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Julián Aguilar reported for the Tribune from 2009 to 2021, most recently on politics and on the Texas-Mexico border. He focused on immigration reform and enforcement, voter ID, international trade, border security, and the drug trade. His political coverage has included local, legislative and congressional races in Texas, as well as local and national elections in Mexico. Before joining The Texas Tribune, he was a freelance writer for the Fort Worth Weekly, a government and crime reporter for the Laredo Morning Times, and a political writer for the Rio Grande Guardian. A native of El Paso, he has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas and a master's degree in journalism from the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas.
In November, Central American migrants evaded Mexican riot police and faced tear gas at the San Diego port of entry. When another caravan approached the Texas border this month, Mexican authorities held them in an empty Piedras Negras factory, then dispersed them. Full Story
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The 45-year-old undocumented immigrant is the third person to die in the agency's custody since December. Full Story
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A makeshift immigrant shelter on the Texas-Mexico border will close this week after hundreds of Central Americans housed there believed they could ask for asylum in the U.S. Now it's unclear if they'll get that chance. Full Story
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The president looks poised to sign a bill that will avert another government shutdown, then use an emergency declaration to instruct the military to build his wall. From Congress to the border, Texans react. Full Story
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As the president kicked off his re-election campaign and tried to marshal support for his border wall, one of his possible 2020 opponents spoke to thousands across the street in a counter-rally. Full Story
As another government shutdown looms later this week, the president follows his State of the Union speech with a rally in the city he said was plagued by crime before border fencing went up. Here's what history shows about border enforcement and crime in El Paso. Full Story
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The roughly 1,600 migrants, who are mostly Honduran, are being housed in a former warehouse in Piedras Negras — and being guarded by Mexican law enforcement — while they wait to be let into the U.S. But processing is slow. Full Story
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Raising warnings of out-of-control illegal immigration and soaring crime by immigrants — including debunked claims about El Paso's crime — the president tried to pressure Congress to end a stalemate over border wall funding and avert another government shutdown. Full Story
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A national group of immigration lawyers studied federal data and found that legal immigrants are facing significantly longer wait times to process requests for visas, green cards and other documents. Full Story
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As the Trump administration continues to demand a wall on the southern border, it has started forcing some asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases are pending. But just how much the Mexican government is willing to cooperate with Washington remains uncertain. Full Story
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