There's something new in the Texas Republican Party platform: a call for a national guest-worker program. Supporters sold it as a reform that would address labor shortages and as a practical solution to some of the immigration issues that have stumped the GOP. 

A new radio ad from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst brought race and illegal immigration to the forefront of the U.S. Senate race Friday, the last day of early voting before Tuesday's primary.

Calling the "humanitarian crisis" a byproduct of President Obama’s failed effort to secure the border, Gov. Rick Perry has asked the White House to address an influx of unaccompanied minors crossing in to the country.

In Travis County, a controversial immigration-enforcement program has become the key issue in the Democratic primary race for sheriff. Challenger John Sisson sees serious issues with the implementation of Secure Communities, but Sheriff Greg Hamilton says he is merely following the law.

In this week's special edition of the Tribcast, taped live before an audience at the historic Cactus Cafe, Reeve, Emily, Julian and Ben talk about Texas primaries, the Supreme Court taking up the Arizona immigration law and The Colbert Report.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today on Arizona's controversial immigration-enforcement law. Several other states, including Texas, that have passed — or have attempted to pass — similar legislation are certain to keep a close eye on the proceedings.

A new report states that using the National Guard on the border can hinder recruitment efforts and may fuel the perception that the border is militarized. Officials did cite benefits with the effort, including filling in personnel gaps.

Aaronson maps Medicaid patients' access to pharmacies, Aguilar on Mexicans in exile, Batheja on an unlikely threat to a veteran lawmaker's re-election, Galbraith and Murphy interactively track reservoir levels around the state, Grissom on the ringleaders who rule the state's largest youth lockup, Hamilton on how much Texas professors are paid, Ramsey on who's conservative, Ramshaw and Tan on the latest Planned Parenthood kerfuffle, Root on what Santorum's exit means for the Texas primary, and parts 4 (by M. Smith) and 5 (by Tan and Dehn) of our series on school district closures: The best of our best content from April 9-13, 2012.

Since 2006, thousands have been killed in the drug war in Chihuahua, Mexico. Many displaced by the violence are seeking refuge in El Paso, they have come together to form a nonprofit group called Mexicans in Exile. They plan to tour Texas to raise awareness about the tragedy in their homeland. Julian Aguilar explains why the group says they are not "illegal" or "undocumented" but refugees in a place where they never wanted to live.

Ross Ramsey examines how the Tea Party movement has influenced Gov. Rick Perry over the past three years. From the governor's book to his 2010 re-election campaign and his bid for the GOP presidential nomination.  

Find these stories and more in this weekend's editions of the The New York Times and at texastribune.org.

Two years after the city of Austin passed a resolution condemning the state of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law, the city attorney’s office has joined 40 other local entities in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to halt the law. 

Texas’ focus on Washington will shift next month from health care to immigration as the Supreme Court takes up Arizona's case against the federal government over the controversial SB 1070.

Wednesday’s court ruling that the city of Farmers Branch does not have the authority to enact immigration legislation is being hailed as a major victory for immigrants in Texas. But attorneys caution that the decision hardly means all state and local ordinances are dead on arrival. 

The contributing editor for the Houston Chronicle on her book, The Immigrant Advantage, which chronicles several practices that first-generation immigrants bring to the United States. They are practices, Kolker explains, that could benefit families who have lived in the U.S. for generations.

The executive director of NALEO's Educational Fund on what it will take to motivate Latinos to vote this year, why immigration isn't the group's only concern and why voter ID legislation is a bad idea. If they are smart, he says, President Obama and his GOP opponent will make a Latino strategy an important part of their campaigns.

At the national level, Texas voters are worried about pocketbook issues, while at home immigration is the top problem. 

Immigrant rights groups and border business leaders are balking at the White House's proposed 2013 budget, claiming it is business as usual. The Texas Border Coalition insists that the administration's lack of money for port improvements puts trade and security in peril. And rights groups are taking issue with the Secure Communities program.

Some say that the Texas Department of Public Safety is going against its own policy with its "limited term" designations for some driver's licenses and identification cards. Critics say adding those labels isn't consistent with a policy stating that all driver's licenses and ID cards should be in the same format.

Providing legal status to illegal immigrants in the Houston metropolitan area could mean $1.4 billion in additional state and federal tax revenue, a business group says. But others are crying foul, saying its report is one-sided and doesn’t factor in costs of services that the state has to pay for the group.

The insiders think Ron Paul's biggest obstacle is Ron Paul, are pessimistic about Texas Democrats, and predict Democratic primaries focused on education and Republican primaries focused on spending and taxes.

Today, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board revisited the political hot-button issue of allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition. They approved a new rule that would force universities to remind undocumented students of their promise to take steps toward permanent resident status.

After narcotics seizures surged 45 percent in 2010, the Laredo Customs District saw a relatively minimal increase in contraband intercepted at its ports in 2011. But others aren't sure the federal government should applaud so loudly about the Laredo district figures, saying efforts on the whole are lacking. The Texas Border Coalition released a scathing report last week noting that the current strategy doesn’t hinder cartels from moving their products.

Tan and Root on the Texas presidential candidates returning to the state where Rick Perry started his campaign, Philpott on Perry's swipes at Mitt Romney, Ramshaw on Griffin Perry's tweets, M. Smith on the next round of fights over student testing, E. Smith's TribLive interview with Michael Quinn Sullivan, yours truly on the sliding primary election calendar, Hamilton on higher-education efforts to bolster the Texas work force, Grissom's interview with John Raley, Galbraith on the greenhouse gas wars and Aguilar on making it easier for immigrants to return to the U.S.: The best of our best content from January 9 to 13, 2012.

The Obama administration is touting a plan to ease restrictions on illegal immigrants trying to re-enter the U.S. after applying for legal status. The administration says several immigrant families will benefit from the plan, which would allow the applicant to apply for a re-entry waiver before leaving the country. But some caution that the plan shouldn't be oversold as a major step in reform. 

Families waiting for their immigration status to be determined could soon be held in detention centers in Texas. But as Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, some immigrants' rights advocates fear that the practice of detaining families could return as well.

Texans are keenly attuned to what this summer's presidential contest in Mexico means for the peso and, in turn, the state's symbiotic business ties to its southern neighbor. They're also keeping a close eye on whether the trade, security and energy policies of Felipe Calderón’s successor will affect illegal immigration.

The Obama administration is expected to announce today a change to immigration policies that would ease restrictions on illegal immigrants trying to reenter the country after applying for legal status.

Despite Latinos' mounting disapproval for President Obama over his administration’s immigration policies, a majority of them would still prefer to see him in the White House over his Republican challengers.