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The latest border news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Business as Unusual

    By Julián Aguilar

    “Fear is paralyzing,” says Jose Luis Mauricio, the president of LaRED, a group of Mexican professionals who have banded together and are networking in El Paso as a result of the violence that’s ravaged Ciudad Juárez. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • "I Will Never Return"

    By Julián Aguilar

    Withing walking distance of the port of entry at Roma, a Lions Club community center in a tiny Mexican town is the temporary home to hundreds to citizens fleeing drug violence in Ciudad Mier, which was reportedly overtaken by the Zetas cartel on Nov. 5. An official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection says that despite the town’s proximity to Texas, agents are operating there without an increase in manpower. Full Story 

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    Credit: Adriana Gómez Licón

  • Blood and Money

    By Julián Aguilar

    Each year, billions of dollars are smuggled into Mexico through Texas ports by drug cartels for the purpose of bribing government officials, hiring assassins and purchasing arms. For now, at least, there's not much that the U.S. or Mexican governments can do about it. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • TribBlog: Cornyn Hits DHS on "Selective Enforcement"

    By Julián Aguilar

    In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and six other Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee say the dismissals of cases against aliens is a result of a directive from ICE Director John T. Morton to staff attorneys ordering them to review and dismiss cases that do not involve Level 1 offenses—aggravated felonies or two or more felonies. Full Story 

    U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, at the state Republican convention in 2010.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Calderón's Goal

    By Julián Aguilar

    The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, played a little soccer this week in Ciudad Juárez, but his real game was creating hope in a place where none exists. Full Story 

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    Credit: Julian Aguilar

  • TribBlog: Murder at Falcon Lake

    By Julián Aguilar

    Law enforcement agencies are again warning patrons of Falcon Lake in South Texas to stay on the U.S. side of the popular fishing spot. The warning follows the fatal shooting of a U.S. man by Mexican pirates who allegedly attacked him after he traveled into Guerrero Viejo, Tamaulipas, on his Jet Ski. Full Story 

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  • "We Do Not Want More Deaths"

    By Julián Aguilar

    "It is impossible to carry out our role in these conditions," read the editorial this week in El Diario de Juárez. "Tell us, therefore, what is expected of us as a medium." The paper was directly addressing Mexican drug traffickers who assassinated its young photographer Luis Carlos Santiago in broad daylight, but the whole world took notice — and asked if the Mexican media was finally waving the white flag before the cartels and gangs now warring for control of the bloodied country. Diario editor Pedro Torres explains that the intent was simply "to call attention to what is going on." Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Terrence Poppa: The TT Interview

    By Julián Aguilar

    The author of Drug Lord on rumors of Mexican political corruption, how the drug war is like Prohibition, why drug traffickers aren't like Muslim extremists, whether the U.S. media really understands Mexico and why Hezbollah has set up shop across the border. Full Story 

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    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Terrence Poppa Interview

    By Julián Aguilar

    Terrence Poppa discusses the third edition of his book, Drug Lord, which includes a new epilogue that analyzes how U.S. drug policy has hindered Mexico's efforts to curtail drug violence and corruption. Full Story 

  • A Conversation With Debbie Riddle

    By Evan Smith

    For the 12th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the GOP state representative from Tomball about what she really said on CNN, whether "tourism" babies are a threat to national security, why an Arizona-style immigration law would be right for Texas and whether she'll back Joe Straus for speaker. Full Story 

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  • The Show Must Go On

    By Julián Aguilar

    Despite the violence-fueled cancellation of bicentennial festivities in other major border towns, Nuevo Laredo plans to forge ahead with its celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Full Story 

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    Credit: Christian Frausto Bernal

  • Emilio's Exile

    By Julián Aguilar

    Journalist Emilio Gutiérrez says that after he reported on allegations that Mexican soldiers robbed citizens, the military threatened his life. That led him to seek asylum in the U.S. — but instead, he landed in an immigration detention center for seven months. He's still waiting to find out his ultimate fate. Full Story 

    Mexican reporter Emilio Gutiérrez has sought asylum in the United States since 2008.
    Credit: Julian Aguilar