Trump’s DOJ pushing prosecutors to pursue ‘fatally flawed’ cases against Texas border crossers

Federal prosecutors, who can face discipline for not advancing the Trump administration’s priorities, are bringing military trespassing charges against immigrants with little evidence.

by Agnel Philip, Abe Streep, Perla Trevizo, Pratheek Rebala and Paul Ratje, The Texas Tribune
March 16, 2026March 16, 2026

Federal prosecutors, who can face discipline for not advancing the Trump administration’s priorities, are bringing military trespassing charges against immigrants with little evidence.

The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley has been at the center of national outrage.

San Antonio News

Attorney for migrants in Dilley lockup says people, not politicos, will decide when the cruelty ends

Attorney Eric Lee says the 9-month detention of an Egyptian family in the site near San Antonio shows a rot in the system that goes deeper than Trump.

by Stephanie Koithan March 14, 2026March 14, 2026

Vice President JD Vance is toying with an idea lately popular on the online right: the so-called heritage American.

News

American citizenship and other myths

We shouldn’t ignore the protofascism brewing on the JD Vance-aligned right. But the status quo ante isn’t good enough either.

by Gus Bova, The Texas Observer March 14, 2026March 14, 2026

Juan Rodriguez lights a candle beside a photograph of his fiancée, Johanny Lacruz, whose return he prays for each night after she was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Lacruz, a Venezuelan woman who entered the U.S. through the CBP One app, is currently being held at a detention facility in Raymondville.

Texas News

After Monica De La Cruz helps migrant teen in ICE custody, Texas man seeks aid for fiancée

The Republican in Congress helped a migrant teenager she previously knew get released from federal custody. Scores of migrants are in similar situations with no clear exit.

by Berenice Garcia, The Texas Tribune March 14, 2026March 14, 2026

Members of Bexar County Commissioners Court deliberate during a meeting earlier this year.

San Antonio News

Bexar County Commissioners voice opposition to ICE’s planed East Side detention site

The county passed the largely symbolic resolution as the agency prepares to open a San Antonio ‘processing center’ that could house up to 1,500 migrants.

by Sanford Nowlin March 10, 2026March 10, 2026

Latino voters cast ballots in a recent election.

Texas News

Texas Latino voters fed up with Trump, new poll shows

The new data suggests that two South Texas congressional districts are in play for Democrats, a political strategist told the Current.

by Michael Karlis March 9, 2026March 9, 2026

The Texas National Guard installs barbed wire to prevent crossings at the Mexico-U.S. border.

Texas News

Razor wire and clearcutting at the border threaten native Rio Grande habitat

As border barriers go up in the Rio Grande Valley, one nature enthusiast in Starr County is documenting what’s being lost.

by Martha Pskowski, Inside Climate News March 8, 2026March 8, 2026

South Padre Island Police Department body cam footage, released by Texas Department of Public Safety late Friday, shows the moment when 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez from San Antonio was killed at South Padre Island in March 2025.

San Antonio News

Footage shows run-up to immigration officer’s fatal shooting of San Antonio man

The clips, from multiple angles, don’t include everything, including key audio. But lawyers for the man’s family argue they refute the Trump administration’s explanation that his killing was self-defense.

By Lomi Kriel and Ayden Runnels, The Texas TribuneMarch 7, 2026March 7, 2026

Texas News

San Antonio City Council votes 8-2 to explore moratorium on new detention centers

The move comes as ICE plans to open a massive migrant detention center on the East Side.

by Michael Karlis March 6, 2026March 7, 2026

Kristi Noem makes a sad face during an interview.

San Antonio News

Texas Dems cheer Noem’s firing but say it won’t halt Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda

‘Despite her removal, Trump’s cruel mass deportation campaign rages on,’ Rep. Joaquin Castro said. ‘The Congress must hold her and her successor accountable.’

by Sanford Nowlin March 5, 2026March 5, 2026

The Camp East Montana detention facility, located on the outskirts of El Paso at Fort Bliss, is seen on Sept. 7, 2025.

Texas News

ICE moving toward closing El Paso detention camp, report says

The Washington Post reported that a document was distributed to ICE staff indicating the agency was drafting a letter to potentially terminate the facility’s $1.2 billion contract.

by Ayden Runnels, The Texas Tribune March 5, 2026March 5, 2026

Demonstrators gather outside the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Dilley last year.

San Antonio News

The Price of Cruelty: Inside the for-profit ICE detention centers near San Antonio

People at the facilities, including children, face inhumane treatment along with inadequate food and medical care, a growing number of critics charge.

by Sanford Nowlin March 5, 2026March 5, 2026

As paramedics attended to Officer David McCall's injuries, deputies discovered a six-pack of beer and an unopened bottle of wine in the his vehicle.

Texas News

UT, Texas Tech students among those killed in Austin mass shooting

Texas Tech undergrad Ryder Harrington and Savitha Shan of the University of Texas were among the dead, Austin police confirmed Monday.

by Michael Karlis March 2, 2026March 2, 2026

Republican and Democratic officials have offered vastly different responses to the Austin mass shooting.

Texas News

Suspect in Austin bar mass shooting was former San Antonio resident

Ndiaga Diange, 53, reportedly moved from New York to San Antonio in 2017.

by Michael Karlis March 2, 2026March 2, 2026

Camp East Montana, the largest Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention center, sits on Fort Bliss land in El Paso, Texas.

Texas News

17 measles cases reported in El Paso, including 13 at ICE detention facility

Earlier in February, two cases of tuberculosis and 18 cases of COVID-19 were identified at Camp East Montana.

by El Paso Matters StaffFebruary 27, 2026February 27, 2026

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa smiles during an appearance last weekend at San Antonio soul food restaurant Tony G's.

Texas News

Hinojosa accuses DPS, feds of coverup in last year’s ICE shooting death of San Antonio man

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa has joined Rep. Joaquin Castro and Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones in calling for probe of Ruben Ray Martinez’s death.

by Michael Karlis February 24, 2026February 24, 2026

23-year-old San Antonio resident Ruben Ray Martinez was killed last March, but it took a year to find out it was an ICE-involved shooting.

San Antonio News

Witness who disputed feds’ account of fatal ICE shooting of San Antonio man dies in car wreck

The only passenger in the car with Ruben Ray Martinez said in a statement that his friend was trying to comply with police when an ICE agent shot him dead.

by Sanford Nowlin February 23, 2026February 23, 2026

An RV Camper enters Big Bend National Park. The revered park is scheduled for “smart wall” construction, according to the Customs and Border Protection website.

News

The border wall is closing in on Big Bend, sparking opposition by locals

Residents and elected officials are speaking out against a proposed border barrier through Texas’ biggest state park and one of the jewels of the national park system.

by Martha Pskowski, Inside Climate News February 23, 2026February 23, 2026

Construction workers in South Texas attach a steel panel of bollards topped by a plate to the Border Wall, more than doubling its height.

Texas News

Trump’s new wall will destroy irreplaceable border treasures — unless Congress Acts

The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ did not include the provision that spared the La Lomita chapel, the Santa Ana refuge, or any other sensitive location, and a map posted by CBP indicates that Trump’s barrier will tear through them.

by Scott Nicol, the Texas ObserverFebruary 22, 2026February 22, 2026