An order from a federal appeals court Saturday set up another potential legal showdown over voting in Texas as mail-in ballots are already being collected and just days before early voting begins.
Perla Trevizo
Perla Trevizo is a Mexican-American reporter born in Ciudad Juárez and raised across the border in El Paso, Texas, where she began her journalism career. Trevizo spent more than 10 years covering immigration and border issues in Tennessee and Arizona before joining the Houston Chronicle as an environmental reporter. She has written from nearly a dozen countries, from African refugee camps to remote Guatemalan villages, with the goal of broadening readers’ understanding of the global issues that impact the local communities where she has worked. Her work has earned her national and state awards including the Dori J. Maynard Award for Diversity in Journalism, French-American Foundation Immigration Journalism Award, and a national Edward R. Murrow for a story done in collaboration with Arizona Public Media. She was also honored as the 2019 Arizona Journalist of the Year by the Arizona Newspaper Association. She is based in El Paso.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Privately built border wall will fail, engineering report says
The report, set to be filed in federal court this week, confirms reporting from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune that found portions of the wall were in danger of overturning if not fixed due to extensive erosion just months after it was built.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
This loan company was founded to help Latino immigrants. It has sued thousands of low-income Latinos during the pandemic.
A monthslong investigation revealed that Oportun Inc. routinely uses lawsuits to intimidate a vulnerable population into keeping up with high-interest loan payments — even amid COVID-19.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Nonprofit that financed a private border wall is now the focus of a corruption case
Investigators say fundraisers for nonprofit We Build the Wall, including Steve Bannon and founder Brian Kolfage, lied to donors and pocketed funds. Trump has tried to distance himself from the group but Kolfage has bragged about their ties.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
“It cost me everything”: Hispanic residents bear brunt of COVID-19 in Texas
Not only are Hispanic Texans catching the coronavirus at higher rates in the state’s largest county, but they also suffer some of the worst outcomes.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
This private border wall was already at risk of falling down if not fixed. A hurricane made things worse.
Engineering experts said photos of damage from last weekend’s storms reinforce the idea that building and maintaining a border fence so close to the river poses serious challenges.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Trump says he disagreed with privately funded border wall. The builder got $1.7 billion in wall contracts from his administration.
President Donald Trump now claims this privately funded border wall in the Rio Grande Valley — touted as the “Lamborghini” of fences — was built to “make me look bad,” even though the project’s builder and funders are all Trump supporters.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Eroding private border wall to get an engineering inspection just months after completion
Months after the “Lamborghini” of border walls was built along the Rio Grande, the builder agreed to an engineering inspection of his controversial structure. Experts say the wall is showing signs of erosion that threatens its stability.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
He built a privately funded border wall. It’s already at risk of falling down if not fixed.
Trump supporters funded a private border wall on the banks of the Rio Grande, helping the builder secure $1.7 billion in federal contracts. Now the “Lamborghini” of border walls is in danger of falling into the river if nothing is done, experts say.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
When small businesses can’t access PPP, local governments struggle to close the gap
Thousands of small businesses, especially those owned by people of color, have been left behind by the stipulations of the Paycheck Protection Program. In Texas, local governments are lending millions of dollars, and it’s not enough.