IMMIGRATION

A Travis County judge Thursday tossed out the trespassing charge of an Ecuadorian man who said he came to the United States seeking asylum. His lawyers argued that the governor’s directive to arrest migrants on state charges unconstitutionally usurps federal immigration law.

We dive into the difference in how the U.S. handles asylum seekers versus those who cross the border illegally and try to go undetected.

Texas candidates are talking all kinds of things right now, but one set of issues floats to the top, as it has in state elections for decades: border security and immigration.

Legislative leaders overseeing the Texas Military Department say they are looking into reports of suicides, habitual pay problems and poor working conditions on Gov. Greg Abbott's highly touted border mission.

Abbott’s political challenger said guard members deployed to Operation Lone Star are facing late pay, being exposed to COVID-19, experiencing supply shortages and dealing with added stress that has led to multiple suicides tied to the mission.

Lucky took his family back to Afghanistan when his mother was hospitalized with kidney problems. Then the Taliban took over the country, and the family joined thousands of Afghans desperately trying to escape.

Here are a dozen of my columns from 2021: highlights on the winter storm, redistricting, the state’s finances and on issues that could figure into this next round of elections.

A man believed to be an undocumented immigrant is dead, and an unknown number of others are on the run after the truck they were riding in went off-road in an attempt to evade Medina County Sheriff’s deputies.

After nearly two years of navigating life during a pandemic, many Texans are now scrambling for COVID tests, delaying plans and worrying about relatives who have been exposed to the virus.

Abbott unveiled the first 900 feet of border barrier Saturday. But the state has been mum on where it plans to build additional barriers and how many miles it can afford.

A sneak peek at the topics that will be on KSAT Explains next year.

From October 2020 through September 2021, agents encountered roughly 1,733,652 million migrants, surpassing fiscal year 2000, when 1,643,679 border encounters were logged.

Political observers say the move is a gamble. All three other major Republican candidates for attorney general, including incumbent Ken Paxton, have strong stances on border security.

Abbott launched the construction of a wall along the Texas-Mexico border using state money and crowdfunded private donations. The state has at least $1.05 billion for the border barriers.

In a 50-page complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice, immigrant and civil rights groups argued Gov. Greg Abbott’s initiative to arrest migrants on trespassing charges is discriminatory.

A Cuban woman sent to Ciudad Juárez after seeking asylum in El Paso was raped as she waited for her U.S. court date. She worries more migrants could be victims of violence as the Biden administration revives the "remain in Mexico" program.

For Texas voters, fear of an insecure border consistently overshadows other issues — electric grid failures, handgun regulation, abortion access — even when those things top the news.

A Texas construction worker who’s been locked up for 11 months is one of an increasing number of undocumented immigrants detained since Biden took office — despite the president’s instructions to prioritize more dangerous immigrants.

Migrants arrested under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push have been imprisoned for weeks or months waiting to appear before a judge. About 90 were finally to receive hearings this week, but court proceedings were canceled.

State officials have implemented a new plan to secure the Texas-Mexico border under the order of Gov. Greg Abbott -- install nearly 20 shipping containers to create a steel wall.

Gov. Greg Abbott says the wall of roughly 20 shipping containers will help prevent migrants from crossing the border.

Unsure of how broadly the “aiding and abetting” portion of the law could be applied, Sueños Sin Fronteras — which helps women with an array of basic needs — is launching a legal defense fund.

They didn't make a majority of Texas voters happy on a single issue, but the Republican majority in the Legislature made most of their own voters happy — and then drew maps that minimize political threats to them in the November general election.

The ports of entry were closed in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. Mexican nationals will need to present proof of vaccination to enter the U.S.

Gov. Greg Abbott has a higher approval rating among Texans than Biden, but more Texans still disapprove of the governor’s performance than approve.

The migrants were arrested for trespassing, but court documents failed to specify what property they allegedly trespassed upon. It’s the latest misstep in implementation of Greg Abbott’s border initiative, which has seen frequent violations of state law and disregard for due process rights.

