Armando Garza Lira was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly overstaying his visa, according to the Zavala County Sheriff's Office.
Sources told NewsNation that Lira is the husband of Jose Angel Cerda, the mayor of Crystal City.
Lira was 'unlawfully present in the United States in violation of state and federal law.'
The sheriff's office said it received complaints that someone was living unlawfully in Crystal City.
Deputies made contact with two people in a vehicle at about 7:46 p.m. and determined that one of the men was Lira.
They were advised by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Lira was "unlawfully present in the United States in violation of state and federal law."
Lira was arrested and transported to the Zavala County Jail to await enforcement action from federal law officials.
The sheriff's office identified the other man in the car as Jose Angel Cerda and said he was released without further incident.
That name matches the name of the town's mayor. Images on social media purportedly show the two men together.
A profile for Cerda on the official Texas directory indicates that he was first elected to office in May 2025 and that his term ends in 2028.
A Blaze News request for comment from the mayor's office was not returned in time for publication.
"The Zavala County Sheriff's Office is committed to complying with Texas law regarding cooperation with federal immigration authorities," the office added.
Crystal City is located about 100 miles southwest of San Antonio and calls itself the "Spinach Capital of the World," though Alma, Arkansas, contests that title.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Ken Paxton is mocking his Democrat opponent for seemingly going missing from the campaign trail as Election Day looms.
James Talarico, who is competing against Ken Paxton for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, recently stopped appearing in person at campaign events and released a statement saying he had contracted the flu from shaking so many hands.
'No one has seen him for an extended period of time. Where is he? What is wrong with him? Bad rumors are coming out.'
On Wednesday, Texas Attorney General Paxton (R) had his supporters chant, "Where is Talarico?" at a Trump rally in San Antonio to ridicule the Democrat in the pivotal last weeks of the campaign.
CNN reported Thursday that Talarico’s last public appearance in Texas was a press conference on September 26.
Talarico's campaign issued a statement about his ongoing absence.
"After holding more than 100 public events and shaking tens of thousands of hands, James came down with the flu but will be back on the trail this weekend," said a statement from campaign spokesperson J.T. Ennis, according to CNN and Brooke Taylor of Fox News.
"Ken Paxton has been ignoring Texans this entire campaign, and his priorities are clear: He doesn’t answer to the people of this state — he answers to his billionaire megadonors and special interests," the statement added.
President Donald Trump issued a scathing post laughing at Talarico for his unusual campaign absence.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, upon information and belief, James TalaFREAKo, who is running for the United States Senate in Texas, is MISSING IN ACTION!" the president wrote on social media Wednesday.
"No one has seen him for an extended period of time. Where is he? What is wrong with him?" he chided. "Bad rumors are coming out."
RELATED: Talarico’s black and Hispanic outreach stalls just weeks before early voting
Paxton posted images to social media of posters jokingly calling Talarico a missing person.
"Missing posters are popping up across Texas as the search continues," he wrote. "LAST SEEN: 12 days ago. Texans everywhere are asking: where is James Talarico?"
Democrats are looking to flip the Texas seat in hopes of seizing control of the U.S. Senate from Republicans in order to thwart the president's agenda in the last half of his final term.
Those hopes might be dashed, as blacks and Hispanics question more and more whether Talarico's campaign has done enough to reach out to those constituencies.
You can check out the latest polling average between Paxton and Talarico, plus race trends and other helpful data, at Blaze News' Poll Watch.
Texas Senate polls 2026: Talarico vs. Paxton
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
A Texas mother is accused of stabbing her young children — ages 3 years and 10 months — and her husband early Tuesday morning, KXAS-TV reported.
Northlake Police officers were dispatched to a home in the 1200 block of Daylily Drive around 4:20 a.m. regarding a stabbing in progress, the station said.
'More of a stare — didn't really say a whole lot.'
Police said a man called 911 and reported that his wife had a knife and was stabbing him, KXAS said.
Northlake Police Chief Robert Crawford said he listened to the 911 calls and noted that the man was trying to get to the couple's children, who were in another room, the station noted.
"He was trying to get to the children, and the children were in another room, and she was actively trying to stab him, so he had to retreat outside," Crawford said, according to KXAS.
Arriving officers detained a woman, the station said, adding that police said the 34-year-old man suffered a stab wound to the head and is expected to recover.
Officers found the couple's 3-year-old daughter and 10-month-old son with stab wounds to the chest, police told KXAS, adding that they were taken to a Fort Worth hospital and are expected to survive.
