."
The radical Left has incubated an environment where political violence is not only justified but celebrated and praised. In July, nearly two dozen armed leftists connected to various Texas-based Antifa-like groups ambushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") facility in Alvarado, Texas. On September 10, 2025, a leftist assassin connected to the radical transgender movement murdered Charlie Kirk because of Kirk's bold support for truth, love of country, and unshakable faith. Two weeks later, another deranged leftist opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas.
President Donald Trump has officially designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and instructed his administration to "utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa." Building on President Trump's bold actions, Attorney General Paxton has instructed his office to initiate sweeping investigations into radical leftist organizations engaged in or providing support to those performing political violence.

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Reposted by Francesca D'Annunzio

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 12d

🚨NEW: For the first time in history, the single largest group of people arrested in the interior and sent to ICE detention is people with NO criminal record.

As of yesterday's data release, 40%(!) of those arrested in the interior and detained by ICE had no prior conviction or pending charges.

Chart shows Detention Population, Among Those Arrested by ICE in the Interior, by Criminal Record. The chart shows three lines; Prior conviction, pending criminal charges, and no criminal record. From 2019 through September 2025, the largest group is people with criminal convictions, with much further down people with pending charges. But starting in January, those without criminal records spikes dramatically. In July it crossed pending charges and in the latest data it jumps above criminal convictions.

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Reposted by Francesca D'Annunzio

Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 15d

Top story, from @francescadnunz.bsky.social: As a result of the raid, ICE arrested 35 people on federal charges of attempted illegal entry, according to a report obtained from DPS. But authorities never offered any evidence that the party attendees actually were Tren de Aragua members.

Officials Said They Busted a Tren de Aragua Party. Attendees Beg to Differ.

A highly publicized multi-agency raid in Hays County resulted in dozens of arrests on low-level immigration charges and left an Austin mother's life in tatters. It also fit a pattern of unproven…

www.texasobserver.org

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Reposted by Francesca D'Annunzio

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 16d

After spending around a year in ICE detention, Laura, a Nigerian mother of two, was told by her then-lawyer that she would be released and able to see her kids.

But under Trump, that never happened.

They’ve won in court, but ICE is still detaining and trying to deport them

Inside the “psychological torture” regime targeting migrants who can't be sent home

www.motherjones.com

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Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

There's a lot more to this story, which you can read here:
www.texasobserver.org/officials-tr...

Officials Said They Busted a Tren de Aragua Party. Attendees Beg to Differ.

A highly publicized multi-agency raid in Hays County resulted in dozens of arrests on low-level immigration charges and left an Austin mother's life in tatters. It also fit a pattern of unproven gang-...

www.texasobserver.org

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

Marc Ranc, the Hays County prosecutor tasked with the case, said he was considering dropping the charge because he was still awaiting evidence from federal agents.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

He was booked at 2 a.m. the day of the raid, and has been locked up in a west Texas jail ever since, facing felony ketamine possession

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

He was stopped by DPS at 10:56 p.m. for traffic violations, and a trooper called in ICE after Castro Bravo showed a Venezuelan passport. Castro Bravo, whom DPS also accused in an arrest report of Tren de Aragua affiliation because of tattoos, was then arrested for drug possession

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

Castro Bravo told me he was homeless, and slept in a sedan in different HEB parkings lots around the Austin area. He said he started using ketamine once he got to Texas to deal with depression and anxiety, and because he had trouble sleeping in his car.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

I couldn't obtain any records to corroborate that he was driving for DoorDash, but I showed his jail booking photo to a couple party attendees, who said they didn't see him either at the party or in detention after the raid.

They didn't recognize him.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

One of those men, Jeankey Jhonaiker Castro Bravo, said he never went to the party, and that he'd been driving for Doordash all day, in part to save up for a plane ticket to self-deport back to Venezuela.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

Two additional Venezuelan men were charged with felony-level possession of a controlled substance, resulting from traffic stops near the Airbnb earlier in the evening; police say both had left the party location, though one denied this to the Observer.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

Federal court records suggest that none of these charges were actually prosecuted, and interviews suggest arrestees were simply funneled into civil immigrant detention and in many cases deported.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

As a result of the raid, ICE arrested 35 people on federal charges of attempted illegal entry, according to a report obtained from DPS, which was previously reported on by the Texas Tribune

(h/t to @serranoalej.bsky.social
for first publishing that report back in the summer)

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Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

Eliangel took stock of the scene by counting what he saw: one tank, three police dogs, four drones, eight tear gas canisters or flashbangs that left him “stunned” with a burning sensation, 20 infrared lasers pointing inside the house, and at least 30 police officers.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

I spoke to one of María's sons, 23 yo Eliangel, by WhatsApp. He described the raid this way:

He saw several officers donning camo, covered by a fake grass blanket, lying atop a hill outside the AirBnb, hand pointing guns with infrared lasers inside the house.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

She’s struggling to pay her bills without help from her adult kids.

For much of the summer, she told the Observer, she was working as a delivery driver in a car without functional air conditioning.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

Since her kids have been deported, María has struggled.

Two of her kids were deported. Her 16-year-old son is still in custody.

She spent her 40th birthday alone.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

After that, María and her kids left for Chile, but Tren de Aragua has become active there as well, and in 2022 she came to the States partly to avoid the gang.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

Nearly a decade ago, outside a baby shower in Maracay, Venezuela, she said gang members pulled up on motorcycles and sprayed bullets, killing one person and wounding another.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

The great irony, María said, is that accusations about Tren de Aragua membership have broken up her family—even though they were victimized by the gang themselves.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

Four other party attendees also denied any affiliation.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

But authorities never offered any evidence that the party attendees actually were Tren de Aragua members.

María, a mother who had three of her children detained in the raid, said that none of her kids were involved with the gang.

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

The day after the raid, DPS put out a press release stating that police agencies had been investigating Tren de Aragua for > 1 year, and that: “In recent days, the FBI developed intelligence regarding a possible gathering of suspected TdA members or TdA associates in Hays Co.”

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 16d

In the early hours of April 1, law enforcement agents arrested 47 people at a rented mansion near the well-off Hays County suburb of Dripping Springs.