Were you circumcised at birth and was it a part of a religious ceremony? If so, who was there and why? It may sound far-fetched, but some applicants for U.S. passports may soon have to answer such questions.
Julián Aguilar
Julián Aguilar reported for the Tribune from 2009 to 2021, most recently on politics and on the Texas-Mexico border. He focused on immigration reform and enforcement, voter ID, international trade, border security, and the drug trade. His political coverage has included local, legislative and congressional races in Texas, as well as local and national elections in Mexico. Before joining The Texas Tribune, he was a freelance writer for the Fort Worth Weekly, a government and crime reporter for the Laredo Morning Times, and a political writer for the Rio Grande Guardian. A native of El Paso, he has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas and a master's degree in journalism from the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas.
Posted in
State Government
GOP Lawmakers Push New Voter Integrity Bills
Fresh off its voter ID victory last month, the majority party in the House made good on its promise to go beyond that controversial measure to combat what it alleges is serious voter fraud with several new proposals.
Posted in
Demographics
Proposed Guest-Worker Program Gets Mixed Reviews
Proposed legislation that would establish a state-run guest worker program would legally satisfy the state’s appetite for cheap labor but not grant amnesty to people already in Texas illegally, according to the bill’s author.
Posted in
Demographics
House Lawmakers Prepare for Intense “Sanctuary Cities” Debate
House lawmakers are gearing up for a battle as emotional and time-consuming as Voter ID when they take up legislation addressing another one of Gov. Perry’s emergency items — abolishing sanctuary cities, which could hit the House floor as soon as next week.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
U.S. Offers $5 Million Reward in ICE Murder Case
The U.S. government announced today it is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest and possible conviction of the assailants who murdered a U.S. federal agent in Mexico last month.
Posted in
State Government
Voter ID Passes House After Long, Emotional Debate
After more than 11 hours of debate, seven points of order, more than 60 amendments and nearly as many heated exchanges, a mentally vanquished and emotionally exhausted Texas House preliminarily approved the controversial voter ID bill late tonight.
Posted in
Congress
No Timeline to Replace U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
The U.S. Department of State on Tuesday said U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual has agreed to stay in Mexico City to help the two governments organize a transition.
Posted in
Higher Education
SSNs of Laredo ISD Students Missing In Possible Data Breach
A disk holding the Social Security numbers of thousands of current and former students in the Laredo Independent School District — a total of 24,903 — has gone missing, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Posted in
State Government
Voter ID On Hold in House [Updated]
One word in the voter ID bill brought debate in the Texas House to a halt today, postponing passage of the measure — one of Gov. Rick Perry’s emergency items — for at least a couple of days.
Posted in
Demographics
Garza: Pascual Made the “Right Decision”
The former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, South Texas native Antonio Garza, said he thinks his successor’s resignation this weekend was the right move if he felt he was no longer up to task.
