Appeals court revives Empower Texans lawsuit seeking to gut the Texas Ethics Commission
The case had been dismissed by a Travis County judge, but an appeals court on Friday overturned that dismissal. Full Story
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Emma Platoff
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Emma Platoff was a reporter at the Tribune from 2017 to 2021, most recently covering the law and its intersection with politics. A graduate of Yale University, Emma is the former managing editor of the Yale Daily News.
Past Contributions
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![Michael Quinn Sullivan, president and CEO of Empower Texans, speaks during a Tea Party rally on the south steps of the Capitol in Austin on April 17, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
How can the federal government reunify kids with deported parents? First step: Find them.
Some 400 parents were sent back to their native countries without their children. As an official with the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency put it, “we don’t keep track of individuals once they’ve been deported to foreign countries.” Full Story
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![Immigrant children are led by staff in single file between tents at a detention facility next to the Mexican border in Tornillo on June 18, 2018.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Mike Blake -
As reunification deadline lands, hundreds of migrant families remain divided
Some parents have been declared ineligible because of "red flags" in their records. But many haven't been reunified because immigration officials already deported them. Full Story
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![A pile of kids shoes left by mayors from U.S. cities lays at the front gate outside of the children's tent encampment built to deal with the Trump administrations "zero tolerance" policy, in Tornillo on June 21, 2018.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Mike Blake -
The feds say 120 migrant parents waived reunification rights. But some say they were coerced or confused.
The government says that more than 100 migrant parents chose not to be reunited with their children by Thursday's deadline. Lawyers who interviewed these migrants say they're on that list by mistake or worse. Full Story
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![Immigrant families enter the Catholic Charity in McAllen on June 29, 2018.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
The government has lost track of hundreds of migrant parents, likely delaying reunifications
For the second time, it looks like the government's efforts to reunify separated migrant families will be stymied by its own bureaucratic failings. Full Story
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![Immigrants, many wearing ankle monitors, are dropped off at the McAllen Central Station, where they are they are given bus tickets to other parts of the country. On Saturday, June 23, 2018. Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal -
As Thursday deadline approaches, reunification remains uncertain for hundreds of migrant families
A federal judge has ordered immigration officials to reunite all migrant children 5 and older with their parents by Thursday — but officials' own data shows that will be near impossible. Full Story
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![Mercedes (right), a Salvadoran asylum seeker, is reunited with her daughter, Maria in Corpus Christi on July 13, 2018. The two were separated by U.S. authorities after crossing the Texas-Mexico border in mid-May.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
State Sen. Sylvia Garcia, Democratic nominee for Congress, announces she's resigning from the Legislature
Two Houston-area Democrats have already lined up to replace her. Full Story
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![State Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, speaks with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith at the Austin Club on April 19, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Rotten meat. Chicken pox. Tearful separations. Migrants describe their experience in federal custody.
In court filings, more than 200 migrants describe long waits for medical care, minimal access to legal services, verbal abuse from guards and untreated diaper rashes. Full Story
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![Undocumented immigrant children at a U.S. Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Texas.]()
Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection -
Federal government has reunited 450 migrant children over 5, leaving 2,000 still separated
The government has a court-ordered deadline of July 26 to reunify the rest of the children. But last time it came up against a deadline, the government declared almost half the children "ineligible." Full Story
![Immigrant families enter the Catholic Charity in McAllen on June 29, 2018.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
Senate confirms a top Abbott adviser, Andrew Oldham, to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Oldham is the third Texas nominee to be confirmed to the powerful, conservative-leaning appeals court since President Donald Trump took office. Full Story
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![Andrew S. Oldham testifies as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing to confirm him as United States Circuit Judge for the 5th Circuit, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., April 25, 2018.]()
Credit: Allison Shelley for the Texas Tribune