Migrant shot and injured by National Guard soldier patrolling border
It’s the first-known incident where a soldier has shot a migrant since the mission began. The injury is non-life threatening. Full Story
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![A National Guard soldier oversees an area where the border wall ends in Del Rio, on Nov. 7, 2021.]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn eyes the seemingly impossible: a bipartisan deal on immigration
Riding the success of his historic congressional session last year where he helped pass the first gun safety bill signed into law in a generation, Cornyn is hopeful that his ability to strike deals across the aisle will help Congress achieve another elusive legislative goal: an immigration deal. Full Story
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![U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, center, and James Lankford, R-Okla., were shown items displayed by a Border Patrol agent after two Chinese nationals were detained upon entering the U.S. in Sunland Park, New Mexico on on Jan. 9, 2023. The senators were on a night tour of the border led by the National Border Patrol Council.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Joe Biden tours El Paso for first border visit of his presidency
He was greeted by Gov. Greg Abbott upon arrival at the El Paso airport. Abbott has been a chief critic of Biden’s immigration policies and has frequently called on him to visit the border over the past year. Full Story
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![President Joe Biden shakes hands with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott upon his arrival in El Paso on Jan. 8, 2023. This is Biden's first visit as president to the U.S.-Mexico border.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque -
Buses from Texas drop off more than 100 migrants in a bitterly cold Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve
Gov. Greg Abbott reportedly sent the migrants, who arrived at Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence Saturday night. The governor has been busing migrants to Democratic-let cities since April and first sent buses to Harris’ home in September. Full Story
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![Two buses transporting migrants from Texas arrive at Union Station on April 21, 2022. Gov. Greg Abbott’s new plan in response to the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era emergency health order which allowed immigration authorities at the border to deny entry.]()
Credit: Shuran Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas GOP lawmakers warming to opioid harm-reduction policies they once opposed
Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans have expressed support for legalizing fentanyl test strips, which help users identify whether the drugs they are planning on taking contain the deadly synthetic opioid. Full Story
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![A fentanyl test kit in a storage unit in Dallas on Aug. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Texas shelters prepare for twin emergencies: arctic cold and an increase in migrants
Cities and nonprofits are using a variety of strategies to keep unhoused people warm. But some organizations warn they’re already at capacity as El Paso sends migrants across the state. Full Story
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![The Dallas skyline during the wintery weather on Feb. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court allows rapid removal of migrants to continue as legal challenge plays out
Title 42, an emergency health order invoked at the start of the pandemic, allows immigration agents to quickly remove migrants from the country. It was scheduled to be lifted on Wednesday. Full Story
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![Hundreds of migrants wait in line along the banks of the Rio Grande to seek asylum in the U.S., Monday, December 12, 2022.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
After a Texas National Guard member died, his family got no financial payment. Lawmakers want to change that.
In April, Bishop Evans drowned after jumping into the Rio Grande to save two migrants being swept away by the current. His family members will receive no financial payment, but they would if he worked for DPS or was under federal deployment. Full Story
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![Jo Ann Johnson sits for a portrait on the bed that once belonged to her grandson, Bishop Evans, in her home in Arlington on Dec. 7, 2022. 22 year-old Bishop Evans, who was serving on the Texas Army National Guard and assigned to work on Operation Lone Star, died after jumping into the Rio Grande to save two migrants. “When they told me why, I understood, because he saw someone who needed help. That was who he was — he helped people.”]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
National Guard member deployed for Operation Lone Star stabbed while off duty in Mexico
The service member is expected to recover. Full Story
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![Members of the Texas National Guard set up a shade structure while they guard a gate along the border wall in Del Rio on September 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Travis County judges can’t hear appeals from migrants arrested under Texas border security push, court rules
The Court of Criminal Appeals scuttled nearly 450 cases, saying migrants arrested for trespassing in Kinney County can’t ask Austin judges to hear their appeals. Full Story
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![Walkthrough of the migrant processing facility located adjacent to the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office in Del Rio, TX.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Feds often hand migrants over to state police rather than process immigration claims, complaint says
State police often rely on federal immigration officials to lock up migrants on state trespassing charges, according to a new complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. The collaboration contradicts federal and Texas officials’ attacks on each other’s immigration policies. Full Story
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![A group of migrants walk off a pick-up truck after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depot in Spofford on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Justice Department tried to hide report warning that private border wall in Texas could collapse
The report confirms a ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation that found the privately built fencing could collapse during major flooding. The federal government resisted making the findings public for more than a year. Full Story
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![Erosion can be seen along the privately funded border wall that was built less than a year ago on June 19, 2020 in Mission, Texas.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica -
Visiting Texas border, Kevin McCarthy calls on DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign
The Republican leader in the U.S. House vowed to consider impeachment if the secretary, who oversees border protection, doesn’t step down. Full Story
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![Kevin McCarthy, minority leader of the U.S. House looks across the Rio Grande in El Paso into Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, where hundreds of migrants are currently living in tents along the river on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Donald Trump said he won all of Texas’ border counties. He didn’t.
In announcing his third run for president, Donald Trump said Gov. Greg Abbott called to congratulate him for winning “every single area along the border.” Democrats won many of those counties in 2016 and 2020. Full Story
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![Former President Donald J. Trump speaks on Nov. 15, 2022, at his media event at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where he announced that he will run for president again in 2024, on Nov. 15, 2022.]()
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Border Patrol reports 2.4 million migrant arrests at southwest border this year, the most ever
The historic pace of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has fueled Republicans’ focus on the crisis, but despite the efforts of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, encounters in Texas have increased. Full Story
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![A group of migrants from Venezuela walk between the southern border wall and the Rio Grande towards a temporary U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing facility in El Paso on Oct. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Bexar County sheriff certifies that migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard are crime victims, clearing path for special visas
The move clears a pathway for those people to get a special visa to stay in the country that they otherwise would not have received. Full Story
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![Venezuelan migrants stand outside St. Andrew's Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard, on Sept. 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/Handout via REUTERS -
Operation Lone Star troops could owe feds tax money thanks to state’s payroll error
On Thursday, officials with the Texas Military Department acknowledged that the payroll system they used for the mission has withheld too little in federal taxes from service members’ paychecks. Full Story
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![Members of the Texas National guard sit in the shade with people who were apprehended by state troopers after crossing the border were brought to the International Bridge in Eagle Pass on Thursday, May 28, 2022. Those who were caught were handed over to Border Patrol custody.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott acknowledges New York City mayor’s office reached out about migrant busing efforts
Abbott previously said Eric Adams’ office had not reached out to him about coordinating migrant arrivals in New York City and faced criticism that he was rebuffing efforts from the mayor to communicate. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott delivers the Star of Texas awards on Sept. 9, 2022, in Austin, which recognize service members who have died or sustained serious injury in the line of duty.]()
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Another National Guard soldier working Operation Lone Star dies by suspected suicide
The soldier is the 10th known Texas Guard member linked to the mission to die since its rapid expansion began in September 2021. Full Story
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![A row of shipping containers and razor wire placed on the banks of the Rio Grande River by Gov. Greg Abbott to form a makeshift border wall in Eagle Pass on Nov. 19, 2021.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Watch: Republicans gain ground all along the Texas-Mexico border by emphasizing border security
In these historically Democratic border areas, some voters are turning to the Republican party, while others remain unmoved. Full Story
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![Freddy Arellano and Republican candidate Armando Rosales speaks to local Eagle Pass resident while dropping off yard signs.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune