News

Bad Takes: Journalists have flinched from telling the ugly truth about Texas’ new immigration bill

How can the state consider it ethical to imprison someone for 20 years on an immigration law violation?

by Kevin Sanchez November 14, 2023August 7, 2024

News

Republican lawmakers say the border is dangerous. FBI stats show that’s bullshit.

Laredo’s U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar compiled federal crime stats showing that Texas’ border communities are safer than most other U.S. cities.

by Sanford Nowlin November 10, 2023July 1, 2024

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San Antonio’s Joaquin Castro warns about ‘punitive’ GOP immigration bill

GOP senators have tried to tie a draconian immigration crackdown to sending further foreign aid to Ukraine.

by Sanford Nowlin November 7, 2023May 8, 2024

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Abbott lobbies for more money as border wall burns through budget

In the wake of President Joe Biden’s fencing flip-flop, the Texas governor doubles down on his own barrier.

by Justin Miller, The Texas Observer October 21, 2023June 17, 2025

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Attention, conservatives: militaristic pushback against migration never ends well

Gov. Greg Abbott has wasted billions on Operation Lone Star, his constitutionally dubious effort to make the lives of migrants a living hell.

by Kevin Sanchez October 20, 2023March 5, 2024

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Biden administration settles lawsuit over Trump-era migrant family separation policy

If the settlement is approved, the federal government would be prohibited from adopting a similar policy for the next eight years. Affected immigrants would be allowed to be in the country legally and receive work permits and other benefits.

by Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune October 16, 2023October 19, 2023

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Biden administration presses forward with border wall plans in Texas, angering allies

Even as the president says the barriers don’t work, his administration says it will waive environmental laws to build them quickly.

by Sergio Mendoza Reyes, Erin Douglas and Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune October 6, 2023February 10, 2024

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Federal judge orders Texas to remove Gov. Greg Abbott’s border buoys

The judge scolded Abbott for violating federal law, saying the unauthorized barrier ‘irreparably harms’ public safety and navigation.

by Sanford Nowlin September 6, 2023January 29, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Chip Roy threatens to shut down government if he can’t resurrect Trump’s border wall

‘If somebody’s getting all squeamish about the border wall, I mean, frankly, my response is: “Kiss my ass,”‘ Roy said.

by Sanford Nowlin September 6, 2023November 18, 2024

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Texas National Guard disbanded intelligence wing after members used WhatsApp to spy on migrants

Four members of the unit working on Gov. Greg Abbott’s border mission have been punished after whistleblowers reported the surveillance operation violated long-standing rules against state-run spy operations.

by Davis Winkie, Military Times, and James Barragán, The Texas Tribune August 29, 2023June 16, 2024

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Texas kept migrants imprisoned after minor charges against them were dropped, according to suit

The suit, filed in federal court in San Antonio, argues that Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star is detaining migrants longer than legally allowed.

by Sanford Nowlin August 22, 2023May 8, 2024

Gov. Greg Abbott puts on a happy face during one of his U.S. border cosplay sessions.

News

Child dies while en route to Chicago as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s migrant busing program

After a 3-year-old began showing signs of distress, the bus of asylum-seekers traveling from Brownsville to Chicago pulled over and an ambulance was called. The child later died at a hospital in Illinois.

by William Melhado, The Texas Tribune August 12, 2023January 14, 2024

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Eagle Pass residents sour on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star

After initially supporting the governor’s efforts to stem illegal immigration, many residents say Operation Lone Star has gone too far.

by Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune August 7, 2023June 7, 2024

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San Antonio congressman, others warn about politicians’ anti-immigrant hate speech

In a letter sent the day before the anniversary of the racially motivated El Paso mass shooting, civil-rights groups warned that anti-immigrant hate speech by members of Congress is on the rise.

by Sanford Nowlin August 3, 2023January 12, 2024

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Mexico files diplomatic complaint over Gov. Greg Abbott’s floating border barriers

The Mexican government plans to send an inspection team to see if Texas’ buoys have crossed into Mexico’s side of the border.

by Noah Alcala Bach, The Texas Tribune July 16, 2023February 1, 2024

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Bexar Sheriff files criminal charges over DeSantis’ migrant flights from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard

The department didn’t identify the suspects but said they face both felony and misdemeanor charges of unlawful restraint.

by Sanford Nowlin June 6, 2023September 22, 2024

News

Bad Takes: Child labor laws are under attack from business interests. Time to push back.

Some 250,000 migrant children have arrived in our country unaccompanied, and thousands have been exploited in grueling jobs.

by Kevin Sanchez May 19, 2023January 4, 2025

News

Border migrant encounters have dropped by half since Title 42 ended, federal official says

Federal officials had about 10,000 encounters with migrants per day at the U.S.-Mexico border before the emergency health order ended late Thursday. Since Friday they have had about 5,000 encounters per day.

by Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune May 15, 2023August 3, 2023

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Border didn’t see a ‘major influx’ of migrants when Title 42 ended, federal official says

Although migrants lined up by the hundreds in El Paso and other border crossings as the public health order was winding down, a Biden administration official said there wasn’t a rush to the border when Title 42 was lifted.

by Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune May 12, 2023May 19, 2025