Border & Immigration
December 26, 2018
U.S. Practice of Deporting Migrants at Night Threatens Their Safety
The situation has become so dangerous that Mexican police escorts have been discontinued after sundown.
By
Katy Vine
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Border & Immigration
Reporting and commentary on immigration and the Texas-Mexico borderlands
Border & Immigration
December 24, 2018
Hundreds of Asylum Seekers Being Released on El Paso Streets Over Christmas
Immigration authorities dropped busloads of immigrants at a Greyhound bus station without giving warning to local officials, despite having promised to do so.
Politics & Policy
December 20, 2018
Beto O’Rourke Reflects On the Border as His Tenure in Congress Ends
As the congressman from El Paso and former U.S. Senate candidate departs the House, he expresses regret and pride about his effort at teaching America about the border.
Border & Immigration
December 20, 2018
Trump Administration Will Require Asylum Seekers to Wait in Mexico
Asylum seekers entering the United States through Mexico will be sent back across the border as their asylum cases are decided.
Border & Immigration
December 18, 2018
Will There Be a Showdown Over Funding of the Border Wall?
Carlos Sanchez speaks with a Texas congressman on the appropriations committee ahead of the looming budgetary showdown in Washington.
Border & Immigration
December 18, 2018
Thousands of Migrant Children Could Be Released With Trump’s Major Policy Reversal
Federal officials have reversed course and announced they will no longer require fingerprints of potential sponsors for detained children.
Border & Immigration
December 15, 2018
Tent City Operator’s Request for Policy Shift Could Reduce the Mass Detention of Migrant Children
Beto O'Rourke said contractor is asking the Trump Administration to stop sharing information of potential sponsors with immigration agents.
Politics & Policy
December 11, 2018
Acting Attorney General Speaks Out on Immigration in Austin
Matthew Whitaker repeatedly hammered the idea that people who enter the country without authorization are ”illegal aliens.”
Politics & Policy
December 11, 2018
Texans in Congress Preparing for Showdown Over Second Round of Border Wall Funding
Texas members of Congress are expressing concern about President Trump's stated willingness to partially shut down government to get funding for his wall.
Border & Immigration
December 7, 2018
More Money for a Tent City Housing Migrant Children? ‘Over My Dead Body,’ Congresswoman Says
Key Congressional Democrats vow to fight $190 million Trump administration request to run Tornillo.
Border & Immigration
December 5, 2018
Key Democrats in Congress Demand Trump Close Texas Tent City for Migrant Children
Both members promise increases oversight of facilities for migrant children when Democrats take control of the House in January.
Border & Immigration
November 30, 2018
Operators of Tent City for Migrant Kids Say They Want Out But ‘Can’t Abandon the Children’
The private company that has been contracted by the Trump administration is nearing the end of a contract to run the facility.
Border & Immigration
November 18, 2018
The Power Issue: Sister Norma Pimentel Is Demonstrating the Power of Mercy and Charity
The McAllen nun fights fiercely for the dignity of immigrants.
Border & Immigration
November 8, 2018
Border Officials Preparing to Evict Immigrant Encampments Near Texas Ports of Entry, ACLU Says
The plans come on the same day that the Trump administration claims power to deny asylum to those entering U.S. illegally.
Border & Immigration
November 7, 2018
Trump’s Border Wall Could Cause Deadly Flooding in Texas. Federal Officials Are Planning to Build It Anyway
Engineers have long concluded that a wall in flood-prone Starr County could be catastrophic.
Politics & Policy
November 7, 2018
ACLU: U.S. Border Patrol’s Planned ‘Crowd Control’ Exercise Violated Federal Voting Rights Act
The civil rights group filed a complaint one day after the Border Patrol postponed an Election Day "crowd control" exercise.
Politics & Policy
October 31, 2018
Birthright Citizenship Is Not a New Fight in Texas
The Texas Legislature refused to consider ending birthright citizenship in 2009. Now President Trump wants to do it by fiat.
Border & Immigration
October 25, 2018
A New Focus on Border Security Comes Days Before Midterm Elections
In addition to deployment of Army troops, border nonprofits are seeing the beginnings of mass family releases.
Arts & Entertainment
October 23, 2018
On ‘Parts Unknown,’ Anthony Bourdain Asks If West Texans Are the Platonic Ideal of Texans
Spoiler: The answer is yes.
Border & Immigration
October 22, 2018
El Paso Nonprofit Scrambles To House Migrants As Number Of Family Border Crossings Soars
Border agents are seeking more help from nonprofits as growing numbers of families are being arrested.
Books
October 20, 2018
Octavio Solis’s Memoir ‘Retablos’ Offers a Vision of El Paso’s Border Beyond the News
Told through vignettes, 'Retablos,' a memoir by playwright Octavio Solis, depicts the myths and realities of a childhood along the border.
Border & Immigration
October 19, 2018
Can an International Hotline Help Stop the Cartels?
The U.S. Border Patrol and the governor of Tamaulipas are looking for a few good anonymous tips—and hoping it doesn't all backfire.
Border & Immigration
October 17, 2018
For Long-Separated Immigrant Families, a Three-Minute Hug at the Border Offers a Bittersweet Reunion
Irving Castillo hadn't seen his family in fifteen years. At the 'Hugs Not Walls' event, they were able to reunite—for 180 seconds.
By
Cat Cardenas
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Health
September 21, 2018
Undocumented Immigrants Are Risking Their Lives To Receive Emergency Dialysis
Undocumented immigrants usually don’t qualify for treatment for kidney disease—until it becomes life-threatening and much more expensive.
Border & Immigration
September 19, 2018
A Brownsville Cop Was Charged With Smuggling Her Undocumented Boyfriend. She’s Been Acquitted. He’ll Likely Be Deported.
