David Muto

“The old adage that we fear what we don’t understand has never been more telling than in the current immigration debate,” writes rancher and former Democratic agriculture commissioner candidate Hugh Fitzsimons.

The deployment of National Guard troops was the right decision, but as border woes mount, we must remember the lessons of the past, writes Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.

State Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, makes a conservative case for compassion at the border, and Kimberly McLeod of Texas Southern University writes about life as a black educator in Texas public schools.

Jorge Garcia, the owner of Curra’s Grill in Austin and an immigrant from Mexico, lays out how he’d fix the U.S. immigration system. “We all need a helping hand into the unknown,” he writes.

Former U.S. Senate candidate Linda Vega explores the dearth of Latina Republicans in Texas, and U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, slams Gov. Rick Perry over his decision to send National Guard troops to the border.

“Time demands, salary constraints, poor health care, and the heartbreak of hearing that my class is ‘just about the test’ make it hard to teach and have a healthy family life,” writes Del Valle High School teacher Katie Plemmons.

Anna C. Dragsbaek writes that Texans have nothing to fear from the migrant children crossing the border, and Talmadge Heflin lays out what a conservative budget for Texas will look like next year.

After letting the crisis on the border fester for over a month, Washington is still barely doing anything to stem the tide of migrant children entering our country, forcing Texas to act on its own, writes state Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth.

With immigration in the spotlight, Texas Republicans have a whole new arsenal of coded language and imagery at their disposal, writes Emmanuel Garcia, the communications director for the Texas Democratic Party.

Former UT regents chairman Charles Miller and former Longhorn baseball pitcher John Curtiss face off over the future of UT-Austin President Bill Powers, and high school teacher Jessica Taylor argues that Texas schools need a new approach to sex ed.