What you need to know about the Venezuelan gang that Texas is targeting
Gov. Greg Abbott has declared the Venezuelan gang a foreign terrorist organization and asked the Department of Public Safety to create a strike team targeting them. Full Story
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![Members of the Chilean Armed Forces participate in a security operation against suspects with links to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, on May 29, 2024.]()
Credit: Patricio Cortés B./Ulan/POOL via REUTERS -
Gov. Greg Abbott announces crackdown on Venezuelan gang
Abbott signed a proclamation declaring Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization and directed Texas DPS to create strike teams targeting the gang. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott arrives at a press conference with several other states leadership at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Feb. 04, 2024.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Dan Patrick asks Senate to consider bills to unmask protesters, change runoff elections
The new list includes many right-wing priorities, and would escalate Republicans’ wars against diversity, equity and inclusion programs and review laws to keep noncitizens off voter rolls. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks during the Texas GOP Convention in San Antonio on May 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Mayorkas: Texas’ immigration policies have wreaked havoc and disorder
The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary specifically called out the state’s policy of busing migrants to cities in other parts of the country. Full Story
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![Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, speaks about border issues with Laura Barrón-López, correspondent for PBS News Hour, at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, TX on Sept. 6, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Watch Alejandro Mayorkas speak at the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival
The U.S. Homeland Security secretary will be interviewed by Laura Barrón-López of PBS NewsHour. The conversation starts at 5:15 p.m. Friday. Full Story
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Alejandro Mayorkas joins Texas Tribune Festival lineup
The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary will be interviewed by Laura Barrón-López of “PBS News Hour.” Full Story
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Group of Texas Democrats asks DOJ to investigate Texas over possible voter rights violations
The request by the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus in a letter to the Department of Justice follows a similar request by a Latino civil rights organization. Full Story
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![A bipartisan testing crew uses voting machines and tabulators during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test on Sept. 21 at the Hays County government building in San Marcos. Texas law requires public testing of the voting machines before and after every election.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Judge rejects Ken Paxton’s bid to question leader of Brownsville migrant aid organization
The AG’s office sought to depose the leader of Team Brownsville, which provides water, shelter and basic necessities to asylum-seeking migrants. Full Story
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![Asylum seekers wait in line to get a meal provided by Team Brownsville near the Gateway International Bridge in Matamoros, Mexico on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. Most of the people have been sent back under the Migrant Protection Protocols, MPP, also known as “Remain in Mexico” program along with some Mexican nationals awaiting their turn to seek asylum in the U.S.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
Judge in Texas pauses Biden program offering legal status to spouses of U.S. citizens
Biden announced the program in June and Republicans in 16 states filed suit. The federal judge issued an order that puts the program on hold for at least two weeks. Full Story
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![President Joe Biden delivers the keynote address during an event commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library on July 29, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Judge rejects Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to shut down Houston immigrant rights group
Paxton’s office claimed the group broke rules prohibiting political activity by nonprofits, but the judge rejected the case outright. Full Story
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![Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL Houston, speaks during a press conference to announce the Drive-Thru Eviction Aid Fair on Jan. 14, 2021, outside of the George Thomas “Mickey” Leland Federal Building in Houston.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas, other GOP-led states sue over program to give immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens legal status
The suit targets a new Biden administration policy that allows spouses to remain in the U.S. while they apply for legal status and possibly a path to citizenship. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a border security briefing at Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco on Jan. 27, 2022.]()
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Texas’ busing of migrants hits a speed bump as fewer enter country
The bus trips to Democrat-run cities stopped after June as the number of migrants apprehended across the southwest border plummeted. Full Story
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![A bus with dozens of migrants, including included several family units, leaves a shelter and heads to New York City on Aug. 31, 2022, in El Paso. The city and county of El Paso are sponsoring (to be reimbursed by FEMA) the voluntary trips to relieve pressure on local resources and shelters.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. indicts Guatemalan man over 2022 deaths of 53 migrants in San Antonio trailer
The indictment of the alleged leader of the human smuggling organization comes a day after Guatemalan authorities arrested him and six others in connection with the tragedy. Full Story
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![A tractor-trailer found near Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio contained the bodies of 46 dead people, along with 16 others who have been taken to hospitals on June 27, 2022, local officials in San Antonio said.]()
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Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Houston immigrants’ rights org over political speech
Attorney General Ken Paxton has targeted similar organizations that aid migrants at the border. The lawsuit appears to be the first to focus on political speech and rules that govern nonprofits. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Texas GOP Convention Thursday, May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Abbott order will require Texas hospitals to collect patients’ immigration status
The executive order from the Texas governor will require hospitals to track the cost of care for undocumented migrants, in order for the state to push for federal reimbursement. Full Story
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![Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks about Hurricane Beryl recovery efforts during a press conference in Houston on Sunday July 14,2024.]()
Credit: Douglas Sweet Jr. for The Texas Tribune -
Texas attorney general says Biden must continue border wall construction after court deadline passes
Texas sued to stop an executive order issued by President Biden on his Inauguration Day to stop border wall construction and divert funds that had already been allocated for the project. Full Story
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![The border wall as seen from a US CBP helicopter in a remote section of southern New Mexico on December 14, 2021.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ floating barrier in the Rio Grande can stay for now, appeals court says
After Texas deployed the barrier, a panel ordered it removed. The full appeals court says it can stay while a lower court hears a case on the merits. Full Story
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![State law enforcement officers stand guard as workers construct a string of buoys which is being deployed to prevent migrants from swimming across the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass on July 14, 2023.]()
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El Paso County officials say it’s time the state pays for Operation Lone Star arrests
County officials issued a disaster declaration Tuesday, saying the state’s mass arrests at the border have cost the county millions of dollars and overwhelmed its criminal justice system. Full Story
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![An undocumented Mexican migrant waits to board the vehicle where he will be transported after being arrested for trespassing private property by State Troopers as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County, on Nov. 9, 2021.]()
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Texas attorney general can’t question Catholic Charities director over migrant services, court says
Wednesday’s ruling is the second time a Texas judge has ruled against the attorney general for investigating shelters helping migrants. Full Story
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![A table displayed with religious objects for sermons inside the Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen on April 22, 2021.]()
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Texas GOP leaders paint Harris as a disaster on border security
Everything wrong with border security is the fault of the Democratic vice president, these Republicans say. Full Story
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![Vice President Kamala Harris speak about abortion rights with Mini Timmaraju, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Julieta Garibay, Senior Capacity Building Director for Groundswell Fund, at the LBJ Museum in Austin on Oct. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune