In a new video, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, a declared candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014, vows that he will fight back against progressives who want to turn tomorrow’s Texas into the California or Washington, D.C., of today.
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
Criminal Justice
Gallego Wants Combs to Update Study on Immigrants’ Fiscal Impact
U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, is asking the state comptroller to update a study on the fiscal impact of Texas’ population of undocumented immigrants.
Posted in
Energy
Federal Legislation Targets Mexico Over Water Treaty
Saying that Mexico is violating the terms of a 1944 water treaty, federal lawmakers from Texas filed legislation Monday that they hope will compel the United States’ southern neighbor to meet its obligations.
Posted in
Energy
Focus on Border Aquifers Urged During Push for More Water From Mexico
A water war between the U.S. and Mexico dominates headlines amid a record drought. But some experts caution that a larger issue is boiling beneath the surface: the mining of unregulated transnational aquifers.
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Criminal Justice
Budget Plan for DPS Has Pay Hikes for Troopers
The 2014-15 budget plan for the Texas Department of Public Safety doesn’t include money for big-ticket items like gunboats or planes, but it does include money for troopers’ raises and retains funding for the agency’s fusion center.
Posted in
Demographics
Cornyn Wants Border Security Added to Immigration Bill
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn wants to add border security provisions before he will support the comprehensive immigration reform bill that is scheduled to go before the full Senate next week.
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Criminal Justice
Water Treaty Concerns Trigger Lobbying Efforts, Calls for Changes
The Rio Grande Regional Water Authority has hired a PR firm to help urge the federal government to mandate that Mexico deliver water to the U.S. under a decades-old treaty. Legal experts say such conflicts would continue if the treaty isn’t amended.
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Criminal Justice
Cruz Outlines Opposition to Immigration Reform Bill
The immigration reform bill slated to go before the U.S. Senate next week is full of loopholes that fail to secure the border or address legal immigration, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wrote in a letter to his colleagues on Tuesday.
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Criminal Justice
Report: Immigrants’ Economic Strength in Texas Increases
The number of naturalized citizens in Texas is on the rise, as is the purchasing power and economic output of the state’s native-born and immigrant Hispanic and Asian populations, according to an Immigration Policy Center report.
Posted in
Politics
House Approves Changes to Ballot Harvesting Bill
The final version of a controversial bill filed to prevent so-called ballot harvesting was approved by the House on Friday, but not before a key provision was diluted in the Senate.
