EXCLUSIVE: Texas Land Commissioner Installs Border Wall Panel For Jocelyn Nungaray

At the Texas-Mexico border on Tuesday, the family of Jocelyn Nungaray watched as the state of Texas installed a border wall panel dedicated to the memory of the 12-year-old girl. Jocelyn was brutally murdered in June by two undocumented immigrants. Her death has become a rallying cry for state leaders advocating stricter border policies and immigration enforcement.

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, a staunch ally of President-elect Donald Trump, unveiled the panel alongside an ambitious plan dubbed “The Jocelyn Initiative.” The project, named in honor of Jocelyn, aims to repurpose state-owned land for deportation facilities, fulfilling a key promise from Trump’s 2024 campaign.

“The Jocelyn Initiative, you may have heard, we’ve offered this 1,400 acre ranch in case it fits the Trump administration’s needs for a detention and deportation facility,” Buckingham said. “With the Jocelyn Initiative, with her mother and grandmother present, we said we are not going to tolerate one more child being lost to violent criminals who have come across our border illegally, or one more child that we have lost because someone let a bad guy out of jail.”

“So we are coming together, we’re gonna identify properties around the state, and again, if they meet the Trump administration’s needs, that’s what we’re gonna do … we’re gonna get it done,” Buckingham explained.

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The killing of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in North Houston, Texas left a community grieving and sparked a nationwide conversation about immigration policies. In June, Jocelyn’s body was found in a creek near her home. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled after reportedly sneaking out of her house and encountering two men who lured her away. The suspects, Johan José Martínez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin José Peña Ramos, 26, are undocumented immigrants from Venezuela.

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Both men were charged with capital murder shortly after the discovery of Jocelyn’s body. A grand jury later added charges of kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault. The case took a controversial turn when it was revealed that Martínez-Rangel and Peña Ramos had been apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol earlier in 2024 near El Paso. Both were released into the U.S. with notices to appear in court—a standard practice that has faced increasing scrutiny. Jocelyn’s family and community have expressed their outrage.

Central to the initiative is a 1,400-acre property in Texas, purchased by the state in October, which Buckingham has pledged to hand over to Trump’s incoming administration. The land, located near the border, is envisioned as a site for detention and deportation operations.

The Jocelyn Initiative aligns with Trump’s campaign pledge to overhaul immigration enforcement on “Day 1” of his presidency. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other Republican leaders have also voiced support for the initiative, framing it as a moral imperative.

“I meant it when I said that I will do everything in my power to help this administration,” Buckingham said. “The new project that the General Land Office is going to embark on that I have created is the Jocelyn Initiative, in which we will locate appropriate land under my jurisdiction to lease for the construction of violent criminal deportation facilities.”

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“My office has identified several of our properties and is standing by ready to make this happen on day one of the Trump presidency,” Buckingham said. “We are going to do everything in our power to ensure no other parent has to feel the pain that Alexis and Jacqueline are feeling right now. We have seen what happens when sanctuary cities release illegal immigrants back onto the streets.”

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