Carlos left Honduras with 6-year-old Heyli and a dream of lifting his family out of poverty, only to be caught in the web of a billion-dollar smuggling industry, then separated from his daughter for months. “Right now, the money’s in the people,” one smuggler says.
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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Families Divided
Border Hustle: Smugglers, cartels and the U.S. detention industry are making billions off of desperate migrants
Follow two Honduran migrants as their journey to the U.S. for a better life leads them into a giant border hustle where coyotes, cartels and corporations make big bucks off desperate people.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Sweeping legislation takes aim at shock emergency room bills in Texas
Committee chairs from both chambers unveiled the proposal on Thursday.
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Health care
Thousands of Texans were shocked by surprise medical bills. Their requests for help overwhelmed the state.
“It’s going to take us a while to get out of this backlog that we’re in, but we’re doing the things necessary to help more consumers,” a state official said.
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Politics
Corporations can’t donate to politicians. But $100,000 got them VIP treatment during Gov. Greg Abbott’s inauguration.
Donations to the inauguration are not deemed political contributions under state statute. And the inaugural committee, whose creation is mandated by law, is not required to make financial disclosures before this summer.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Despite beer and lobby ties, Speaker Dennis Bonnen sees no need for recusals or new disclosures
Bonnen, who married into a beer distributing family, says he doesn’t need to recuse himself on alcohol issues and won’t name the lobbyists who own a piece of his bank — a list that is much longer than previously reported.
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Texas Legislature 2019
As presumptive House speaker, Dennis Bonnen raised $4 million in a month
In July, Bonnen was a House member with $707,000 in his war chest. After he announced for House Speaker and became the favorite to succeed Joe Straus, he was getting more than $150,000 in donations per day.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Bill would curtail criminal prosecutions of rent-to-own customers
Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, wants to restrain the practice of prosecuting people who default on rent-to-own contracts for household items like TVs and sofas. The proposal comes in the wake of an investigation of rent-to-own prosecutions by The Texas Tribune and Nerd Wallet.
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Courts
Texas liquor giant Spec’s sues Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for “abusive” enforcement attempts
In a case that alleges overzealous business regulation, Spec’s, the state’s largest liquor store chain, is suing the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission for “wrongfully and maliciously” trying to impose huge fines and sanctions on the retailer. The state says it’s immune from such suits.
Posted in
Immigration
Honduran migrants following the caravan continue on despite Donald Trump’s threats
The Honduran migrants headed northward as part of a massive caravan are fleeing for different reasons — rank poverty, gang threats and a globalized economy that left them behind. They’re so desperate, they told me, they’re willing to gamble on a dangerous trip.