BREAKING NEWS
U.S. declares military zone around El Paso, allowing soldiers to arrest migrants
Read full article: U.S. declares military zone around El Paso, allowing soldiers to arrest migrantsIt’s the second military zone the Trump administration has created at the border, following one on the New Mexico-Mexico border, where a group of migrants were arrested on Monday.
Texas may study the impact of immigration again, but focus only on costs
Read full article: Texas may study the impact of immigration again, but focus only on costsThe only time the state conducted such an assessment two decades ago, it found that undocumented Texans contributed more to the state’s economy than they cost the state.
Trump administration drops challenge to Texas law targeting people who illegally cross the border
Read full article: Trump administration drops challenge to Texas law targeting people who illegally cross the borderSenate Bill 4, the Texas law that makes illegally crossing the border a state crime, will continue to be challenged by two immigrant rights groups and El Paso County.
Feds are opening more detention centers in Texas as Trump administration steps up deportations
Read full article: Feds are opening more detention centers in Texas as Trump administration steps up deportationsThe feds are adding thousands of beds to hold families in Texas, which reportedly holds the most immigrants of any state at its 21 detention centers.
FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant money
Read full article: FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant moneyA letter sent this week claims the grant recipients, including many Texas cities and counties, may have illegally “induced” undocumented immigrants to enter the country.
Paxton investigates Dallas for alleged sanctuary city policies
Read full article: Paxton investigates Dallas for alleged sanctuary city policiesAttorney General Ken Paxton said a recent statement by Dallas’ interim police chief raised concerns that the city might be violating a state law against so-called sanctuary city policies.
How state lawmakers are trying to crack down on illegal immigration
Read full article: How state lawmakers are trying to crack down on illegal immigrationFrom requiring law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal officials to forcing state contractors to use E-Verify to spot undocumented workers, here are the bills that could reshape the state’s immigration policies.
South Texas immigration detention center with capacity for 2,400 people to reopen
Read full article: South Texas immigration detention center with capacity for 2,400 people to reopenThe Biden administration shuttered the Dilley facility last year because of high operating costs. It’s expected to hold immigrant families under the Trump administration.
Feds target “criminals and illegal immigrants” in Houston-area development, Abbott says
Read full article: Feds target “criminals and illegal immigrants” in Houston-area development, Abbott saysThe Colony Ridge development has long been under scrutiny from conservative lawmakers, think tanks and influencers who cast it as a hotbed for undocumented immigrants and cartel crime.
Justice Department restarts legal aid programs for detained immigrants
Read full article: Justice Department restarts legal aid programs for detained immigrantsThe agency’s reversal comes after a federal judge told the Trump administration it must continue to pay for grants and other programs it abruptly froze last month.
“A lot of fear going on”: Texas immigrant community on edge during Trump’s first weeks
Read full article: “A lot of fear going on”: Texas immigrant community on edge during Trump’s first weeksAcross the state, immigrants and their loved ones are changing their daily habits as the Trump administration orders at least 1,200 daily arrests of undocumented people.
An immigrant faces deportation after a routine traffic stop in Texas, sparking more fear
Read full article: An immigrant faces deportation after a routine traffic stop in Texas, sparking more fearAdvocates worry that rapidly shifting federal and state immigration initiatives will prompt more city police to funnel migrants without criminal records to federal agents.
Department of Justice cuts off federally funded legal aid to detained immigrants
Read full article: Department of Justice cuts off federally funded legal aid to detained immigrantsThe decision to halt the program could prevent thousands of people detained in immigration detention centers from receiving legal advice.
Cartels turn to social media to lure Americans into human smuggling as Texas enforces stricter laws
Read full article: Cartels turn to social media to lure Americans into human smuggling as Texas enforces stricter lawsThousands of people have been arrested under Texas’ human smuggling law. Now they face at least a decade in prison under sentencing guidelines that took effect this year.
Gov. Greg Abbott announces more than $500 million in public safety grants
Read full article: Gov. Greg Abbott announces more than $500 million in public safety grantsThe grants will go to private and public sector recipients in Texas for a variety of public safety priorities, including securing the southern border.
Henry Cuellar pitched adding buoys in Rio Grande to deter migrants years ago
Read full article: Henry Cuellar pitched adding buoys in Rio Grande to deter migrants years agoThe congressman said he joined other Democrats in opposition to the use of the floating barriers and razor wire at Texas’ border because of the lack of permits.
Feds can’t destroy razor wire Texas installed near Eagle Pass, appeals court rules
Read full article: Feds can’t destroy razor wire Texas installed near Eagle Pass, appeals court rulesTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton had sued the Biden administration after Border Patrol agents had cut the razor wire.
Texas offers Trump administration more land and support for mass deportations
Read full article: Texas offers Trump administration more land and support for mass deportationsTwo events in the Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday made clear Texas officials will work with the Trump administration on immigration.
Texas’ order to ask hospital patients’ citizenship status renews focus on the state’s large uninsured population
Read full article: Texas’ order to ask hospital patients’ citizenship status renews focus on the state’s large uninsured populationOn Nov. 1, hospitals will begin asking patients their citizenship status. But data suggests uninsured citizens, not immigrants, cost Texas hospitals more.
