In La Técnica, the boats used to zip migrants across the river into Mexico, as well as hotels, restaurants and money changers had a brisk business. But now business has dried up.
Jay Root
Jay Root is an award-winning journalist who reported for the Tribune from 2011 to 2020. He covered the dramatic collapse of Gov. Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign and went on to write an ebook about it called “Oops! A Diary from the 2012 Campaign Trail.” Root also broke the story that put the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, on the path toward criminal indictment, co-wrote an exposé that brought an end to privately funded prosecutions in Travis County, and authored a series of watchdog articles that prompted a wave of firings and resignations at two major state agencies.
In 2017, Root co-directed “Beyond The Wall,” a film exploring border politics in the age of Trump, which won a national Edward R. Murrow award for best news documentary. Root’s latest film, “Border Hustle,” was released in early 2019 and reveals how desperate migrants have become cash cows on both sides of the border.
Previously, for a dozen years, Root was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he chronicled the rise of then-Gov. George W. Bush, wrote about cartel violence in Mexico and covered Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. During a three-year stint at the Associated Press, Root was twice named AP Staff Reporter of the Year for his watchdog reporting, including a story that sparked felony charges against a sitting state representative.
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Politics
The inauguration of Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick cost millions. But much of it went to fundraising and staff.
Spending on each of the last two inaugurations eclipsed that of any other in Texas for at least 40 years, even when adjusted for inflation. A spokesman for the governor has said no state dollars were spent on the festivities.
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Politics
The 2019 Texas inauguration cost a record $5.3 million. Where are the receipts?
The Texas Tribune is suing to discover what happened to millions raised mostly from top lobbying firms, corporations, wealthy businesspeople and trade groups for the inauguration of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
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Politics
George P. Bush was on the road to flunking out of Rice. His grandmother helped him turn things around.
By the end of his second year at Rice in 1996, the future Texas land commissioner was staring down the barrel of academic probation. That’s when Barbara Bush got involved.
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The 2019 Texas Tribune Festival
Pete Buttigieg says he would not pardon President Donald Trump
At The Texas Tribune Festival, the Democratic presidential hopeful said he supports impeachment and promises not to pardon Trump if that issue were to reach him in the Oval Office.
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Texas 2020 Elections
Julián Castro hit Joe Biden over Barack Obama’s immigration legacy. But in 2013, Castro supported Obama’s policies.
Castro hasn’t always been a liberal darling on border issues: In 2013, he gave a full-throated endorsement of the border and immigration policies advocated by Obama and touted the completion of enforcement measures that included fencing along the U.S-Mexico border.
Posted inState Government
Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen denied Michael Quinn Sullivan’s allegations in a voicemail. Hear what he said.
The message was left on the phone of a member of the Texas House soon after news of a meeting between Michael Quinn Sullivan and Dennis Bonnen surfaced.
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State Government
New disclosures show Texas Sen. Royce West making big bucks from government contracts
West, running in the increasingly crowded Democratic field to take on Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, also disclosed in federal forms that he’s in business with a company run by a Republican megadonor.
Posted in
Broken Border
Asylum-seeking migrants pushed farther south into Mexico, left to fend for themselves
Migrants have been bused to Monterrey and, they say, Chiapas under an ever-changing and often brutal “remain in Mexico” program. The policy is being carried out up and down the border by the Trump Administration in a controversial partnership with the Mexican government.
Posted in
Immigration
Watch: Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. are left to fend for themselves in Mexico
Migrants have been bused to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, under the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program, a partnership with the Mexican government.