Like parents threatening to withhold allowance from a misbehaving child, proponents of Senate Bill 9 are warning local authorities across the state: Comply or face the fiscal consequences.

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.

The controversial Secure Communities initiative, aimed at deporting criminal aliens but criticized for removing mostly minor offenders of lesser crimes, may undergo considerable changes, according to the director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Likely voters in Texas approve of President Barack Obama almost as much as they approve of Gov. Rick Perry, according to the third and final release of poll results from the Texas Lyceum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of civic leaders.

On this week's episode, Reeve, Julian, Morgan and Jim discuss Texas Monthly's list of the best and worst legislators, education and immigration in the special session, and Gov. Rick Perry's still-hypothetical presidential bid.

Texans are hammering away at Barack Obama for failing to secure our borders and for refusing to put forward a comprehensive immigration-reform plan, but the number of federal prosecutions for "illegal re-entry" has quietly skyrocketed under his administration.

Less than a week after Gov. Rick Perry added the measure to the special session agenda, the contentious “sanctuary cities” bill is one step closer to what lawmakers see as its inevitable passage.

Republican lawmakers in Texas, unfazed by state governments across the country opting out of a controversial immigration enforcement program, are instead seeking to expand it here.

A bill recently signed into law gives law enforcement agencies and lawyers more power to fight wage theft, to which illegal immigrants often fall victim. As Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, even in a session dominated by efforts to enact strict immigration legislation, the bill met little resistance.

Aaronson and Grissom on a freshman lawmaker who didn't mind making waves, Aguilar on E-Verify's new lease on life, Galbraith on the state's plodding progress toward solar power, Hamilton on Warren Chisum's exit, Philpott on the remapping of Lloyd Doggett's district, Ramsey on a proposed change to ethics laws for Texas pols, Ramshaw on efforts by the state to take control of Medicaid and Medicare, Root on why a Rick presidential bid shouldn't be underestimated, M. Smith on the unraveling of school finance legislation and Tan and Dehn on the highs and lows of the 82nd legislative session: The best of our best content from May 30 to June 3, 2011.

The Trib's multimedia team highlights some of the most memorable — and surprising — moments from the 82nd Legislative Session. Our lawmakers sure do love to make a statement, complete with finger pointing, yelling and props. (Some video courtesy the Texas House, the Texas Senate and legetv.org.)

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last week upholding an Arizona law that punishes employers who hire illegal immigrants may give Texas lawmakers some newfound momentum to file immigration-related legislation.

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.

At this morning's TribLive conversation, I asked Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, if sanctuary cities legislation could still be approved in the 82nd Legislative Session.

The federal government's effort to secure the border is "puny," Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday, adding, "Texas is being forced to do things that aren't our responsibility."

The most important problems facing the country are economic, while immigration and border security are the most important problems facing the state, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

A portion of a multi-faceted homeland security bill that appeared near dead earlier was successfully attached tonight to a House bill relating to the deportation of illegal immigrants who have been incarcerated and released from prison.

Root and Galbraith on a Dallas billionaire's radioactive waste dump victory, Grissom on the passage of eyewitness ID reform, Hamilton on the old grudges bedeviling the debate over higher ed, Philpott on the status of congressional redistricting, Ramsey on Rick Perry's un-campaign for president, Ramshaw on why medical schools are the scorned children of the state's education budget, my session-wrap interview with three veteran Democrats, M. Smith on why Rob Eissler can't pass mandate relief for school districts and Stiles on who's giving what to which Texas candidates in 2011-12 congressional races: The best of our best content from May 16 to 20, 2011.