The detained woman, identified as 37-year-old Holly Leeann Flores, was taken to a Denton hospital for observation and possible injuries, the station said, adding that police said she was treated, released, then taken into custody and transported to the Denton County Jail.
Flores is charged with two counts of attempted capital murder and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, KXAS reported. Flores' jail record lists no bond or court date for her.
Crawford told the station that Flores did not say a lot to officers after she was detained: "More of a stare — didn't really say a whole lot."
Police said officers had been called to the home five times since March for welfare checks, KXAS reported.
Neighbor Brittany Flores noted to the station that she was troubled that police had previously been called to the home.
"I think it's awful that the police were here multiple times, and it sounds like something like this could have been prevented if there was some kind of intervention," she told KXAS. "I don't know all what was in place or her mental state or whatever. I'm just absolutely shocked."
Neighbors added to the station that they knew the suspect through neighborhood gatherings and that she ran a balloon business.
Brittany Flores told KXAS that she and the suspect previously spoke about their common parental experiences: "It was just camaraderie, and we related to what we were going through. But there was a lot more that was going on underneath the surface than what you talk about at a birthday party."
Neighbor Ally Barfuss added to the station that the incident has shaken the neighborhood.
"It breaks my heart for both of them — the kids and the mom," Barfuss told KXAS. "I feel really sad for all of them. I hope everyone is OK, including her."
Northlake Police told the station the investigation is ongoing.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Democratic Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones warned over the summer that James Talarico was not doing enough to win black votes for the upcoming midterms.
Just weeks before Election Day, his campaign may lose even more ground with black and Hispanic voters, potentially dooming Democrats' efforts to seize control of the Senate from Republicans.
'Talarico needs to pay for us to get our voters out. Only then does Talarico have a chance to win.'
James Talarico's U.S. Senate campaign in Texas ran into problems from the very beginning when he defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) for the Democratic nomination. Crockett suggested that black voters in Texas are not excited about Talarico.
Now his campaign has given critics an opening to accuse the woke candidate of ignoring both blacks and Hispanics.
On Monday, a black voter outreach event at the Central Texas African American Civic Engagement Symposium was canceled, just a week after Talarico did not appear in person for an event with the U.S. Hispanic Business Council in South Texas.
Talarico attended the Hispanic event virtually, claiming to be too ill to be there in person.
"I was looking forward to being down in the Valley," he said on Wednesday. "I’ve been talking about it all week. I was ready to eat my favorite quesabirria tacos, but I was starting to feel kind of under the weather a few days ago. And last night, it got so bad that I went to urgent care here in Dallas."
Afterward, critics pounced on the campaign.
"James Talarico is either taking black voters for granted or giving up on them altogether," said Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, in a statement to the Daily Wire. "Either way, Talarico’s attempt to heal his relationship with black voters is simply mediocre."
In August, an embittered Crockett pointed out that Republicans were not spending in the race as if they believed that Talarico had a chance to win.
"I watch money. When I look at the money, if Republicans start spending money in Texas, then I'll be convinced," she said at the time.
Texas PAC, partially funded by the Republican-linked Senate Leadership Fund, has since reserved $117 million for ads for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Talarico's Republican opponent, Punchbowl News reported in late September.
RELATED: 'He's been lying to voters': Paxton BEATS DOWN Talarico over alleged election fraud
"I look at where does the NRSC stand? Where does DSCC stand? Right now, neither one are investing, which tells me that their internals are saying the same thing," she added. "So it looks like status quo."
That criticism fits with Jones' warning in July to the Talarico campaign. She said the campaign was paying for "white infrastructure and Hispanic infrastructure" to get out the vote, but not for black infrastructure.
"Talarico needs to pay for us to get our voters out. Only then does Talarico have a chance to win," she said at the time.
The Talarico campaign was also embarrassed when it was caught last week pushing a video about a "huge crowd" of Talarico supporters "in deep-red Lubbock, Texas." However, the video was taken in February, not October.
While polling shows a very tight race between Talarico and Paxton, the Democrat has been getting constantly hammered over his extremist comments and ties.
Early voting in Texas begins October 19.
You can check out the latest polling average between Paxton and Talarico, plus race trends and other helpful data at Blaze News' Poll Watch.
Texas Senate polls 2026: Talarico vs. Paxton
Every public poll of the 2026 Texas Senate race, James Talarico (D) vs. Ken Paxton (R), and the Blaze polling average. From Blaze News.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
JD Vance has a message for Texas voters about James Talarico: Look past the Christian rhetoric and pay attention to what he actually believes.
While speaking to a Texas crowd, Vance argued that Talarico’s “real religion” has nothing to do with what you hear in church on Sunday or “the redemptive power of Christ’s sacrifice.”
“It’s about crazy left-wing politics. His real religion is not about Jesus. His real religion is about the radical left in this country,” Vance said, pointing out that Talarico believes it’s “abusive” if you don’t let a 6-year-old start hormones and change his pronouns once he claims to be a girl.
“Nothing in the Bible supports any of this, of course. Now, in my church, and I imagine like a lot of yours, we are taught, for example, that Mary was selected by God to be the sacred vessel because she was, in the words of the archangel, full of grace and blessed among women,” Vance said.
“But in the gospel of James Tala-freako, Mary was not a woman because there is no such thing. She was a pregnant person, and her son was little more than a decent philosopher,” he continued.
Vance then asked what “really motivates a man” to spend all his time “talking about 11-year-old drag queens.”
“A man who wears your religion as a cover will never fight for your values, and he won’t fight for you because he thinks, like so many generations of politicians, Talarico thinks that we are backwards and simple. He’s a man so focused on children and drag, he’s never going to care about our jobs,” Vance said.
“He’s a man who empathizes more with criminals than with the victims. And when you empathize with the criminals more than with the victims, that man is never going to protect your streets,” he added.
BlazeTV host Pat Gray and executive producer Keith Malinak couldn’t agree more with Vance, though Malinak points out that someone else should be following Vance’s lead.
“Why isn’t Ken Paxton delivering these kind of remarks with this kind of energy?” Malinak asks.
Gray notes that “Vance is right” about Talarico.
“He’s so concerned with the trans issue, which is less than 1% of the population,” he says, “but that’s who he’s going to focus on.”
To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Lea Martin arrived in America expecting to find the country she'd heard about her entire life: uncultured, superficial, and different from Europe in all the wrong ways.
Instead, she found something she never anticipated.
Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck has read her new book, "Dear Land of the Free," and he calls it “almost like a love letter” about his beloved country.
Martin explains that she wrote the book after she broke up with her ex-boyfriend and felt “disassociated.”
“I felt like, oh my god, I need to write this love letter to this country that gave me so much and helped me transform so much,” she tells Glenn.
“So, it’s just my whole love for this country that gave me so, so much,” she adds.
“What was it that flipped you … because I know what people say in Europe about America, and it’s almost a cartoon version of us. But what was it that you either saw that you were like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have this all wrong,’ and what flipped you to this?” Glenn asks.
“When I arrived in the U.S., I had so many cliches, and I’ve never dreamed about moving to the U.S. It just happened because of my ex,” she explains. “And then when I arrived here, I realized how wrong I was because we have so many cliches around food, around Americans, around so many things here.”
“And I realized I was so wrong,” she says, noting that “one of the biggest cliches” is that Americans are “uncultured” because they don’t travel as much as Europeans.
“And I’ve realized there’s a lot of nuance in this cliche,” she says.
“It’s so easy for us to travel because also the flight tickets there are way cheaper, while in the U.S. it's more complicated. This country is so huge. Like, when even I was in Pennsylvania, I did a road trip in Pennsylvania, and I was like, I’m still in the same state, but I can drive hours and hours and hours,” she explains.
When she road-tripped through Texas, she found the same thing, calling it “endless.”
“Each state has its own specialties, people, mindset. It’s so interesting,” she adds.
To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales has ruffled feathers with her ongoing investigation into H-1B fraud in Texas — and she has shown no signs of letting up.
After shining an unflattering light on Great America Technologies Inc. and sending the Indian alleged fraudster behind it into a panic, Gonzales took a close look Global Star IT Serve LLC — a purported software company that state records show was formed in 2021, is registered to Rajender Bairineni, and was supposedly based in the same co-working building in Plano as Great America Technologies.
'It's the same song and dance with these people.'
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' H-1B Employer Datahub, Global Star IT Serve has sponsored at least one H-1B visa. It recently received a damning review on MyVisaJobs.com, where an alleged former worker complained about "toxic management," recurring payroll delays, questionable payroll deductions, and concerns about the existence of an actual physical office.
"If there's one thing H-1B body shops love, it's ripping people off," said Gonzales, "whether it's the American workers they're stealing jobs from or the companies that they're selling cheap labor to and even all the way down to their own employees."
On the basis of claims from a disgruntled former worker that the company denied in a statement to Blaze News, Gonzales suggested that Global Star fit into this category of exploitative outfits and further accused Bairineni's company — which is now inactive, according to state records — of "stealing wages from its workers."
According to Gonzales, Global Star allegedly failed to pay its lone H-1B employee in a timely fashion and previously "took illegal deductions from his paycheck."
"It's the same song and dance with these people," said Gonzales. "You set up shop in a co-working space to make it seem like you have an office so you can import a bunch of workers, a bunch of vulnerable people, and take advantage of them."
RELATED: BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales' investigation has Indian H-1B sponsor panicking
An unnamed H-1B worker who said he served the company as a software developer told Gonzales that Bairineni fired him in July. The worker claimed he was fired because Bairineni did not want to pay his salary for the previous two or three months.
Records obtained by Gonzales appear to show that Bairineni's company also deducted thousands of dollars in "employer expenses" from the worker's salary — deductions the worker flagged as potentially illegal. The worker estimated that Bairineni allegedly tried to skip out on paying nearly $40,000 total.
In addition to accusing the H-1B sponsor of attempting to intimidate him into signing off on the allegedly illegal after-tax deductions, the H-1B worker claimed to Gonzales that the address provided for Global Star on Google is "a fake address. ... It's not a ghost office. It's a fake address. Somebody's office is there. He's using that address."
Gonzales characterized the former employee and other similarly situated H-1B workers as vulnerable "indentured servants" whom predatory businesses seek out while edging out citizen labor.
The BlazeTV host tried paying Bairineni a visit at his home. Since no one answered the door, Gonzales decided to "resort to an old trick of ours."
The team sent a production assistant dressed up as a delivery driver to the H-1B sponsor's door, asking for Bairineni to sign for a fake package.
This time a woman who later identified herself as Bairineni's wife answered the door and summoned the H-1B sponsor. As Bairineni emerged from his home, Gonzales ran over to confront him, immediately asking, "Hey, Rajender, why aren't you paying your H-1B employees? ... Why are you deducting contributions, Rajender? ... Rajender, why are you labor trafficking?"
Bairineni immediately retreated inside the home and slammed the door.
Gonzales responded by shouting, "Why aren't you paying your H-1B visa employees, Rajender? Knock, knock, b***h! Why'd you run inside? We're just getting started."
The BlazeTV host subsequently obtained audio of the 911 phone call placed by a woman in Bairineni's residence to the Plano Police Department regarding Gonzales' visit.
"I see here that you wanted to report someone knocked at your door?" said a Plano police officer.
The woman described with some accuracy the events — the fake delivery driver, the fake package, the request for Bairineni, and Gonzales' appearance — then claimed the experience was "scary."
"Okay, um," responded the officer, "so do you want me to just document that, or do you want, like, a report?"
"I do want to report it because she has no right to come to my house and then just knock on my door," said the woman.
"Strictly speaking, what they did wasn't actually illegal," said the officer, who added that "the act of recording is not a crime."
Gonzales noted, "Typical scammers: They're the ones who are caught breaking the law, and then they cry like they're the victims. Again, this is case in point why we just need to shut the H-1B visa system down for good."
Bairineni said in a statement to Blaze News:
The Company categorically denies each and every allegation as stated, and the following statement is provided on the record for attribution.
Office Lease and Business Location. The Company lawfully leased office space at 8105 Rasor Blvd, #125, Plano, TX 75024, and conducted legitimate business operations from that location. Any characterization of the address as a "fake address" is factually inaccurate and defamatory. The Company maintains documentation, including the executed lease agreement and related records, substantiating its lawful tenancy and business operations at that address.
Work-from-Home Arrangement. [Employee's] position was a work-from-home ("telework") arrangement. He performed his duties from his personal residence located at [employee's address]. This remote work arrangement was known to and accepted by the Company, and is consistent with applicable H-1B telework and worksite reporting requirements. The Company's end client was located at [client's address], and [Employee's] remote work supported the services rendered in connection with that client engagement.
H-1B Petition and Compliance with the LCA. The Company filed a bona fide H-1B petition on behalf of [employee] and employed him in the petitioned position. All wages were paid in accordance with the certified Labor Condition Application ("LCA") and applicable U.S. Department of Labor regulations, including all applicable worksite and telework provisions. There are no pending or outstanding payments owed to [employee]. The Company has at all times remained in material compliance with the terms and conditions of the LCA and its obligations as an H-1B employer.
Alleged Deductions. The Company did not take illegal deductions from [employee's] paycheck. Any amounts referenced by [Employee] pertain to his own mischaracterization of contractual receivable provisions, not to any unlawful withholding of wages. The Company's payroll practices conformed to applicable law, and [Employee] has no outstanding balance or unpaid wages due to him.
[Employee's] Separation and Misconduct. [Employee] voluntarily absented himself from his duties without notice, thereby breaching his professional and contractual obligations. His abrupt and unannounced departure caused material disruption at the Company's end client in Charlotte, North Carolina, resulting in the loss of that client relationship and, ultimately, the cessation of the Company's business operations. The Company had only one employee — [employee] — and at no point engaged in any improper, unlawful, or fraudulent conduct.
Extortionate Demands. Following his departure, [Employee] began making escalating and unfounded monetary demands upon the Company, invoking paycheck-related clauses in an attempt to extract additional funds to which he is not entitled. The Company regards these demands as baseless and, to the extent they constitute an attempt to obtain money through improper threats, potentially actionable.
Reservation of Rights. The Company expressly reserves all rights and remedies available at law and in equity, including, without limitation, claims for defamation, tortious interference with existing and prospective business relations, breach of contract, trade libel, and any statutory remedies available under applicable federal and state law. Nothing in this response shall be construed as a waiver of any such rights. This response is provided without prejudice to all such rights.
No Admission. This response is not, and shall not be construed as, an admission of any liability, wrongdoing, or the truth of any allegation. The Company denies all allegations of unpaid wages, illegal deductions, fraud, and misrepresentation in their entirety.
Should Blaze News elect to publish any allegation concerning the Company, we request that this response be included in full and that the Company be identified accurately. The Company is prepared to provide documentary evidence supporting the foregoing to the extent appropriate and consistent with its legal and confidentiality obligations.
Blaze News has repeatedly asked Bairineni to provide the "documentary evidence" he claims to have, but he has so far provided none.
Editor's note: Blaze News has redacted the name of Global Star's alleged victim, his personal address, and the address of his client.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
A 42-year-old Texas mother is accused of fatally shooting her two sons last week.
Deputies with the Ellis County Sheriff's Office responded just after 4 a.m. Thursday to the 900 block of Big Sky Drive in Waxahachie after a 911 call reporting an unknown emergency, KXAS-TV reported, citing a sheriff's office news release.
'l shot both my kids.'
When deputies arrived and entered the home, they found two individuals suffering from gunshot wounds, the station said.
One victim — identified as Christopher Scott Pitre, 21, of Waxahachie — was pronounced dead at the scene, KXAS reported.
The second victim — a 15-year-old boy — was taken to a hospital in critical condition, the station said, adding that investigators said he later died from his injuries. The family identified the 15-year-old as Brian Pitre, the younger brother of Chris Pitre, KXAS reported.
Deputies also found the victims' mother, Colleen Nichole Lemmon, with non-life-threatening injuries, the station said.
Dispatchers received a 911 call hang-up but got the caller back on the line, KXAS said, citing a probable cause narrative, which added that "a female said all units were needed. Dispatch could not get the caller to clarify what was going on and the caller disconnected again."
Responding deputies said they could hear a woman yelling to get more units, the station said, adding that deputies could see blood on her hands when she looked out a window. Deputies entered the home, asked where the blood came from, and "she said something to the effect of 'l shot both my kids,'" KXAS reported, citing the narrative.
The brothers were found in separate bedrooms with gunshot wounds to the head, the station said.
Lemmon was taken into custody and taken to a hospital for treatment, KXAS said, adding that after her release from the hospital, Lemmon was booked into the Wayne McCollum Detention Center in Waxahachie.
Lemmon has been charged with two counts of capital murder, the station said. Jail records indicate her bond was set at $2.5 million.
Scott Pitre, the victims' father, told KXAS he had just celebrated Brian's 15th birthday with him at a lake last Sunday and wants to be the voice for justice for his sons.
Their funerals are planned for next week, the station said.
"My deepest sympathies go out to the victims' father, family members, and loved ones involved in this tragic incident," Ellis County Sheriff Brad Norman said in a statement, according to KXAS. "They will remain in our prayers during this difficult time."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
www.theblaze.com
thefederalist.com
www.theblaze.com