Texas counties along the Rio Grande are relatively safe, state and federal crime statistics show, and they seem to be getting even safer as more law enforcement resources pour into the area.
Bordering on Insecurity
Throughout 2016, The Texas Tribune took a deep look at the issues of border security and immigration, topics never far from the headlines — or the presidential trail. The Tribune reported on the reality and rhetoric around issues like the removal of undocumented criminal offenders, the stemming of government corruption and the conditions many immigrants are fleeing to seek sanctuary in the U.S.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Twelve Texas Death Row Inmates Were Undocumented
Of the 251 men and women on Texas death row, 12 committed their crimes while in the country illegally, according to an analysis of data obtained by The Texas Tribune.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Less Than 5 Percent of Texas Prison Inmates are Undocumented
About 4.6 percent of Texas prison inmates are undocumented immigrants with standing requests that they be turned over to federal authorities when their sentences are served.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Accused Laredo Killer Crossed Border Easily
Martha and Kimberly Martinez would like to know how a man with Juan Francisco De Luna Vasquez’s lengthy criminal history could be living illegally in the United States when he killed their sister.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Take a Closer Look at How Texas Jails Work With ICE
The arrest of an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. kicks off a complicated interplay between local and federal authorities. Use this flowchart to see the different steps in the process.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Texas Sheriffs, Jails on Immigration Front Line
The federal government stands poised to deport immigrants who commit serious crimes in the United States — provided someone else catches them first. The success of federal efforts to detain criminal immigrants depends largely on local sheriffs.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Undocumented Student’s Arrest a Cautionary Tale
Almost seven years ago, former University of Texas student Raul Zamora’s broken taillight landed him in the South Texas Detention Facility in Pearsall on the brink of deportation.
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Bordering on Insecurity
After Deportation, Killer Returned Easily to U.S.
Deported to his native Mexico for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, Juan Leonardo Quintero returned to Houston and easily resumed his life. When he killed a police officer in 2006, Quintero became a poster child for loose border enforcement.
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Bordering on Insecurity
“Criminal Aliens” Flashpoint of Border Security Debate
How to deal with, or talk about, foreigners who commit crimes in the United States — the government’s term for them is the politically incorrect “criminal aliens” — has prompted heated calls for vastly different solutions.
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Bordering on Insecurity
Video: Houston Slayings Fueled Border Security Debate
The murder of 25-year-old Spencer Golvach by an undocumented Mexican national – repeatedly thrown out of the country for multiple criminal convictions – lit a political firestorm over illegal immigration that has not abated.