Analyzing 2019: Unrest on the Texas-Mexico border

The crisis on the Texas-Mexico border went beyond fences and locked gates and into punitive treatment. Migrants on the other side of the border found themselves in dire straits. And a lasting political solution was no more within reach at the end of 2019 than at the beginning. Some columns from the year explored the situation:

The family separation crisis peaked more than a year ago. Conditions at the border are still terrible.

A year ago, public attention and outrage about family separations on the U.S.-Mexico border prompted the Trump administration to back off its zero-tolerance immigration policy. Attention waned, but the federal government's ineffective border policies have drawn the public eye once again.

Why would politicians fix our immigration problems when they can campaign off the mess?

Look at the immigration problem, at the issues on the border, at what lawmakers are doing in response and at the polling of what voters think. It looks like the fight might be more beneficial to the politicians than a solution would be.

U.S.-Mexico border detention efforts aren’t good enough, according to the government itself

A steady stream of critical and detailed reports about the federal government's handling of migrants and children at the U.S.-Mexico border paint a vivid picture of what's going on. The source? The Office of Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security.

A modest proposal for the Texas-Mexico border crisis

The crisis on the Texas-Mexico border persists, even as President Trump's racist Twitter attacks on four members of Congress threaten to distract voters and lawmakers.