New top federal prosecutor for South Texas has a hardline past

South Texas has a new top federal prosecutor. His name is Aaron Reitz. He took the oath for the job on July 9 in Houston. The job title is U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. Judge Nicholas Ganjei gave him the oath.

The job matters here at home. Reitz now leads the U.S. Attorney's office in McAllen, Brownsville, and Laredo. That office brings the federal drug cases along the Rio Grande. It also brings cases about smuggling people. This same week, a Starr County man was sentenced to 30 months for a cocaine case near Garciasville. That prosecutor works for Reitz now. Reitz had no part in the case. The man was already charged before that. He had already said he was guilty too. That was before Reitz took the job on July 9.

Reitz did not get this job the normal way. Most U.S. Attorneys go through the Senate first. Judges in South Texas voted him into the job instead. That let him skip the Senate vote. He can stay in the job until the Senate picks someone else. He replaces John Marck. Marck was the acting U.S. Attorney before him. Marck is now a federal judge in the same district. Being a judge is a different job than being the top prosecutor.

Reitz has spent years close to power in Texas. He clerked for Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock. He was chief of staff for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. He was a top aide to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He also spent almost five years as a Marine. He served in Afghanistan. He is still a Major in the Marine Reserve. He got his law degree at the University of Texas.

Before this job, Reitz ran for Texas Attorney General. That race was in 2026. Paxton backed him in that race. Reitz lost. He came in fourth place. During that race, Reitz talked to the Texas Tribune. He said the best way to help Texans was to "destroy the left." He also posted online about "counter jihad." The Texas Tribune reported those posts, and others, targeted Muslims.

Reitz has faced pushback before this job too. Back in March 2025, the Senate gave him a different job. That job was running a Justice Department office called the Office of Legal Policy. Every Democrat on that Senate group voted no. Later, the full Senate said yes to him. Still, no Democrat voted yes. Senator Dick Durbin spoke out that day. Durbin said, "Simply put, Mr. Reitz's confirmation is a danger to the rule of law." Durbin pointed to something Reitz said in his hearing. Reitz told senators there is "no hard and fast rule" on whether officials must always obey federal court orders.

At his swearing in as U.S. Attorney, Reitz said, "I'm honored to serve as the chief federal law enforcement officer and lawyer for this mission critical district. Our office will relentlessly combat violent crime, illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, corruption, and fraud."

Reitz later told reporters his plans. He said stopping illegal immigration will be a top goal. He said his office will handle all kinds of cases. That means big money crimes in Houston. It also means drug cases on the border. He said, "Things are about to get very bad for criminals in the Southern District of Texas."

Reitz also talked about a case still open. ICE agents shot and killed a man named Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. His office is one of a few groups looking into that shooting. Reitz said there are no answers yet. He said his office wants "to get to the truth." He said they want to "piece together the timeline." He said there is "reason to believe it is not the hysterical, vigilante sort of justice." A judge let a witness in the case go free. Reitz said that does not change the case.

The Southern District of Texas is huge. It covers 43 counties. More than 10 million people live there. The land covers 44,000 square miles. Federal courts sit in Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, and Laredo. For Starr County and the rest of the Rio Grande Valley, one thing is now clear. Reitz now runs that office. The office decides how hard to push on border crime here. That office brings the drug cases here too. El Tejano will keep watching how his office handles cases at home.