How a school voucher supporter won in a Texas House district with almost no private schools
Read full article: How a school voucher supporter won in a Texas House district with almost no private schoolsGov. Greg Abbott said the primary showed Texans want vouchers. In House District 18, an ad blitz and immigration fears may have played a larger role.
New study: Texas’ undocumented immigrant population remained relatively stable in 2021
Read full article: New study: Texas’ undocumented immigrant population remained relatively stable in 2021The Pew Research Center analyzed unauthorized immigrant data from 2021 finding that there’s been a significant shift in migrants’ country of origin and where they choose to live in the U.S.
Texas can keep buoys in the Rio Grande while legal challenge continues, federal appeals court rules
Read full article: Texas can keep buoys in the Rio Grande while legal challenge continues, federal appeals court rulesNearly three months after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the deployment of the 1,000-foot line of buoys and mesh in the Rio Grande, an Austin federal judge ordered the state to remove the barrier and stop building further obstructions in the river. One day later a higher court sided with Texas.
As Title 42 comes to an end, El Paso declares state of emergency
Read full article: As Title 42 comes to an end, El Paso declares state of emergencyEl Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said asylum-seekers are camping out on the sidewalks and staying at shelters in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, under the false notion that they will be allowed to enter the U.S. once Title 42 expires.
Texas heat-related deaths reached a two-decade high in 2022 amid extreme temperatures
Read full article: Texas heat-related deaths reached a two-decade high in 2022 amid extreme temperaturesA Texas Tribune analysis of state data found that at least 279 people in Texas were killed by heat last year, and a large portion of those deaths were likely migrants who died after crossing the border.
Afghan soldier arrested at border while seeking asylum has new lawyers, meets with FBI
Read full article: Afghan soldier arrested at border while seeking asylum has new lawyers, meets with FBIAbdul Wasi Safi’s physical and mental health are deteriorating as he waits at a detention center near the border.
Texas diverts $359.6 million from prisons to keep Greg Abbott’s border mission operating
Read full article: Texas diverts $359.6 million from prisons to keep Greg Abbott’s border mission operatingThe latest infusion was among $874.6 million in “emergency” budget transfers requested by the Texas Legislative Budget Board, which is composed of GOP state leaders and budget writers.
Analysis: Abbott’s border initiative is expensive, ineffective and not as tough as it sounds
Read full article: Analysis: Abbott’s border initiative is expensive, ineffective and not as tough as it soundsThe results of the state’s $3 billion border security effort don’t match the up-front promises, and Gov. Greg Abbott is flipping the political script with loud opposition to a change in federal border policy.
Analysis: Crime pays, politically speaking, for Texas AGs
Read full article: Analysis: Crime pays, politically speaking, for Texas AGsA Texas attorney general is a civil lawyer, mostly concerned with regulatory, tax and administrative law. But to listen to the candidates, you’d think the state’s top lawyer was some kind of cop.
Texas judge opens door for widespread constitutional challenges to Gov. Greg Abbott’s border initiative
Read full article: Texas judge opens door for widespread constitutional challenges to Gov. Greg Abbott’s border initiativeA Travis County judge Thursday tossed out the trespassing charge of an Ecuadorian man who said he came to the United States seeking asylum. His lawyers argued that the governor’s directive to arrest migrants on state charges unconstitutionally usurps federal immigration law.
Texas sheriff under investigation for routinely seizing cash from undocumented immigrants
Read full article: Texas sheriff under investigation for routinely seizing cash from undocumented immigrantsSearch warrants show that Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson is under scrutiny by state investigators, accused of illegally confiscating cash and a pickup truck from immigrants stopped by his deputies.
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Asylum-seeking families and children made up nearly half of July border crossings: “This is young mamas and daddies trying to save their families”
Read full article: Asylum-seeking families and children made up nearly half of July border crossings: “This is young mamas and daddies trying to save their families”Migrant crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border reached a 21-year high in July. This video takes you to the epicenter: Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, where more crossings are happening than in any other region in the country.
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Gov. Greg Abbott says more apprehensions, drug seizures justify a border wall. Advocates say he's misrepresenting the numbers.
Read full article: Gov. Greg Abbott says more apprehensions, drug seizures justify a border wall. Advocates say he's misrepresenting the numbers.The governor said Texas needs to build a border wall to reduce migrant apprehensions and fentanyl seizures. But immigration and drug treatment experts say Abbott's oversimplifying the issue.
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Gov. Greg Abbott wants to build a border wall, but does Texas have the ability — or money — to do so?
Read full article: Gov. Greg Abbott wants to build a border wall, but does Texas have the ability — or money — to do so?Critics have denounced Abbott's proposal as "political theater" that won't pass legal muster. But the two-term Republican governor says it's time to secure the border.
Asylum-seeking migrants pushed farther south into Mexico, left to fend for themselves
Read full article: Asylum-seeking migrants pushed farther south into Mexico, left to fend for themselvesMigrants have been bused to Monterrey and, they say, Chiapas under an ever-changing and often brutal “remain in Mexico” program. The policy is being carried out up and down the border by the Trump Administration in a controversial partnership with the Mexican government.