Even if President Donald Trump gets his way, eminent domain lawyers say a variety of legal issues would arise surrounding private land seizures that could delay wall construction for years — and even derail it entirely.
Arya Sundaram
Arya Sundaram was a reporting fellow for The Texas Tribune in 2019. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in American Studies and a concentration in ethnic studies and migrant communities. Before coming to the Tribune, Arya interned at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a Paul Block Journalism Fellow and the Argentine Council for International Relations. She served as managing editor for The New Journal, the oldest longform magazine about Yale and New Haven.
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Higher Education
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson chosen as the next president of University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas System Board of Regents unanimously picked Wilson to replace UTEP’s longtime leader, Diana Natalicio.
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Immigration
As debate rages on border wall funding, construction is already beginning
In far South Texas, federal contractors are preparing to break ground on 33 miles of new fencing that Congress authorized last year.
Posted in
Politics
Shutdown deal includes language to protect a butterfly sanctuary and other landmarks from border barrier
A 1,159-page spending package would shield major cultural sites like the National Butterfly Center from border fencing — but it would also pump $1.375 billion into additional barriers along the Rio Grande.
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Politics
Trump’s border national emergency plan draws outrage and legal threats from some in Texas
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.
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Texas Legislature 2019
This Texas program lands poor people in jail. Getting rid of it has been too complicated — but that might be changing.
Lawmakers in both chambers and parties want to fix the controversial Driver Responsibility Program, but the program funds state trauma centers. Where will they find $144 million to fill the gap?
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas leaders want voters to OK property tax revenue growth over 2.5 percent. They couldn’t get 4 percent in 2017.
The leaders of both legislative chambers say they will be united this year — even if cities and counties push back — and that local officials should come to Austin with solutions in hand if they don’t like new proposals.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas lawmakers want to fix wait times at driver’s license offices. Will they agree on a solution?
The Texas House wants to pump $200 million into the state’s driver’s license program — and possibly move it to a new agency — to alleviate what have become all-day waits for some Texans at Department of Public Safety offices.