The latest immigration news from The Texas Tribune.
Along the Texas-Mexico border, colonias residents tell identical stories: of migrating with dreams of safety and prosperity, of getting swindled into buying worthless land, of sticking it out so their children will get educated. And of getting sick. Full Story
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Aguilar on a change in law that affects applications for state-issued IDs, Galbraith on how the drought is taking its toll on wildlife, Hamilton on an outsider's attempt to lower the cost of higher ed, Murphy visualizes the partisanship of House members, Ramsey on who becomes Lite Guv if David Dewhurst takes another job, Ramshaw on life in the colonias and three stories about Rick Perry — Grissom on how his death penalty stance might play in a 2012 presidential race, Root on how he cemented his reputation as one of the state's most powerful governors and Tan on the growing demand for him to speak elsewhere: The best of our best content from July 4 to July 8, 2011. Full Story
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Conditions have clearly improved in Texas' colonias since devious developers first established them for migrant workers in the 1950s. But many efforts have fallen short, the result of bureaucratic nightmares and a spiral of confusion and fees. Full Story
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On the Texas side of the U.S. border with Mexico, an estimated half a million people live in colonias, impoverished subdivisions that often lack basic services. Take our video tour of some of the worst — and most improved — conditions. Full Story
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An amendment attached to SB 1 during the special session will require applicants for driver's licenses and other state-issued identification cards to produce government-issued documents affirming their legal status. Full Story
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U.S. and Mexico inked a deal today that marks the end of a years-long dispute over how far past the border long-haul tractor-trailers can travel. Full Story
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Want a quick recap of some of the happenings this week in the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly video rundown of the action under the dome. Full Story
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A border-area lawmaker in Texas wants state troopers to help the federal government stop southbound weapons and funds that are boosting Mexican drug cartels. Hernán Rozemberg of public radio's Fronteras Desk reports. Full Story
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Tea Partiers thought this session was their time to shine, after helping to elect and elevate the GOP to supermajority status in the state House. As The Texas Tribune's Thanh Tan reports, they're disappointed some of their pet issues were not resolved. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry position on "sanctuary cities" doesn't play well with Latino voters but his record of job creation and his business-friendly approach may cause some to look beyond that if he decides to seek the White House. Full Story
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Call it the biggest consolation prize in recent history of the state legislature. Democrats, outnumbered in both chambers, actually won the battle over immigration after losing out to the Republican supermajority on abortion and Voter ID legislation and deep cuts to public services, mainly health care and education. Full Story
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Attribute it to a Teflon coating, to his decisive win in a divided primary last year, or to luck, but Gov. Rick Perry is coming out of the 82nd legislative session without many bruises. Full Story
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The Trib's been keeping track of the key issues throughout the special session. From budget measures to school finance, health care and airport groping, here's our final rundown of bills that passed, and the ones that died. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus have released statements blaming the death of sanctuary cities on Sen. Robert Duncan and the full Senate, respectively. Now, the Senate's Republicans are returning the favor. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Sanctuary cities bill isn't dead; UT System and former adviser Rick O'Donnell reach settlement; House passes health reform bill; George Will says Rick Perry is a "potentially potent candidate"; debating how much credit Perry deserves for jobs creation; TSA removes 95-year-old woman's diaper Full Story
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State Rep. Burt Solomons says at least one version of the contentious sanctuary cities bill will advance out of committee today, despite the morning cancellation of a House State Affairs meeting. Full Story
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Precious days are dwindling away in the first-called special session of the state legislature, leading to speculation that one of the most divisive issues of the regular and special session, the “sanctuary cities” legislation, may not make the deadline. Full Story
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An Everybody-in-the-Pool effort on what's left to do in the special session, Ramshaw on a doozy of a congressional race shaping up, Aguilar on the debate over sanctuary cities and other immigration proposals, M. Smith on the state's used-up Rainy Day Fund, Grissom on efforts to kick the special interests out of an insurance fight, Dehn and Tan on whether the special session helps or hurts the governor's national ambitions, Galbraith and KUT Radio team up for a series on the long-term outlook for Central Texas water, Aaronson on government attempts to balance openness and privacy with data releases, yours truly on Amazon's run at a sales tax break, and Hamilton on an ethnic gap in higher education: The best of our best from June 20 to 24, 2011. Full Story
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Two Republican boosters have circulated a memo urging business owners to contact lawmakers to encourage them to vote against the “sanctuary cities” bills pending in committee. Full Story
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Not every crowd is an adoring crowd. Gov. Rick Perry got a reality check in San Antonio this week. Full Story
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