The latest border news from The Texas Tribune.
The commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on why he believes the Texas-Mexico border is secure, why deportations of criminals have reached unprecedented levels, why trade between the U.S. and Mexico still thrives and what motivates most undocumented immigrants to enter this country illegally. Full Story
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Stiles on Bill White's donor-appointees, M. Smith on a form of meritless lawsuit that's still legal in Texas, Ramshaw on what federal health care reform means for the future of physician-owned specialty hospitals, Galbraith's interview with the chairman of the Public Utility Commission, Philpott on the latest flap over federal education funding, Grissom on the finally-in-compliance Dallas County Jail, Titus on the oiled pelicans of the BP spill, Hamilton's interview with the new chancellor of the Texas State University System, Ramsey on the political and legal definitions of residency, Hu on Barack Obama's visit to Austin and Aguilar on what the U.S. could be doing to aid Mexico: The best of our best from August 9 to 13, 2010. Full Story
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Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske laid out the case against legalizing marijuana and other drugs today at a border security conference. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and his Democratic challenger, Bill White, appeared on the same stage in Austin on Thursday. But anyone itching for a debate between the two was disappointed. The candidates were separated on the schedule by other speakers and were never even in the room at the same time. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune filed this report. Full Story
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U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual kicked off the 2010 Border Security Conference in El Paso with a recap of the violence to date, and his explanation of why the border will survive. Full Story
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A large majority of the residents of Texas cities on the U.S.-Mexico border feel relatively safe despite harsh rhetoric from lawmakers and a consistent media portrayal of their communities as war zones, according to a poll released today. Full Story
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As President Barack Obama delivered his speech on higher education and economics, Governor Rick Perry gave his own remarks on what he thinks needs to be done for Texas border security. KUT's Erika Aguilar reports. Full Story
In his first trip to the Texas capital as president, Barack Obama served up little news but plenty of red meat for supporters. Check out our pool report from his fundraiser and our audio, video and slideshow of his UT-Austin speech. Full Story
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After a brief tarmac meeting with President Barack Obama, Gov. Rick Perry returned to bashing the administration over border security. Full Story
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A government report finds the U.S. has been too slow to aid Mexico and other crime-ridden countries at a time when drug-related violence is escalating. Efforts to combat alien smuggling have also fallen short. Full Story
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The 1,200-mile border it shares with Mexico makes Texas one the most vulnerable states when it comes to imported infectious diseases. In a majority of cases, Customs and Border Protection officers are unable to detect these public health threats at ports of entry, according to a new Centers for Disease Control study. Full Story
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A report released today from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University shows that during the first nine months of 2010, Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 279,035 non-citizens, compared to 254,763 for the same time period during the final year of the Bush administration. Full Story
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As more U.S. Border Patrol agents descend on the Texas-Mexico border, residents of some of the most remote West Texas towns say they feel harassed and disrespected by the new arrivals watching over their communities. Full Story
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Border groups are urging Congress to rethink options for securing the border just days before National Guard troops arrive in the area. Full Story
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Despite grousing from congressmen and state officials in Arizona and Texas — notably Gov. Rick Perry — that the Obama administration has abdicated its role in the protecting the nation's borders from illegal immigration, the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative units this year each recorded their highest monthly number of cases referred for prosecution since the Bush administration, according to a report from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers and legal experts react to today's decision to strike down critical elements of Arizona's immigration law. Full Story
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Interview with El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles Full Story
The sheriff of El Paso County on how his job has changed in the wake of rampant violence in Juárez, whether National Guard troops are needed on the border and the practical effect of an immigration law like Arizona's. Full Story
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Two county sheriffs are helping Bill White and Gov. Rick Perry launch a fresh new wave of attacks, even if they don't know it. Full Story
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Nearly 37 percent of the state's population of nearly 25 million is Latino, but only about 1.2 million Latinos who were registered to vote in 2008 cast ballots. Pinpointing when the emerging majority group in Texas will begin wielding its power at election time is no small feat. Scores of campaigns, party activists and interest groups spend millions of dollars each year trying to determine what will happen when that day comes. Full Story
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