Texas delegation urges Congress to withhold aid to Mexico over water treaty dispute
A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers are demanding appropriators withhold funds for the country until Mexico lives up to its end of a 1944 water treaty that requires it to send 1.75 million acre-feet to the U.S. every five years.
Ken Paxton sues to revoke an El Paso nonprofitโs state registration after it didnโt immediately hand over client records
Annunciation House, a network of shelters that serves migrants, sought relief from the attorney generalโs demand to immediately release information about its clients. Paxton accused the religious group of smuggling humans across the southern border.
Abbottโs immigration rhetoric criticized again after interview response about shooting migrants
Asked how far Texas could legally go to secure the border, Gov. Greg Abbott said the state isnโt shooting people who illegally cross the border because the Biden administration would charge officials with murder.
U.S. Department of Justice says itโll sue if Texas enforces new law punishing illegal border crossing
The state has until Jan. 3 to say it wonโt arrest people accused of unauthorized entry from Mexico. If not, the Biden administration will sue, saying immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.
Appeals court halts ruling that Border Patrol can legally cut Texasโ border concertina wire
Less than a week after a Del Rio-based federal judge ruled against Texas in the ongoing fight over the stateโs razor wire, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals paused that decision while it reviews the case.
Texas Legislature sends $1.54 billion bill for border barriers to Gov. Abbott
Senate Bill 3 would also appropriate $40 million for state troopers to patrol Colony Ridge, a housing development outside of Houston, and allow the state to send money to local jurisdictions to offset the cost of enforcing another immigration-related bill.
Texas Legislature tries again with bills making illegal border crossings a state crime
Immigration experts say the most recent proposals would raise constitutional challenges in the U.S. and Mexico, as federal courts have repeatedly ruled that immigration law enforcement falls under federal jurisdiction.
Fighting between legislative leaders imperils Texas border security bills
The governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker generally agree on building more border barriers and making illegal border crossings a state crime. But disagreements over strategy and personal animosity mean those measures face long odds this special legislative session.
State Senate approves bill to spend $1.5 billion for border walls, more policing of Liberty County development
Along with the money to build more border barriers, Senate Bill 6 would devote $49 million to beef up law enforcement of the Colony Ridge development thatโs become a target of far-right media.
Federal judge orders immigration agents to stop removing Texasโ concertina wire on the border
Border Patrol agents have cut through the stateโs wire to free migrants or take them into custody. Judge Alia Moses will hear arguments from Texas and the Biden administration next week to determine whether her temporary order will continue past Nov. 13.
How Texas lawmakers are trying to deter illegal immigration and secure the border
Two Texas House members and an immigration lawyer sat down with Matthew Watkins, the Tribuneโs managing editor of news and politics, to discuss the current state of Texasโ border and immigration bills that lawmakers are weighing during the special session.
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.
Texas can keep buoys in the Rio Grande while legal challenge continues, federal appeals court rules
Nearly 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.
State investigating claim that DPS troopers were told to push migrants back into the Rio Grande and deny them water
The Office of the Inspector General is investigating the claims, which include pushing small children and women with nursing babies back into the river and turning away a 4-year-old girl who later passed out on the riverbank from the heat.
Dan Patrick says Senate wonโt budge on property tax relief โ but thereโs no House to negotiate with
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says the Senate wonโt accept a property tax relief bill the lower chamber left behind before adjourning for the special session. A bill targeting migrant smuggling also appears imperiled.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection investigation finds multiple failings in the death of 8-year-old girl in federal custody
After discovering that contracted medical staff ignored the motherโs pleas to take the girl to the hospital as her condition declined, the federal agency said it is taking action to ensure an in-custody death โnever happens again.โ
8-year-old girl dies while in federal custody on the border
The child and her family were in custody at a border station in Harlingen before she was transported to a local hospital. The death comes less than a week after the expiration of Title 42, which had allowed authorities to quickly expel migrants from the U.S. during the pandemic.
After Title 42โs end, Texas DPS pauses Austin patrols so officers can head to the border
Despite no major influx in border crossings, state troopers will be relocated to border cities. Austin and the Texas Department of Public Safety faced criticism for the racial disparities in state trooper arrests in the capital.
Border didnโt see a โmajor influxโ 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 wasnโt a rush to the border when Title 42 was lifted.
In the final hours of Title 42, migrants line up and border cities brace for the unknown
Long lines formed again next to the border wall in El Paso โ a scene repeated in other parts of the southern border โ as migrants anticipated the end of a policy that has allowed immigration agents to quickly expel them.
Texas sends more buses with migrants to Washington, D.C., the day before Title 42 is set to end at the border
As the Biden administration prepares to end the Trump policy that quickly expels migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, Gov. Greg Abbott orders two more buses to take migrants to Vice President Kamala Harrisโ residence.
Migrants waiting to cross the border say governmentโs app for asylum-seekers is a mess
Hundreds of migrants have waited on the U.S. bank of the Rio Grande for days to be apprehended. Others say they want to follow the rules to enter legally โ if they could just get the government phone app to work.
As U.S. prepares to end rapid expulsions of migrants, a Venezuelan family decides to risk crossing the border
A Venezuelan couple with two children waited in Mexico for weeks for a chance to claim asylum. They decided to cross the border after a relative died in a detention center fire and other family members successfully made it across.
New Biden plan will let people in Latin American countries apply to legally enter U.S., Canada or Spain
As it prepares for the end of Title 42, which lets U.S. officials rapidly expel migrants, the Biden administration said it will open centers in Guatemala and Colombia where people can apply to legally enter the three participating nations.
Family of dead National Guardsman urges Legislature to make death benefits bill named for him retroactive
While the state guarantees law enforcement officers, like Department of Public Safety troopers, a $500,000 death benefit for their families if they die on duty, National Guard troops who stand shoulder to shoulder with those DPS officers on Operation Lone Star donโt have the same benefit.