Texas to close border site used to process arrested migrants
The state opened the facility in Jim Hogg County in 2022. Full Story
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Alejandro Serrano
General Assignment Reporter
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Alejandro Serrano is a general assignment reporter for The Texas Tribune. Before joining the Tribune in the fall of 2022, he reported on a variety of topics for the Houston Chronicle, including education and the Houston Independent School District. The Long Island, New York native received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Northeastern University. He is based in Houston and speaks fluent Spanish.
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![A pedestrian films a video of Texas National Guard soldiers repairing concertina wire along the U.S.-Mexico border after a migrant swam north across the Rio Grande to the United States Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Brownsville. President Joe Biden visited Brownsville on Thursday, receiving briefings from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, USCIS, and ICE along the border before giving remarks at the Brownsville Border Patrol Station.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Feds are opening more detention centers in Texas as Trump administration steps up deportations
The feds are adding thousands of beds to hold families in Texas, which reportedly holds the most immigrants of any state at its 21 detention centers. Full Story
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![The South Texas Family Residential Center is an immigrant detention center in Dilley, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant money
A letter sent this week claims the grant recipients, including many Texas cities and counties, may have illegally “induced” undocumented immigrants to enter the country. Full Story
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![Migrants walk from a DHS tent facility in front of the McAllen bus station to Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center on April 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton investigates Dallas for alleged sanctuary city policies
Attorney General Ken Paxton said a recent statement by Dallas’ interim police chief raised concerns that the city might be violating a state law against so-called sanctuary city policies. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses the crowd during a rally at the Tarrant County Republican Party Headquarters in Fort Worth on January 6, 2025.]()
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How state lawmakers are trying to crack down on illegal immigration
From requiring law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal officials to forcing state contractors to use E-Verify to spot undocumented workers, here are the bills that could reshape the state’s immigration policies. Full Story
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![People who were apprehended by state troopers after crossing the border were brought to the International Bridge in Eagle Pass, where they were handed over to Border Patrol custody on Thursday, May 28, 2022.]()
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South Texas immigration detention center with capacity for 2,400 people to reopen
The Biden administration shuttered the Dilley facility last year because of high operating costs. It’s expected to hold immigrant families under the Trump administration. Full Story
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![South Texas Family Residential Center, an ICE detention center in Dilley on Sept. 30, 2020.]()
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Trump administration removes five immigration judges in Texas, union says
The move raises concerns about large case backlogs that have persisted for years. Full Story
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![Migrants seeking asylum in the United States who previously requested an appointment on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection One application at the CBP building in El Paso on June 14, 2024.]()
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More than 100 arrested in Colony Ridge immigration raids, ICE says
The development outside of Houston has long drawn the ire of Texas Republicans who claim it’s a haven for undocumented people. Full Story
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![Tom Homan, President Donald Trump's "border czar" appointee, at a Thanksgiving dinner event for Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and National Guard troops in Edinburg on Nov. 26, 2024.]()
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Feds target “criminals and illegal immigrants” in Houston-area development, Abbott says
The Colony Ridge development has long been under scrutiny from conservative lawmakers, think tanks and influencers who cast it as a hotbed for undocumented immigrants and cartel crime. Full Story
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![An overhead view of the Colony Ridge development in New Caney on Oct. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves school funding proposal focused on teacher raises
Teachers with three and five years of experience would qualify for raises under Senate Bill 26. Instructors in smaller school districts would get bigger pay bumps. Full Story
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![Third grade teacher Eran McGowan watches students demonstrate their answers to the class at the Eddie Bernice Johnson STEM Academy in Dallas, Texas on Feb. 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune