Trump administration expands military’s role at the border to the southern tip of Texas
The newly annexed 250-mile stretch at the border spans two counties and runs alongside cities including Brownsville and McAllen. Full Story
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![A U.S. Army M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle, known as a Stryker, deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border stands guard in the Camino Real Landfill in Sunland Park, New Mexico on March 28, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
New insight into Texas family detention reveals adults fighting kids for clean water
A motion filed Friday reveals details about the conditions some immigrant families face at detention centers in Texas. Full Story
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![South Texas Family Residential Center, an ICE detention center in Dilley on Sept. 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Under Trump, Texas reins in border spending and shifts focus to deportations
With border crossings at record lows, state authorities are being sent to arrest people accused of committing crimes in Texas after entering the country illegally. Full Story
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![Shelby Park, occupied by the Texas National Guard and other state agencies, is seen along the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Eagle Pass.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Judge convicts Ecuadorian migrant of trespassing on newly formed National Defense Area near El Paso
The Ecuadorian man was acquitted by a jury on a separate charge after crossing into the new military zone in May. Full Story
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![A U.S. Army M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle, known as a Stryker, deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border under Title 10 in Sunland Park, New Mexico on March 28, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
With only 8% built, Texas quietly defunds state border wall program
Texas officials suggested the federal government could pick up construction. However, during President Trump’s first term, his administration built about one-third of what the state was able to put up in the same amount of time. Full Story
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![A section of state-built border wall under construction near the banks of the Rio Grande south of Laredo in Zapata Co. on Sept. 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
After El Paso joined Abbott’s border crackdown, migrant deaths have surged in the New Mexico desert
Since El Paso joined Operation Lone Star in 2022, migrant remains discovered in the desert west of the city have increased every year, even as they have declined in every other border sector. Full Story
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![Doña Ana County Sheriff Deputy N. Al-Abayad, left, and Detective Alan Barbosa transport a body bag containing the bones of a migrant, first found by volunteers with Battalion Search and Rescue, on May 3, 2025. The discovery of migrant bodies in the desert has spiked since El Paso joined Texas’ Operation Lone Star.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Meet the tent company making a fortune off Trump’s deportation plans
Deployed Resources, a privately held tent company, is set to operate a new ICE tent camp to hold people awaiting deportation in El Paso, Texas. Full Story
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![A large, soft-sided migrant processing facility, meant to process and house large numbers of migrants, is located on the outskirts of El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.]()
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Who are the undocumented immigrants in Texas?
The estimated 1.7 million undocumented people in Texas are now targets of the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown. Here’s what we know about them. Full Story
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![There are estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants in Texas. That's one in 20 Texans.]()
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U.S. claims migrants held at Guantanamo are “worst of the worst.” Their families say otherwise.
The Trump administration has flown about 100 immigrants from El Paso to Guantanamo Bay. ProPublica and The Texas Tribune identified nearly a dozen of them and spoke to relatives of three of them. Full Story
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![Two men in shackles are loaded onto a flight to Guantanamo Bay in a photo released by the Department of Homeland Security.]()
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Texas could sell 100 miles of border to feds, Abbott says
Abbott is in Washington this week to lobby Congress for $11 billion to compensate Texas for money spent on his Operation Lone Star, to secure the border during the Biden Administration. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott answers questions regarding Operation Lone Star, congressional leadership and his plans for Texas to work with the Trump administration among other things on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, at The Royal Sonesta Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
Donald Trump’s immigration executive orders: Tracking the most impactful changes
ProPublica and The Texas Tribune took a snapshot of the blitz of executive orders Trump has signed since taking office by tallying nearly three dozen from his first day. Full Story
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![Silhouetted speaker U.S. President Donald J. Trump on stage facing bright lights, with raised arms and two transparent screens on either side.]()
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U.S. can have our wall, bases and detention cells, Abbott tells Trump
The governor said the state resources are available to the federal government and requested that the U.S. reimburse Texas for the border hardening measures under Operation Lone Star. Full Story
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![Former President Donald Trump greets and shakes hands with Gov. Greg Abbott at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, on Nov. 19, 2023, after the governor announced his endorsement of President Trump. “We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America,” the governor said.]()
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Border security, birthright citizenship, asylum: How Trump’s moves could overhaul immigration
The president is making good on his campaign promise with attempts to beef up security at the border and limit immigration. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump signs documents as he issues executive orders and pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House on Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025.]()
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Many Texas schools take “wait and see” approach to Trump’s mass deportation plans
Schools near the border say it’s hard to prepare for the unknown. Immigration advocates say they should help communities understand students’ rights. Full Story
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![A student draws in an art classroom in Texas.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Trump to tap Texas “border czar” to lead U.S. Border Patrol, report says
Mike Banks, a former Border Patrol agent, has served in his current role as a special advisor to Gov. Greg Abbott since January 2023. Full Story
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![Texas Border Czar Mike Banks at a news conference regarding border security at the Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco on Feb. 21, 2023.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Look back at some of the best Texas Tribune reads of 2024
Our journalists brought life to the experiences of everyday Texans, held powerful institutions accountable and surfaced stories that went beyond the daily news cycles. Full Story
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![The dome of the Texas State Capitol on Thursday, April 24, 2014.]()
Credit: Anneke Els Paterson for The Texas Tribune -
As landowners resist, Texas’ border wall is fragmented and built in remote areas
At least a third of landowners approached by state officials have refused to let wall be built on their properties. That’s forced the state to largely build on ranchland in remote areas, or erect sections that are full of gaps. Full Story
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Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
Trump’s near sweep of Texas border counties shows a shift to the right for Latino voters
The former president captured 55% of Latino voters in the state, according to exit polls. He also won 14 out of the 18 counties within 20 miles of the border, a number that doubled his 2020 performance in the Latino-majority region. Full Story
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![Gabriel Garza, left, augmentee with the sheriff’s office, congratulates, Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, right, after the final vote counts for the night were announced around 10pm at Val Verde County Courthouse on election day on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Del Rio, Texas. Martinez was in the lead ahead of his opponent Rogelio “Roger” Hernandez 7,926 votes to 6,033.]()
Credit: Salgu Wissmath for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
A pro-gun, anti-abortion border sheriff appealed to both parties. Then he was painted as soft on immigration.
Immigration is not part of Joe Frank Martinez’s job. But in Del Rio, like in other majority Latino communities across the country, the issue is high on voters’ minds and is disrupting long-standing political allegiances. Full Story
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![The memory of nearly 20,000 primarily Haitian immigrants arriving at the border is seared into the minds of Del Rio residents. Many fear it could happen again, making immigration one of the key issues in Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez’s race for reelection and disrupting local politics.]()
Credit: From left: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune, Liz Moughon/ProPublica, Gerardo del Valle/ProPublica -
Eagle Pass residents rally to have state return Shelby Park
Residents say they can no longer access the park after the state seized it against the city’s wishes in January. Full Story
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![Protesters march toward Shelby Park on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. A rally was held near Shelby Park protesting the current occupation of the park by the Texas Department of Public Safety as part of Operation Lonestar. The park, which became a global focal point for illegal border crossings, was once open to the public but is now closed to the public and heavily fortified.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune