Following a weekend shootout near the Rio Grande in El Paso, Gov. Rick Perry has once again lambasted the Obama administration over border security.
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
Demographics
Obstacles in the Path
At a House hearing Wednesday, lawmakers learned that undocumented immigrants have almost no way to earn permanent residency status in the U.S. through employment and that a much-touted system to verify that employees can legally work here is flawed.
Posted in
Demographics
The Optimist Club
Along the border, the beheadings and bombings carried out by drug cartels are drawing comparisons to murders by Muslim extremists — not surprising, given the war-like death toll of 8,100 so far this year in Mexico, including about 50 casualties last weekend. Yet diplomats from both sides reject the notion raised regularly by government officials and media outlets that Mexico is a “failed state.” The horrors of some communities, they told a border security conference last week in El Paso, overshadow the fact that parts of the country remain stable and are thriving economically.
Posted in
Demographics
Alan Bersin, Audio Clip
The Tribune interviews U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin.
Posted in
Demographics
Alan Bersin: The TT Interview
The commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on why he believes the Texas-Mexico border is secure, why deportations of criminals have reached unprecedented levels, why trade between the U.S. and Mexico still thrives and what motivates most undocumented immigrants to enter this country illegally.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Legalize It? You Must Be High
Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske laid out the case against legalizing marijuana and other drugs today at a border security conference.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Ambassador to Mexico Talks Border Security, Trade
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual kicked off the 2010 Border Security Conference in El Paso with a recap of the violence to date, and his explanation of why the border will survive.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: How Many U.S. “Anchor” Babies?
Of the 4.3 million babies born in the U.S. in 2008, 340,000 — about 8 percent — had parents who were undocumented immigrants, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Border Residents Feel Safe, Poll Finds
A large majority of the residents of Texas cities on the U.S.-Mexico border feel relatively safe despite harsh rhetoric from lawmakers and a consistent media portrayal of their communities as war zones, according to a poll released today.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Perry Talks Obama, Border Issues
After a brief tarmac meeting with President Barack Obama, Gov. Rick Perry returned to bashing the administration over border security.