Brownsville police officer Valerie Rivas was charged with smuggling her undocumented boyfriend. She’s been acquitted. He’s likely to be deported.
Border & Immigration
September 11, 2018
Tornillo Tent City Will Expand To Hold Even More Migrant Kids
The facility near El Paso will more than double its capacity for unaccompanied minors, expanding to 3,800 beds.
Border & Immigration
August 31, 2018
The Trump Administration Is Targeting Latino Texans Who Are U.S. Citizens
With the government questioning the authenticity of their birth certificates, some Texans worry that even providing additional documentation won't be enough.
By
Dan Solomon
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Border & Immigration
August 27, 2018
Dozens of Immigrant Parents Remain Separated From Their Children
A month after a federal judge’s deadline more than 500 children remain in federal custody and away from their families.
Border & Immigration
August 24, 2018
‘Don’t You Understand That We Don’t Want You in This Country?’
A complaint filed with the Department of Homeland Security accuses immigration authorities of trying to coerce immigrants into leaving the country.
Border & Immigration
August 15, 2018
A Hit-and-Run Killed an Immigrant Father of Five in Austin
He worked 80-hour weeks to send money home to his family. The driver who ran him over had been in and out of trouble for years.
By
Michael Hall
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Border & Immigration
August 6, 2018
The Government Reunited Some Immigrant Families—Then Took the Children Away a Second Time
As the government contends with 500 children who remain in government facilities, nightmarish tales are emerging of aborted reunifications.
Border & Immigration
August 4, 2018
Trump Administration May Be Creating ‘Permanently Orphaned’ Immigrant Kids, Judge Says
The judge ordered the administration to begin finding missing parents and to reunite them with their children.
Books
August 2, 2018
The Road to ‘Presidio’
Randy Kennedy on the Texas locales that helped shape his debut novel.
By
Jeff Salamon
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Border & Immigration
July 27, 2018
Charles Foster on the Immigration Conundrum
The solutions to our current crisis on the border are relatively simple, says Houston immigration expert Charles Foster. But our politicians don’t have the nerve to make them happen.
By
Katy Vine
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Border & Immigration
July 27, 2018
A Four-Year-Old Reunites With His Mother in a Journey That Is Far From Over
The reunion came on deadline day for a court-ordered reunification of separated immigrant families.
Border & Immigration
July 26, 2018
Separated Parents Coerced Into Waiving Reunification With Their Children, Affidavits Say
Many Spanish-speaking parents said they did not understand the English documents they were signing.
Border & Immigration
July 25, 2018
Hundreds of Immigrant Families Will Remain Separated Even If Government Meets Thursday Deadline
A federal judge praised the government effort, but expressed concern that hundreds of immigrant parents may have been deported without their children.
Border & Immigration
July 17, 2018
Putting Asylum-Seeking Immigrants in Impossible Positions
Rio Grande Valley attorney Jennifer Harbury explains the nightmares facing immigrants today, whether they gain entry or are turned away.
By
Katy Vine
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Border & Immigration
July 16, 2018
Family Reunifications Begin in Earnest in Three Texas Cities
While that's good news, immigration advocates, fearful of mass deportations, have gotten a judge to issue a stay temporarily halting deportations.
Border & Immigration
July 13, 2018
Are Detained Immigrants Being Asked to Choose Between Asylum and Reunification With Their Children?
Austin immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch says the system is seemingly designed to use speedy family reunification to pressure parents into deportation.
By
Dan Solomon
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Border & Immigration
July 11, 2018
In El Paso, Immigrants Reunited With Their Small Children Tell Their Stories of Detention, Separation, and Release
Among the revelations: Families were separated despite legal entry, and at least one child said he was hit by a caregiver.
Border & Immigration
July 9, 2018
YWCA Executive and Daughter Have Run-in With Customs Agent Over Their Different Surnames
The agent demanded to know why they had different surnames on their passports, then suggested the mother might be a human trafficker.
Border & Immigration
June 29, 2018
An Immigrant Teen Describes Life in Detention After Being Separated From His Mother
’You cannot imagine how awful it is to be there,’ the boy said of his nine-month separation by U.S. immigration officials.
Border & Immigration
June 29, 2018
Battle Over Houston Child Detention Facility Heats Up
Austin nonprofit Southwest Key wants to open a facility for immigrant children in Houston’s East End. Mayor Sylvester Turner has other ideas.
Border & Immigration
June 28, 2018
Records Reveal Southwest Key Cited for Hundreds of Violations in the Last Three Years
While the nonprofit's shelters are generally well regarded among immigration advocates, the wealth of violations is alarming.
Border & Immigration
June 26, 2018
Texas Companies Turned Down Lucrative No-Bid Contracts to Expand Child Immigrant Camp
The refusal by the two firms to take on a yearlong contract came one day before Trump announced the end of family separation.
Border & Immigration
June 23, 2018
Relatives of Separated Children Are Now in ICE’s Sights
Unprecedented ICE access to ORR data turns safe placement screening into a mechanism for immigration enforcement, officials and activists say.
The National Podcast of Texas
June 22, 2018
Mo Knows Immigration: Houston Comic Mo Amer on His Own Journey to Citizenship
In our latest podcast, host Andy Langer speaks with Amer as the comedian prepares to record his first Netflix special.
Border & Immigration
June 21, 2018
Abbott Caught in His Own Duplicity on Family Separations
The governor declared that only Congress can fix family separations shortly before the president ended the policy.
Border & Immigration
June 21, 2018
Melania Trump Wears ‘I Really Don’t Care’ Jacket on the Way to McAllen Shelter for Immigrant Children
Her spokesperson claimed 'there was no hidden message.' And it certainly was not hidden.