Federal judge rules against Trump, halts deportation of Venezuelans held in Texas under wartime act
The ruling extends a temporary restraining order for three Venezuelan migrants detained in South Texas who are facing deportation. Full Story
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Berenice Garcia is a regional reporter covering the Rio Grande Valley. She works at the Tribune as a corps members with Report for America. She previously covered local government, crime, healthcare and general assignments for The Monitor in McAllen where she was born. Though she's spent the majority of her life in the Valley, she traveled east to attend New York University where she studied journalism and politics. While there, she interned at the New York Daily News, the Daily Beast and NBC News. When she’s not working, she enjoys fighting for her life at the gym. Berenice is based in McAllen.
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![A man crosses a jet bridge as Venezuelan migrants arrive on a flight after being deported from the United States, at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela on March 30, 2025.]()
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South Texas county leaders will lose some authority over SpaceX launches under new bill
The lawmakers behind the bill promised there would not be an increase in the number of days the beach is closed. Full Story
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![Members of the ENTRE Film Center, a local film center and regional archive, hosted the gathering at Boca Chica to celebrate the beach and motivate people to fight for its preservation, which they view as being in jeopardy since the arrival of Elon Musk's SpaceX. Aug. 8, 2024.]()
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Texas’ Rio Grande Valley didn’t see last week’s historic storms coming
The region is still cleaning up after last week's storms in which at least six people died. Full Story
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![Floodwaters in Primera, Texas, on the morning of March 28, 2025.]()
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3 dead, more than 200 rescued in South Texas after severe storms cause flooding
Homes were inundated with water and cars were abandoned across the Rio Grande Valley region. Full Story
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![A crowd of vehicles lay stranded on frontage road in front the McAllen Convention Center during a downpour on Thursday, March 26, 2025, in McAllen, Texas.]()
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FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant money
A letter sent this week claims the grant recipients, including many Texas cities and counties, may have illegally “induced” undocumented immigrants to enter the country. Full Story
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![Migrants walk from a DHS tent facility in front of the McAllen bus station to Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center on April 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate panel sends message to Trump: Get our water from Mexico
Farmers and elected officials told a Senate committee Monday that the lack of water is becoming dire, with little relief in sight. Full Story
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![Water marks are seen on the dam gates and concrete at the Falcon Dam in Starr County on Aug. 18, 2022. This area of the reservoir is normally under water, but because of an extended drought, water levels have been below 20% full since earlier this year. The Falcon Dam was dedicated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mexican President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines in 1953.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Why a Rio Grande Valley hospital is helping to feed its patients
As the Edinburg facility and others seek to assist people experiencing food insecurity, state lawmakers have more than a dozen bills that could tackle Texas’ food deserts. Full Story
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![Evangelina Yzaguirre, a cancer patient at DHR, receives food aid from the hospital food pantry program.]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
Why two border counties are joining Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star after migration slows
The counties hope to access state money to help pay for some criminal justice work, such as prosecuting drug cases and overtime. Full Story
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![City lights in Mexico are seen in the background as migrants are registered by border patrol agents after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in Roma, on March 5, 2022.]()
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South Texas bakery owners housed undocumented workers next to business before ICE raid, feds allege in hearing
Before federal agents arrested them, the couple who runs the bakery in Los Fresnos said they “knew this would happen one day,” a federal agent testified at court hearing. Full Story
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![A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge.]()
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ICE arrests South Texas bakery owners accused of hiring undocumented workers
Federal immigration agents raided the Los Fresnos bakery and detained eight workers before filing charges against the two owners. Full Story
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![Abby's Bakery in Los Fresnos.]()
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