Few would dispute that life has gotten tougher for people who are in the United States without legal permission. But in recent years, it’s grown even more dangerous for immigrants in Mexico — mostly Central Americans trying to make their way to the United States.
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
Southwest Key CEO has financial stake in property leased by migrant shelter operator
Sanchez is part owner of a property leased by Southwest Key Programs, a spokesperson said. It wasn’t disclosed on the company’s tax return because it’s not required.
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Families Divided
“Where is my son?”: A migrant father was deported in May. His son is still in a Texas shelter.
David Xol and his 7-year-old son, Byron, spent three days in a wooden crate on their way to the U.S. in May. After being separated from his son at the border, Xol was sent back to a remote village in the highlands of Guatemala. He has no idea when Byron is coming home.
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Families Divided
Asylum-seekers say they cross the border illegally because they don’t think they have other options
Asylum-seekers start on the path to an illegal crossing long before they actually reach the banks of the Rio Grande, relying on advice from an informal network of well-meaning friends and often-unscrupulous smugglers.
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Families Divided
Chaos at Port Isabel: Kids held overnight and parents in limbo
The government’s primary “reunification and removal” site also went on lockdown for several hours Sunday after losing track of a male migrant, according to two lawyers and a Salvadoran woman released from the facility Monday.
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Families Divided
Incommunicado in South Texas: Migrant parents await reunification in seclusion
On the brink of being released from detention and reunited with children separated from them sometimes months ago, migrant parents are held at a South Texas facility in a sort of limbo — not free to leave, but without access to phones or commissary accounts that regular detainees get.
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Families Divided
Migrant mom makes difficult choice: Move farther from son for better chance at asylum
Claudia says she was one of several migrant women moved from an Austin-area detention facility to be closer to their children in South Texas. But Claudia wants to return to Central Texas, hundreds of miles from her 7-year-old son, where her lawyer thinks she has a better shot at being granted asylum.
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Families Divided
“A very cruel punishment”: A family split by “zero tolerance” won’t try to cross again, mom says
Since they crossed the Rio Grande and requested asylum, a father has been held in a detention center near Houston while his 6-year-old daughter was shipped to an Arizona shelter. Back in Honduras, the girl’s mother says she fears her daughter will be traumatized by the ordeal.
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Families Divided
Kids in exchange for deportation: Detained migrants say they were told they could get kids back on way out of U.S.
In a detention center near Houston, an asylum seeker from Honduras said he agreed to sign a voluntary removal order from the U.S. after federal officials promised to reunite him with his 6-year-old daughter.
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Politics
A third party trying to crash the Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz race is actually a for-profit corporation
Launched in March, the party bills itself as a movement aimed at toppling the two-party system controlling state politics, but it’s a for-profit company that got millions in start-up dollars from investors. Will its founder-turned-candidate get enough signatures to get on the ballot with Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke?
