Hurricane Harvey becomes focal point in Houston-area races for Congress
Democrats on the ballot in communities hit hardest by Harvey argue that Republicans in office haven't done enough to prepare Texas for the next major hurricane. Full Story
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Claire Parker
Reporting Fellow
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Claire Parker is the Washington, D.C. reporting fellow for the Tribune. She is a senior at Harvard studying Social Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Claire is the associate managing editor of The Harvard Crimson, where she previously covered the university president and Harvard’s relationship with Washington. She has also reported on Massachusetts politics as an intern at The Boston Globe.
Past Contributions
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![Jeremy Boutor removes personal items on an air mattress from his home in a neighborhood along Eldridge Parkway, flooded by...]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
"The door to the future": How Eddie Bernice Johnson could make history if Democrats win back the House
Johnson, a Dallas Democrat, has served in the U.S. House for 26 years. If her party wins control of the chamber, she's well positioned to become the first African-American representative from Texas to lead a standing committee in Congress. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, in her Washington, D.C. office on July 18, 2018.]()
Credit: Leigh Vogel for The Texas Tribune -
Trump sends campaign cash boost to 6 Texans in fight for control of Congress
President Donald Trump's re-election campaign announced it made donations to around 100 Republicans in congressional races ahead of the midterms. Six of those recipients were Texas incumbents. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on May 4, 2018.]()
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The Trump administration will aid farmers hurt by trade war. Some Texas lawmakers call it welfare
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $12 billion in emergency aid to offset the effects of new tariffs — to the relief of many Texas farmers. But some Republicans in Congress would rather see Trump end the tariffs. Full Story
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![Cotton fields ready for harvest, Highway 87, south of Lubbock, Texas.]()
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With candidates in every U.S. House race, Texas Democrats see fundraising boom
The growth in fundraising reflects candidates in many traditionally Republican areas running professional campaigns that party faithful hope will have a long-term impact. Full Story
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Trump administration reunites "eligible" immigrant children under 5, but lawyers complain about blunders
In one case, lawyers say, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers left a woman alone at a bus stop with her young kids and no bus ticket. In another, ICE officers were unable to affix a mother with an ankle monitor, so they sent her back to detention without her children. Full Story
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![Pablo Ortiz and his 3-year-old son Andres (left), and Roger and his 4-year-old Roger Jr. (first names only given), speak a...]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Trump officials want to give migrant families two options: Stay detained together or agree to separation
U.S. Department of Justice lawyers are seeking permission from a federal judge to offer separated immigrant families two options: remain together in family detention centers, or release kids while parents stay detained. Full Story
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![About 25 immigrant mothers and their children caught coming across the Texas-Mexico border are released at the McAllen bus...]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Republican Michael Cloud sworn in as Texas' newest congressman
After winning a special election in U.S. House District 27, Republican Michael Cloud officially became Texas' newest member of Congress on Tuesday. But he's not done campaigning yet — to keep the seat, he'll need to win it again in November. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep.-elect Michael Cloud (right) participated in a mock swearing in with U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Cloud’s fam...]()
Credit: Abby Livingston / The Texas Tribune -
As reunification deadline lands, dozens of immigrant children under 5 remain separated from their parents
At least 38 children will be reunified ahead of a Tuesday deadline, and a federal judge called on the government to speed up parental vetting processes to reunite 26 more with their parents by the end of the day. Full Story
![About 25 immigrant mothers and their children caught coming across the Texas-Mexico border are released at the McAllen bus...]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Facing a Tuesday deadline to reunite about 100 migrant toddlers with their parents, feds say they've reunited 2
At a federal court hearing in California on Monday, a government lawyer also said that nearly half of those children won't be reunited by the Tuesday deadline. Full Story
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![Javier Alejandro Vindel-Rodriguez (center) looks down at the Rio Grande with his siblings, Yenci (left) and Jesus Samuel o...]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
Some migrant children under 5 unlikely to be reunited with their parents by Tuesday deadline
It will be especially difficult to reunite toddlers with parents who may have been released into the interior United States or even deported back to their home countries, government attorneys argued. Full Story
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![Mario, who did not want to release his last name, holds the number to the hotline parents are suppose to call to try to fi...]()
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UT-Austin has no plans to drop affirmative action policy, despite new Trump administration guidelines
Though the Trump administration rescinded Obama-era guidelines encouraging colleges to factor race into admissions, it doesn't force campuses to change their policies. Full Story
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![The Tower at the University of Texas at Austin on June 27, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune -
Justice Kennedy's retirement won't just shape the U.S. Supreme Court — it could also reshape the U.S. Senate race in Texas
For Republicans, the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy represents an opportunity. For Democrats, it has inspired fear. And for the U.S. Senate race in Texas, it has already become a rallying cry. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.]()
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Feds pledge in court to provide more information to parents suing over separation from their kids
A U.S. Department of Justice lawyer promised in a D.C. federal court Wednesday to provide three Central American parents who are suing the federal government with information about and regular contact with their kids. Full Story
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![Protesters call for immigrant families to be kept together at a rally in Austin on Thursday, June 14, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
In political win for U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, farm bill narrowly passes U.S. House
U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, has been laying the groundwork for passing the massive piece of legislation known as the farm bill for over a year. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, speaks with U.S. Reps. David Rouzer and Roger Marshall and farmers at a cotton farm out...]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune -
Amid family separation saga, U.S. House votes down conservative immigration package
As expected, the U.S. House rejected a hard-line immigration measure Thursday afternoon – setting the stage for a vote on a more moderate immigration bill as early as Friday. Full Story
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![President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address on Jan. 30. 2018.]()
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Donald Trump reverses course, signs an executive order to stop separating families
Meanwhile, members of Congress are working on legislation to address the issue. Full Story
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![The tent city at Tornillo Port of Entry near El Paso on June 16, 2018. The facility was created to house immigrant childre...]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Republicans in Washington are closer to a compromise on immigration — but it's still unclear if they can pass a bill
Republicans in Congress appear closer to reaching a compromise on immigration — and ending family separations at the Texas-Mexico border — after a closed-door meeting with President Donald Trump Tuesday evening. Full Story
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![Undocumented immigrant children at a U.S. Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Texas.]()
Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection -
We asked top Texas leaders — and every Texan in Congress — about separating immigrant families
See where statewide elected officials and members of the Texas congressional delegation come down on the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration enforcement policy that separates immigrant kids from their parents. Full Story
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![Undocumented immigrant children at a U.S. Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Texas.]()
Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Protection -
Vulnerable Texas Republicans in Congress take different approaches to immigration bills
Republican congressmen from Texas facing tough re-election fights are betting on very different strategies to win over key voters. Full Story
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![Left to right: U.S. Reps. John Culberson, R-Houston, Will Hurd, R-Helotes, and Pete Sessions, R-Dallas.]()
Credit: Official House portraits/Callie Richmond