Thousands gathered in Texas cities and around the country Saturday to protest the separation of undocumented children from their families. More than 2,000 children remain separated from their families due to Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy of criminally prosecuting all illegal entries.
Matthew Choi
Matthew Choi is a Washington correspondent for The Texas Tribune. He previously covered energy and climate policy at Politico, where he wrote the Morning Energy newsletter and covered campaign events as a breaking news reporter during the 2020 presidential election and the Mueller investigation. Before joining Politico, Matthew was a two-time reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune based in Austin, reporting on education, health care, immigration, guns, agriculture and land management. He graduated from Northwestern University where he studied journalism and political science and was managing editor of The Daily Northwestern. Matthew is a native of Northern Virginia and speaks both French and English. In his free time, Matthew enjoys cooking French country food while listening to Simon and Garfunkel.
Posted inState Government
Abbott to Trump: Steel and aluminum tariffs will harm Texas oil and gas
Though he praised the nation’s economic growth under President Donald Trump’s leadership, Abbott urged the president to reconsider his tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Posted in
Families Divided
As San Angelo air base prepares to receive immigrant children, residents ask, “How can we help?”
Goodfellow Air Force Base is one of two Texas military bases chosen to house undocumented immigrants. Residents are already volunteering to help, but details are hard to come by so far.
Posted inState Government
Arming teachers with guns? West Texas A&M arms teachers with computers
West Texas A&M opened a simulated emergency operations center on campus to train student teachers on how to respond to crises, including active shooters and natural disasters.
Posted in
Families Divided
Border official says agency isn’t referring immigrant families for prosecution
Another federal official did say, however, that two Texas military bases will be used to house migrants.
Posted in
Health care
Lawmakers to address neglect of medically vulnerable Texans following Dallas Morning News report
Following the newspaper’s investigation into failings and cutbacks in the state’s managed care program, three Texas House committees will meet this month to discuss ways to improve the program.
Posted in
Courts
Texas abortion rights groups sue in an effort to strike down years of abortion-related state laws
The advocates are attempting to undo Texas abortion-related laws going back to 1999. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Austin.
Posted inState Government
During school safety hearing, Texas lawmakers express support for arming faculty and staff — maybe even with rifles
Following Gov. Greg Abbott’s recommendations on school gun safety, members of a Senate committee on school violence debated the efficacy of expanding programs that already arm faculty and school staff.
Posted in
Texas Elections 2018
Beto O’Rourke says he’s “very, very proud of my mom” after Ted Cruz brings up her tax fraud case
Cruz called O’Rourke a hypocrite for supporting taxing businesses for sales across state lines, pointing to a furniture store owned by O’Rourke’s mother that was found guilty in 2010 of tax law violations.
Posted inState Government
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: Texas churches need to know they can have guns
Patrick requested that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issue an opinion on guns in church. The lieutenant governor said he hopes more churches will know they have the option to have guns in their buildings.
