The latest immigration news from The Texas Tribune.
The commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on why he believes the Texas-Mexico border is secure, why deportations of criminals have reached unprecedented levels, why trade between the U.S. and Mexico still thrives and what motivates most undocumented immigrants to enter this country illegally. Full Story
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As anti-immigration sentiment continues to rise along with border violence, proposals to abolish the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision have ricocheted through the political noise machine as an antidote for the incidence of “anchor babies.” But as a practical matter, what would the removal of birthright citizenship mean for the country? Pierce the fog of rhetoric and you’ll quickly discover that nobody really knows — including the state and federal lawmakers yelling loudest for change. Full Story
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The Tribune interviews U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin. Full Story
Stiles on Bill White's donor-appointees, M. Smith on a form of meritless lawsuit that's still legal in Texas, Ramshaw on what federal health care reform means for the future of physician-owned specialty hospitals, Galbraith's interview with the chairman of the Public Utility Commission, Philpott on the latest flap over federal education funding, Grissom on the finally-in-compliance Dallas County Jail, Titus on the oiled pelicans of the BP spill, Hamilton's interview with the new chancellor of the Texas State University System, Ramsey on the political and legal definitions of residency, Hu on Barack Obama's visit to Austin and Aguilar on what the U.S. could be doing to aid Mexico: The best of our best from August 9 to 13, 2010. Full Story
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Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske laid out the case against legalizing marijuana and other drugs today at a border security conference. Full Story
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In today's must-watch video, the Texas congressman who first brought up the "terror baby" claims on the U.S. House floor isn't taking too kindly to being challenged about it. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and his Democratic challenger, Bill White, appeared on the same stage in Austin on Thursday. But anyone itching for a debate between the two was disappointed. The candidates were separated on the schedule by other speakers and were never even in the room at the same time. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune filed this report. Full Story
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State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, says "former FBI officials" are the sources of her information about a terror baby plot. When the Tribune asked her office for records of any such conversations, her chief of staff said they don't exist. Full Story
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U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual kicked off the 2010 Border Security Conference in El Paso with a recap of the violence to date, and his explanation of why the border will survive. Full Story
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State Rep. Debbie Riddle's terror baby claims of earlier this week were called "absurd" last night by a former FBI official, who said "there was never a credible report, or any report for that matter ... to indicate that there was such a plan." Full Story
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Of the 4.3 million babies born in the U.S. in 2008, 340,000 — about 8 percent — had parents who were undocumented immigrants, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. Full Story
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Tuesday night on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, state Reps. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, and Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, debated the perilous issue del día: anchor babies. According to Riddle, women would give birth to terrorist babies in the U.S. who can then destroy America once they come of age. Full Story
A large majority of the residents of Texas cities on the U.S.-Mexico border feel relatively safe despite harsh rhetoric from lawmakers and a consistent media portrayal of their communities as war zones, according to a poll released today. Full Story
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In his first trip to the Texas capital as president, Barack Obama served up little news but plenty of red meat for supporters. Check out our pool report from his fundraiser and our audio, video and slideshow of his UT-Austin speech. Full Story
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As President Barack Obama delivered his speech on higher education and economics, Governor Rick Perry gave his own remarks on what he thinks needs to be done for Texas border security. KUT's Erika Aguilar reports. Full Story
After a brief tarmac meeting with President Barack Obama, Gov. Rick Perry returned to bashing the administration over border security. Full Story
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A government report finds the U.S. has been too slow to aid Mexico and other crime-ridden countries at a time when drug-related violence is escalating. Efforts to combat alien smuggling have also fallen short. Full Story
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The 1,200-mile border it shares with Mexico makes Texas one the most vulnerable states when it comes to imported infectious diseases. In a majority of cases, Customs and Border Protection officers are unable to detect these public health threats at ports of entry, according to a new Centers for Disease Control study. Full Story
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The author and former security guard at the Port Isabel detention center for illegal immigrants talked with the Tribune last week about the torture, sexual abuse and drug smuggling he says he witnessed there. Full Story
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A report released today from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University shows that during the first nine months of 2010, Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 279,035 non-citizens, compared to 254,763 for the same time period during the final year of the Bush administration. Full Story
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