Border Corruption Cases Can Run off the Rails
In its efforts to weed out corruption among the agents and officials charged with securing the nation's borders, federal officials sometimes set off on enigmatic quests. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman / The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Citizen Receives Settlement over Body Cavity Search at Border
A woman who was subjected to unwarranted body cavity searches after crossing a Texas-Mexico border in 2012 has been awarded nearly a half million dollars by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, her lawyers said. Full Story
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DPS Border Surge Saps Officers from Rest of Texas
Other parts of Texas will continue to feel a public-safety void while the Texas Department of Public Safety diverts resources to the border, the agency's director said on Tuesday. Full Story
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![DPS Col. Steve McCraw speaks to the press after his appearance before the House Appropriations Committee July 19, 2016.]()
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White House Seeks Another Chance in Immigration Case
The Obama administration on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the legality of the president's controversial immigration enforcement plan, which stalled last month when the high court deadlocked. Full Story
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![Immigrants and activists participate in press conference and rally before the kick-off of a 37-mile march on Nov. 19, 2015, The march is designed to show their support for immigration reform. The marchers planned to walk for three days, from the federal immigration detention facility in Taylor to the Texas Governor's Mansion in downtown Austin.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Often-Deported Killer Sentenced to Life
A Webb County jury on Thursday sentenced a four-time deported Mexican man to life in prison for the July 2015 murder of his U.S. citizen wife, Angelica Martinez a mother of three. Full Story
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![Juan Francisco de Luna Vasquez has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2015 murder of his estranged wife.]()
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Rick Perry On Donald Trump’s Border Wall: Never Going to Happen
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry shot down Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border Monday. Full Story
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Feds Tight-Lipped on Weeding Out Corrupt Border Agents
Whether most — or even a significant fraction of — corrupt federal border agents are caught and punished is an open question. Customs and Border Protection boasts of more stringent screening and monitoring of its agents but releases little data to back up its claims. Full Story
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![A Border Patrol Agent makes his way through harsh terrain along the Rio Grande River in Starr County, Texas.]()
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Border Corruption Often Has Family Roots
David Cruz joined the U.S. Border Patrol because he wanted to be "part of the best." But family pressures, disillusionment, love and greed drove him to begin taking bribes to help immigrants enter the country illegally. Full Story
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Cracks in the Wall: When Border Watchdogs Turn Criminal
Rudy Soliz did it for sex. Sergio Lopez Hernandez blamed depression and financial trouble. The crimes differ, but prosecutors say the actions they’re accused of weakened the U.S. borders and ports of entry they were tasked with protecting. Full Story
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![At least 140 officials charged with keeping drugs and people from illegally crossing the nation's borders have been arrested or convicted for corruption in the past 12 years.]()
Credit: Martin do Nascimento for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Agency Votes to Expand Controversial Coal Mine Near Border
The state’s environmental regulatory agency on Wednesday rebuffed a coalition of border residents and environmental activists who hoped to halt a coal mine from expanding its operations near the Rio Grande. Full Story
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Love and Money Join Agent, Drug Smuggler
Former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Raquel Esquivel still wears a government-issue green uniform, but now it's a federal prison jumpsuit. She was convicted in 2009 of helping smugglers sneak loads of marijuana across the border. Full Story
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![Former U.S. Border Patrol agent Raquel Esquivel was pregnant with her third child when she went to prison. She speaks to her children twice a week by phone.]()
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How Investigators Linked a Headless Body to a Border Patrol Agent
When Franky Palacios Paz was found naked and decapitated floating off South Padre Island, the local sheriff thought the murder would lead investigators back to Mexican drug cartel violence. He didn't expect a U.S. Border Patrol agent to be among those arrested. Full Story
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![Ex-Border Patrol agent Joel Luna confers with attorney Carlos Garcia after his arraignment in Brownsville before Judge Benjamin Euresti on Feb. 3, 2016.]()
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State Nearing Goal of 250 New Border Troopers
By the end of August, the Texas Department of Public Safety will be close to its goal of permanently placing 250 additional state troopers on the southern border. Full Story
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Border Wall and Muslim Ban Don't Bother Texas Voters (Podcast)
This week on The Ticket: Ben Philpott and Jay Root try to figure out whether or not the national GOP hand-wringing over Donald Trump has made its way to Texas Republicans. Full Story
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UT Poll: Most Texas Voters Support Banning Muslims, Building Border Wall
A majority of Texas’ registered voters believe Muslims who are not U.S. citizens should be banned from entering the country, according to results of a University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll released Tuesday. Full Story
![Immigrants and activists participate in press conference and rally before the kick-off of a 37-mile march on Nov. 19, 2015, The march is designed to show their support for immigration reform. The marchers planned to walk for three days, from the federal immigration detention facility in Taylor to the Texas Governor's Mansion in downtown Austin.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
A Border Rancher on the Art of Survival
For more than two centuries, the Escobar family has ranched along the Rio Grande. For almost as long, smugglers have moved people and product across their property. Full Story
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![Ruperto Escobar on his South Texas ranch along the Rio Grande, the international boundary between the United States and Mexico, in April 2016. For generations, smugglers have used his family's ranch to move people and product across the border, and Escobar doesn't see that changing anytime soon.]()
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U.S. Supreme Court Tie Deals Blow to Obama's Immigration Order
Dealing a blow to President Obama’s executive immigration order, the U.S. Supreme Court has deadlocked on a lower court's decision to block the plan, which would've provided relief from deportation and work permits to millions of people. Full Story
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![Tomas Martinez, with GLAHR, a grass roots organization from Atlanta, chants to excite the crowd in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 18, 2016.]()
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Boats off the Water Little Help in Border Security
Boats are one of the most effective ways to patrol the 300 miles of river and lakes under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Station. But the boats aren't in the water around the clock. Full Story
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![United States Border Patrol agents patrol a portion of the Rio Grande river between Roma, Texas and Miguel Aléman, Tamaulipas.]()
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Laredo-Based Bank Says CEO Will Stand Up to Trump
A Laredo-based bank is pushing back against criticism of its CEO's involvement in a fundraiser for Donald Trump, arguing that the CEO will stand up to Trump like he has to fellow Texas Republicans over the years. Full Story
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Texans Enlisting With Pro-Cuba Trade Group
A Washington-based interest group has recruited a coalition of Texas educators and business and civic leaders to help convince members of Congress to eliminate this country’s embargo against communist Cuba. Full Story
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Credit: Jacob Villanueva