Border Patrol apprehensions of families increased 38 percent in August
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson attributed the spike, in part, to smugglers and traffickers exploiting immigration laws. Full Story
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![Immigrants who turned themselves in to border patrol agents after illegally crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. wait to be transported for processing in the Rio Grande Valley sector, near McAllen, Texas, on April 2, 2018.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Loren Elliott -
Trump’s border wall threatens to end Texas families’ 250 years of ranching on Rio Grande
When Congress approved $641 million toward building 33 miles of border wall in the Rio Grande Valley, Fred Cavazos became one of about 30 people left standing between the president and his primary campaign promise. Full Story
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Credit: photo by Spencer Selvidge -
Just a shot away? Ciudad Juárez residents fear new cartel war may be coming
For residents of this gritty border city who survived the drug cartel war that raged here just seven years ago, headlines about an upswing in violence are getting harder to ignore. Full Story
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![A municipal police officer at a crime scene in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The municipal police force was recently "purged" under the new chief of police Julien Leyzaola.]()
Credit: Katie Orlinsky for the New York Times -
Asylum-seekers say they cross the border illegally because they don’t think they have other options
Asylum-seekers start on the path to an illegal crossing long before they actually reach the banks of the Rio Grande, relying on advice from an informal network of well-meaning friends and often-unscrupulous smugglers. Full Story
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![Border Patrol agent Robert Rodríguez, 38, oversees a common landing area for people crossing the Rio Grande River.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
"It's humiliating": Released immigrants describe life with ankle monitors
The devices are a better option than detention, but they disrupt almost every aspect of daily life, from sleeping and exercising to buying groceries and getting a job, according to more than a dozen attorneys, immigrant advocates and Central American asylum-seekers. Full Story
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![Central American asylum seekers wait at the bus station in McAllen to be taken to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center on August 2, 2018.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
Separated migrant family of six faced one hurdle after another after immigration crackdown
A young Guatemalan slept on a bridge for at least three days and nights while attempting to seek asylum. His wife and children had been separated after crossing that bridge just weeks earlier. This is the story of a family that faced seemingly every possible hurdle under Trump's immigration crackdown. Full Story
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![Marcos Samayoa waits on the Brownsville/Gateway International Bridge in June 2018.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal -
Analysis: Completing reunifications without putting families back together
The federal government completed its first round of family reunifications, but 45 percent of the children involved were not reconnected with the adults who brought them into the U.S. Full Story
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![Left to right: Director of the Annunciation House Ruben Garcia, Roger (only first names given), Pablo Ortiz and his 3-year-old son Andres (off frame) and 4-year-old Roger Jr. speak to the media during a press conference at the Annunciation House in El Paso on July 11, 2018. The fathers and sons were released the previous night by ICE.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre -
TribCast: The latest on the shifting immigration crisis
On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Evan, Patrick, Marissa and Emma about the politics at play in the ongoing border crisis and how countries with striking similarities to Texas have brought down their maternal mortality rates. Full Story
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![Abilene doula Sabrina Elliott holds up a baby.]()
Credit: Gary Rhodes for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: What sees us through
In a steady rain of bad news — shootings, immigrant family separations, harsh political differences — one thing stands out. We're tenacious. Full Story
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![Jai Gillard, a freshman at Santa Fe High School, writes a message on a cross at a makeshift memorial left in memory of the victims killed in a shooting in Santa Fe, on May 21, 2018.]()
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For Texas ranchers living along border fence, talk of an illegal crossing crisis is exaggerated
Many Rio Grande Valley residents have farmed land along the border fence for decades. On hot summer days, they mow their lawns and repair trucks, take care of ailing relatives and sip coffee at local convenience stores. What they don’t do, they say, is worry about a crisis at the border. Full Story
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![Jaime Portillo works on his property along U.S. Highway 281 in El Calaboz. Portillo’s property is divided by the border fence that runs along farmland in the Rio Grande Valley.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
This man waited days to join his family in the U.S. and seek asylum. They asked him to turn back. (audio)
A native of Guatemala who is fleeing persecution struggles to reach his family in the U.S. Full Story
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![Marcos Samayoa learns that his wife is detained and has been separated from their children as he waits on the Brownsville/Gateway International Bridge on June 20, 2018.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
More than 1,000 rally in Brownsville to protest family separations
Demonstrators from across Texas gathered in front of the federal courthouse in Brownsville on Thursday to protest the separation of undocumented children from their parents at the border. Full Story
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![Protesters near the federal courthouse in Brownsville demonstrating against the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
No "zero tolerance" for migrant families released in McAllen
As confusion swirls about the president's executive order to end family separations, undocumented immigrants with children continue to be apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley. But instead of being detained, some are being released from federal custody with ankle monitors. Full Story
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![About 25 immigrant mothers and their children caught coming across the Texas-Mexico border are released at the McAllen bus station wearing ankle monitors, on June 22, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
UT/TT Poll: Most Texas voters oppose family separation at the border, with greater support among men and Republicans
Male Republicans support separating families trying to cross illegally into the U.S. from Mexico, but most other groups — and Texas voters overall — do not, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Credit: Emily Albracht, Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urges congressional action on separated immigrant families: "This disgraceful condition must end."
"This disgraceful condition must end; and it can only end with action by Congress to reform the broken immigration system," Abbott wrote in a letter to all members of the Texas delegation. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott announces new school safety measures in response to the Santa Fe High School shooting at the Dallas Independent School District Headquarters on May 31, 2018.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
Report: Youngest children separated from their families held in three "tender age" shelters in South Texas
More than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents under the Trump administration's policy of "zero tolerance" for illegal border crossers. Full Story
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![A segment of the border fence in the Rio Grande Valley.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus asks Trump to end policy of separating immigrant children
House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, wants President Donald Trump to end his administration's "zero tolerance" policy that has led to thousands of immigrant children being separated from their parents at the border. Full Story
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![Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, gives a lunchtime speech to the Greater Austin Crime Commission on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Former first lady Laura Bush calls Trump's zero tolerance policy "cruel"
"Our government should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted box stores or making plans to place them in tent cities in the desert outside of El Paso," former first lady Laura Bush wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post. Full Story
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![Undocumented immigrant children at a U.S. Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Texas.]()
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‘They just took them?’ Frantic parents separated from their kids fill courts on the border
Federal courtrooms across the Southwest are being flooded with distraught mothers and fathers charged with misdemeanor illegal entry and separated from their children. Full Story
![A segment of the border fence in the Rio Grande Valley.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Lupe Valdez sees Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as President Donald Trump's "puppet"
In an interview Sunday, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee accused Abbott of "trying to find favor" with Trump, particularly on issues related to the border. "He’s just following in Trump’s footsteps," she said. Full Story
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![Democratic candidate for governor Lupe Valdez during a Jolt the Vote event in Austin on April 29, 2018.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune