Rust spores can be carried by wind currents hundreds or even thousands of miles, even across oceans. They are eventually brought down to earth by rain, and a leaf that's been wet for several hours is needed in order for a spore to germinate and infect a plant.
This finding in South Texas is probably a new introduction. And what it suggests is that soybean rust could take the so-called 'rust corridor' to points possibly as far north as Canada.