Migrant apprehensions are down at the Texas border. Have state policies had an impact?
Abbott has credited his Operation Lone Star for a recent drop in migrant encounters on the Texas-Mexico border. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83b2a1a82c7de53e0cf8e867105613b8/Operation%20Lone%20Star%20VGC%2033.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/profiles/Alejandro_Serrano_2x3.jpg)
Alejandro Serrano writes about Texas politics and government, with a focus on immigration and education issues. Since joining the Tribune, he has helped investigate the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, lived for half a year in Eagle Pass during a temporary assignment covering immigration and documented a variety of major occurrences in the state from Houston, where he used to live. He previously covered education for the Houston Chronicle and breaking news for the San Francisco Chronicle. The Long Island, New York, native received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Northeastern University. He is based in Austin and speaks fluent Spanish.
Latest Contributions
-
![Texas DPS special agents apprehend a group of five undocumented migrants from Honduras that were caught in private property as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County near Brackettville on Nov. 8, 2021. The owner of the property did not sign an affidavit for arrests of undocumented migrants to be taking place at their property so the group of Hondurans will be processed by Border Patrol instead.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune -
Man crashes stolen 18-wheeler into DPS office, killing one and injuring several others
Authorities arrested the driver, whom a local official said was denied a commercial driver’s license from the Brenham DPS station. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/fd00248f901ee5091236eb0fa0473743/DPS%20Texas%20Capitol%20MG%20TT%2010.jpg)
![Texas Department of Public Safety vehicles outside of the state Capitol on Aug. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Años antes de que los caracterizaran como criminales, los residentes de Colony Ridge buscaron ayuda del estado
Los residentes presentaron más de 60 quejas en contra de Colony Ridge. No obtuvieron muchas soluciones del estado. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0b010583359a06fff9f864c19769d0ff/1009%20Colony%20Ridge%20MF%2007.jpg)
![An overhead view of the Colony Ridge development on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, in New Caney, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas National Guard member charged with human smuggling after high-speed chase near the border
Authorities said the 26-year-old turned around at a Border Patrol checkpoint and fled from police in Kinney County. Full Story
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas, Biden administration take their battle over new immigration law to federal appeals court
A panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether to keep in place a lower court’s block of Senate Bill 4, which makes illegally entering Texas a state crime. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1c103041aa4278b5f06acb5abafcfe5e/0323%20Border%20El%20Paso%20JH%20REUTERS%20TT%2002.jpg)
![Texas Department of Public Safety officers patrol along the border wall after the U.S. Supreme Court let a Republican-backed Texas law known as SB 4 take effect, allowing state law enforcement authorities to arrest people suspected of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, in El Paso on March 19, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Justin Hamel -
Eclipse fever hits Texas towns as residents and officials prepare for a crush of visitors
Llano residents are told to stock up on groceries. A Sulphur Springs church is renting its parking spots. And everyone’s watching the weather forecast ahead of Monday’s eclipse. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5c3fbd35be9427d21166176485ec260e/1014%20Solar%20Eclipse%20EG%2002.JPG)
![Hundreds flock to Mission San José in South San Antonio on Oct. 14, 2023, to witness the annular solar eclipse as the moon’s shadow swept across Central Texas.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
More than 200 migrants arrested after rushing an El Paso border gate
Gov. Greg Abbott said Department of Public Safety troopers had been instructed to “arrest every illegal immigrant involved” in the March 21 breach in which National Guard members were allegedly assaulted. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5c4bce5fba392e327eb43bef164223ae/0321%20El%20Paso%20Border%20NatGuard.jpg)
![Members of the Texas National Guard work with Border Patrol to coordinate migrants who crossed the border from Mexico and forced their way through concertina wire while they wait to be processed by border patrol as they are stopped on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, in El Paso on March 21, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Justin Hamel -
Enforcing Texas’ new immigration law may be challenging, even for authorities that support it
A new law allowing local authorities to deport migrants remains tied up in court. Even if it goes back into effect, logistical challenges could complicate enforcement. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b86272e28fe41d06fcb482efd438de0b/0320%20Abbott%20and%20Texas%20Sheriffs%20MC%2008.jpg)
![Gov. Greg Abbott poses with a framed letter from the Sheriffs' Association of Texas at the Texas Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Abbott was presented with the letter after the association announced their support of his border policies.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ new immigration law is blocked again
Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed Senate Bill 4 to go into effect, a federal appeals court let an earlier injunction stand. SB 4 lets Texas police arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/de022a117d31482ac4412d2409b9f053/Eagle%20Pass%20Piedras%20Negras%20VGC%20TT%2056.jpg)
![Migrants walk along the Rio Grande passed the recently installed buoys in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. As there is concertina wire installed along the Urbina’s property, migrants are told to walk to the end of the property. Many make that walk which can be difficult to do through slippery rocks in the water, the current and the inclined river bank, while some find spots through the concertina wire and manage to get through.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
Supreme Court permits Texas police to arrest people who illegally cross the border as the SB 4 legal clash continues
The ruling allows Texas to start enforcing SB 4 while a lawsuit over its constitutionality remains pending before a federal appeals court. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/35654c0516ff842e65974be3baede255/1104%20SCOTUS%20File%20JG%2012.jpg)
![The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2022.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3dd0fae2a594c7ae8cf4695805d8ebaa/Biden%20Levee%20Construction%20EG%20TT%2016)