A photo of best friends Joshua Orta and Ruben Ray Martinez at Orta’s grave in San Antonio on April 16, 2026. Orta died in a car accident in February. He was a passenger in the same car when ICE shot and killed Martinez in South Padre Island a year earlier.

How the unreported killing of an American by ICE shattered two San Antonio families

Josh Orta was the sole witness of Ruben Martinez’s death to dispute the government’s account. Months later, he died in a crash after learning an ICE agent killed his friend. Their mothers blame the government for their loss.

by Lomi Kriel, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica May 4, 2026May 4, 2026

Under pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott, Houston, Austin and Dallas have changed policies on how police officers handle ICE warrants.

Texas News

ICE warrants were central to Abbott’s immigration dispute with Texas cities. Here’s how they work.

Unlike criminal warrants, ICE administrative warrants don’t require approval from an independent judge. ICE defends the practice, but legal experts say they can have errors and risk wrongful detention.

by Alex Nguyen, The Texas Tribune May 3, 2026May 3, 2026

Masked ICE agents arrest a man during a raid last year in Arlington, Virginia.

Texas News

Federal appeals court rejects Trump policy of mandatory lockup in immigration cases

The three-judge panel said the White House’s policy of denying bail to migrants is based on flawed legal arguments and raises constitutional concerns.

by Sanford Nowlin April 28, 2026April 28, 2026

rawing created by a member of Hayam El Gamal’s family. The family was re-arrested on Saturday after being freed on April 23.

San Antonio News

ICE releases El Gamal family after re-arresting mother and 5 children, attorney says

A plane carrying the family to Michigan was reportedly on its way back to Colorado after a Texas federal judge ordered a halt to their deportation following his ruling that they be released.

by Lomi Kriel, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica April 28, 2026April 28, 2026

A drawing created by a member of Hayam El Gamal’s family. The family was re-arrested after freed earlier this week.

San Antonio News

Federal judges order pause of Egyptian family’s deportation after ICE re-arrested

A federal plane carrying the family to Michigan was reportedly on its way back to Colorado after a Texas federal judge ordered a halt to their deportation following his ruling that the family be released.

by Lomi Kriel, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica April 26, 2026April 26, 2026

Meenu Batra was detained by ICE in March.

Texas News

Longtime immigration court interpreter arrested by ICE at South Texas airport

The state’s only licensed Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu legal interpreter is now languishing in a Raymondville detention center. She’s lived in America for 35 years.

By Gaige Davila, The Texas Observer April 16, 2026April 16, 2026

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer inspects an outbound vehicle at a checkpoint in 2024.

San Antonio News

Report: DHS deported a U.S. citizen arrested near San Antonio

The man, picked up in the Texas Hill Country town of Fredericksburg, said officers refused to see his documents and threatened him with fraud charges.

by Sanford Nowlin April 13, 2026April 13, 2026

A voter walks past an election sign on his way to vote outside of the Lauro Cavazos Middle School polling station in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Department of Homeland Security officials this week told the Lubbock County elections administrator to expect subpoenas for county voter records soon.

News

Texas counties receive subpoenas for voters’ records from Department of Homeland Security

At least three counties have been contacted this week for detailed records about some individual voters. A Homeland Security representative told one election official ‘all 254 counties will be contacted.’

by Natalia Contreras, VoteBeat April 11, 2026April 11, 2026

An ICE officer monitors a detention facility in Buffalo, New York.

San Antonio News

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones again urges feds not to proceed with San Antonio ICE lockup

‘I did not receive a response from your predecessor; however, I hope to have a more productive and transparent engagement with your office,’ Jones wrote to the new DHS secretary.

by Sanford Nowlin April 9, 2026April 9, 2026

Construction equipment and cars are parked outside of the Camp East Montana, an immigration detention facility, at Fort Bliss in El Paso on Sept. 7, 2025.

Texas News

Measles spike in federal detention facility reaches the Texas public, records show

Most of the state’s measles cases reported so far this year are inside the West Texas Detention Facility in Hudspeth County, where four infected El Paso residents worked.

by Alex Nguyen, The Texas Tribune March 26, 2026March 26, 2026

Homeland Security officials receive a buoy tour of the Rio Grande River along the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, Feb. 3, 2026.

News

Feds keep Texas border communities in dark about $1 billion buoy project in Rio Grande

The barriers, already being installed in Brownsville, are meant to thwart unauthorized crossings. Experts warn they may worsen flooding and change the river’s course.

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

A single vaccine can protect against measles, mumps and rubella.

Texas News

147 measles cases reported in Texas so far this year, most of them in federal detention centers

The state health department reports that 99 of the cases originated in a contracted detention facility in Hudspeth County.

by Alex Nguyen and Dan Keemahill, The Texas TribuneMarch 19, 2026March 19, 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

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

Camp East Montana in El Paso on Aug. 11, 2025.

Texas News

Cuban man’s death at El Paso tent camp was result of ‘spontaneous use of force,’ ICE says

His death is the first homicide in ICE custody in recent history, experts said. It comes after the deadliest year in ICE detention in decades.

by Lomi Kriel and Colleen DeGuzman, The Texas TribuneFebruary 21, 2026February 21, 2026

ICE shot and killed Ruben Ray Martinez of San Antonio during a traffic incident nearly a year ago.

San Antonio News

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro calls for investigation into ICE shooting of San Antonio man

The congressman accused the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers of working with the feds to cover up ICE’s involvement in the death.

by Sanford Nowlin February 21, 2026February 21, 2026

An aerial view of the East Montana Detention Facility at Fort Bliss on the outskirts of El Paso on Sept. 7, 2025.

Texas News

Six deaths in six weeks: What to know about ICE detentions in Texas

Last year was the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Nearly a quarter of those deaths occurred in Texas.

by Lomi Kriel and Colleen DeGuzman, The Texas Tribune, graphic by Apurva MahajanFebruary 19, 2026February 19, 2026

Brianna Lennon, who runs elections in Boone County, Missouri, pushed back against the use of a new error-prone federal tool to identify potential noncitizens on her voter rolls.

Texas News

A federal tool to check voter citizenship keeps making mistakes. It led to confusion in Texas.

DHS rolled out the revamped tool while it was still adding data. That led to widespread misidentification, particularly for citizens born outside the U.S.

by Jen Fifield, ProPublica, and Zach Despart, ProPublica and the Texas TribueFebruary 13, 2026February 13, 2026

San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones speaks during a town hall at the Central Library.

San Antonio News

San Antonio mayor asks congressional delegation to block funds for proposed ICE center

Sticking an ICE detention site on the city’s economically depressed East Side would further hurt the area’s chances of bringing in new jobs, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said in a letter.

by Sanford Nowlin February 11, 2026February 11, 2026