As Gov. Rick Perry adjusts to his front-runner status for the Republican presidential nomination, his opponents are planting seeds of doubt about how tough the border state’s longest-serving governor has been on illegal immigration. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry repeated a familiar claim at the GOP debate: Texas' border cities, he said, are unsafe because the federal government has failed to secure the U.S.-Mexican border. But are they? Full Story
El Paso's Democratic state representative on the media's portrayal of her hometown, why the grassroots is key to making gains for her party, and why she thinks immigration legislation will hurt Gov. Rick Perry on the campaign trail. Full Story
Mexican journalist Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco was granted asylum last week by the U.S. government. His attorney says it's a sign U.S. officials are no longer confident the Mexican government can protect its citizens from drug cartels. Full Story
Former city councilman Beto O'Rourke's decision to run is no big surprise. But it sets up another big political brawl in this city known for bruising Democratic melees. Full Story
On the national stage, Texas' economy is its best selling point. But this so-called "Texas Miracle" doesn't extend statewide: In the border region, unemployment reaches as high as 13.2 percent, and the median income is 30 percent lower than the statewide average. Full Story
DAY 30 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: During a legislative session where hardly any services were spared the budget ax, funding for border security actually increased. Full Story
A new reporting requirement for firearms dealers in four border states, including Texas, intended to curb the flow of weapons into Mexico has prompted a veteran San Antonio gun dealer to file suit against the federal government. Full Story
An agreement signed on the Texas border this week paves the way for the Webb Country Sheriff's Department and other local law enforcement officers to train peace officers in Mexico and Central America. Full Story
The Obama administration announced today it will begin reviewing the case files of the estimated 300,000 illegal immigrants in deportation proceedings to determine which should be released from custody. Full Story
The federal government’s top border official fought back this week against heightened criticism of President Obama’s border security policy, while U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes said Rick Perry's bid for the White House made him want to "throw up." Full Story
It's not a sales pitch heard too often in the Rio Grande Valley, but farmers and ranchers here have a new, tax-deductible option for improving their businesses — and the company offering it promises to take a bullet for its client. Full Story
A prediction that one of the most notorious cartels operating on the Texas-Mexico border could soon meet its demise was premature, according to a new report on Mexican cartels, which now predicts violence will continue. Full Story
The U.S. Consulate is warning U.S. citizens that new information suggests cartels may be targeting ports of entry, consulate employees and “the public in general” in response to a crackdown on criminal gangs in Ciudad Juárez by the Mexican military. An emergency alert was issued Friday. Full Story
Check our new Perrypedia — a home for stories and data about you-know-who, Ramshaw on health care in the colonias, Root's look back at Rick Perry's years as a Democrat, M. Smith on the pressures facing the TEA, yours truly on David Dewhurst's impact on the U.S. Senate race, E. Smith's panel discussion on the Cameron Todd Willingham case, Hamilton on Perry and higher ed, Murphy on who's paying the pole tax, Grissom on Alto's decision to close its police department, Aguilar on labor and security worries over trucking on the border and Galbraith on what government can't do during a drought: The best of our best content from July 11 to 15, 2011. Full Story
The Department of Justice's decision this week to require firearms dealers in Texas and three other border states to report the multiple sales of long rifles will come down to a funding battle in Washington. Full Story
Some Texas Republicans are embracing a cross-border trucking agreement between the U.S. and Mexico that labor unions worry could kill jobs and drastically reduce border security. Full Story
Along the Texas-Mexico border, colonias residents tell identical stories: of migrating with dreams of safety and prosperity, of getting swindled into buying worthless land, of sticking it out so their children will get educated. And of getting sick. Full Story