TribBlog: North vs. South
A group of border leaders claims Washington is ignoring Texas yet again — but the issue isn't immigration or security this time. Full Story
The latest immigration news from The Texas Tribune.
A group of border leaders claims Washington is ignoring Texas yet again — but the issue isn't immigration or security this time. Full Story
The Hispanic vote in Texas is often referred to as a "sleeping giant" because of historically low turnout. If Hispanics were to show up at the ballot box in record numbers, they could easily influence elections of all kinds. In part two of his three-part series, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on the efforts of state Democrats to sound the alarm. Full Story
Jose Reyes Ferriz on what he'll do next, why his successor isn't corrupt and why the violence in his crime-ridden city will continue. Full Story
Bill V. Flores, president of University of Houston-Downtown, is joining calls for the passage of the DREAM Act, which clears a path to permanent-residency status for undocumented students. Full Story
After a sluggish 2009, Texas' top trade districts — Houston, Laredo and El Paso — are rebounding well from the national recession and witnessing huge increases in the value of trade passing through their ports this year. Full Story
Of the 1,200 National Guard troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border, Texas will see 250 — fewer than half of the 524 ordered to Arizona. Full Story
Fewer students from Mexico have enrolled at border schools like the University of Texas at El Paso, UT-Pan American, and Texas A&M International since 2006, while their ranks have grown at schools farther from the Rio Grande, like UT-Austin and Texas A&M. Can the drop be attributed to the drug war, or is the growing violence simply compounding the decades-old problem of border "brain drain"? Full Story
Grissom's three-part series (here, here and here) on prosperity and peril along the U.S.-Mexico border, Hu on the Division of Workers' Compensation audit report, Stiles puts more than 3,000 personal disclosure forms filed by politicians, candidates and state officials online, M. Smith on attempts to curb the practice of barratry (better known as ambulance chasing), Ramsey interviews the chair of the Texas Libertarian Party, Hamilton on attempts to improve the success rates of community colleges, Galbraith on whether electric deregulation has helped or hurt Texans, Aguilar talks to a chronicler of the bloody narco-wars and Ramshaw on doctors who most often prescribe antipsychotic drugs to the state's neediest patients: The best of our best from July 12 to 16, 2010. Full Story
For years, the sister cities of Presidio and Ojinaga watched jealously as other border cities prospered. Now when they look east to the Rio Grande Valley and west to El Paso and Juárez, they see fear and bloodshed, and the envy fades to thankfulness. The poverty and isolation that have held them back keep the violence at bay. But for how long? Full Story
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano in Laredo today announced more money for border states and defended an administration under fire from folks on the Mexican border. Full Story
For decades, residents of impoverished Mexican border towns have toiled in the cotton and alfalfa fields or in the giant factories of Juárez. Those seeking more than paupers’ wages worked for the cartels. Yet their communities remained peaceful until the horror of the drug war bled into the farmland. As the violence worsens, law enforcement has rushed to both sides of the Rio Grande — but greater security brings little comfort and little hope. Full Story
Law enforcement and school officials discuss the changes that have happened in Fort Hancock as its sister city in Mexico, El Porvenir, has been overwhelmed with cartel violence. Full Story
In this week's TribCast, Ross, Elise, Ben and Brandi discuss the issues framing Texas politics this week — education, immigration and campaign finance numbers. Full Story
Depending on whom you ask, anywhere between 100,000 to half a million Juarenses have left Mexico since drug violence exploded in 2008. In a tragic irony, neighboring El Paso is flourishing economically as Juárez descends further into terror. Full Story
As the savage drug war rages on in Juárez, both the fun and the business have fled, bringing to El Paso, its sleepy sister city, a vibrant new culture and an economic boost. In a tragic irony, a measure of El Paso’s recent fortune results directly from the suffering of Juárez. But experts warn that El Paso leaders rely on Juárez’s decline at their own risk. Ultimately, as Juárez goes, so goes El Paso, they say. Full Story
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will visit Texas’ border with Mexico on Thursday when she meets with customs officials and local law enforcement in Laredo. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry chats with the FOX Business Network's Neil Cavuto about his latest poll numbers, the moratorium on deep water drilling and the cancellation of a Border Governors' Conference that was going to take place in Arizona, until Mexican governors boycotted the meeting. Full Story
Charles Bowden, author of Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields, on how he keeps his sanity, when the narco-wars will end and Mexican President Felipe Calderón's Pandora's box. Full Story
Reporter Charles Bowden on his coverage of Ciudad Juárez. Full Story
Reporter Charles Bowden on his coverage of Ciudad Juárez. Full Story