Under a Gov. Greg Abbott initiative, more than 1,600 migrants have been arrested for allegedly trespassing on private property after crossing the Texas-Mexico border. The arrests and subsequent imprisonment of the migrants have led to state law violations and constitutional concerns.

One of the companies being considered previously built a 3-mile barrier that is at risk of falling into the Rio Grande.

Human smuggling cases are on the rise in counties not typically used to seeing those types of offenses.

The controversial issues you’ve heard Texas lawmakers debate for most of the year aren’t going away; many of them will be argued all over again during the 2022 elections.

A University of Texas at Austin student who planned to apply to an Obama-era initiative for immigrants who came to America as children is stuck in limbo after a Texas judge halted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Since 2008, the number of Texas students learning English as a second language who take longer than five years to become proficient is growing.

Gov. Greg Abbott will hold an update on the Texas border situation with other Republican governors.

Timothy Mellon is the Wyoming-based grandson of banking tycoon Andrew Mellon. He is responsible for nearly 98% of the donations to Texas’ border wall fund.

The almost 250 detained men, whose immediate release was ordered three days ago, are expected to be turned over to federal authorities to be detained again, deported or freed in the United States while their cases are being resolved.

After witnessing fellow migrants swept away in a Central American river and a sexual assault by armed men, one man wants to put the traumatic journey in the past and find stability for his family in Ohio.

In March, Border Patrol agents encountered more migrants in a single month than they have since 2006, according to the latest numbers provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Defense attorneys have started asking courts to set migrants free because local justice systems, overwhelmed by arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott's border security push, are routinely violating state law and constitutional due process rights.

Candidates for the 2022 elections are still popping up, but many of that election’s major issues are already being debated.

San Antonians are stepping in to help thousands of Haitian migrants who crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Del Rio.

Federal officials have halted traffic so they can process thousands of Haitian migrants seeking asylum. The closure has made it difficult for the Texas city’s binational employees and business owners to keep normal operations going.

Much like many of the estimated 600,000 DACA recipients, Andrea Ramos Fernandez and Monsi Contreras were disappointed with Sunday’s decision to remove immigration reform from the pending $3.5 trillion budget proposal in Congress.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned would-be migrants that “your journey will not succeed” and promised to investigate the actions of mounted agents at the Rio Grande.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will be in Del Rio on Monday to receive an operational briefing on steps being taken to address the situation involving the mass expulsion of Haitian migrants from the border city.

Agents moved 3,300 of the migrants as of Sunday. That left more than 12,000 people still waiting to be processed.

The situation in Del Rio spiraled this week as more than 15,000 migrants, many of them from Haiti, arrived at the border in recent days, settling in a makeshift camp as they waited for CBP agents to process their petitions to stay in the U.S.

Seeing the thousands of mostly Haitian asylum seekers beneath the international bridge in Del Rio, Sara Ramey, executive director of the<a href="https://migrantcenter.org/" target="_blank"> Migrant Center for Human Rights</a>, said her initial concern was for their health and safety.

Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas was stepping up to do the federal government’s job after Biden’s immigration policies had “opened the floodgates” to illegal immigration and crime.

With an estimated 12,000 migrants already crowded under the international bridge and thousands more expected, Del Rio’s mayor declared an emergency Friday and requested state assistance.

Patrick’s comments mirrored a far-right theory that says political elites are replacing white populations through mass migration and demographic changes. He called the increase of migrants at the border an “invasion.”

On CBS' "Face the Nation," Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) lays out his plan on Immigration, stating that his plan will raise wages and increase the amount of jobs for people in this country.

Immigration activists took aim at the Republican presidential candidate during a GOP policy summit in South Carolina on Saturday, interrupting the Florida senator with shouts of "Rubio does not represent our community" and "undocumented and unafraid."

Jeb Bush's immigration plans "also includes a path to legal status" Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush outlines a more moderate stance on immigration at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference.

Could Congress actually act on immigration? Clarence Page, David Ignatius, Susan Page, Mark Leibovich, and Michael Gerson discuss the prospects for bipartisan legislation on immigration in the wake of President Obama's executive action.