The latest border news from The Texas Tribune.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Sharp and state Reps. Ryan Guillen and Veronica Gonzales fired off a letter today to the two Republican Texas senators asking them to find money to boost health care funding for Rio Grande Valley veterans. Full Story
The mildly pleasant woman who answered the phone explained to me that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Freedom of Information Act office does not accept requests electronically. Full Story
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Experts from around the U.S. and Mexico are debating the War on Drugs and its affect on violence south of the border. Some of them wonder whether decriminalization is the answer. Full Story
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Texas’ chain of inland checkpoints has created a border within a border, separating abused and sometimes undocumented children in counties adjacent to Mexico from services north of the invisible line. Full Story
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Drugs are abundant in border communities. Poverty is rampant. Substance abuse treatment is scarce. What's a 16 year old to do? Full Story
His name is Justin. He’s a heroin addict. He’s been sober for 42 days. And he's 16. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading. Full Story
Texans say immigration tops their list of state concerns. Nearly half of them say illegal immigrants should be deported, as against 41 percent who think the immigrants should be allowed to keep their jobs, assimilate, and eventually be allowed to apply for legal status. Full Story
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina launched the first in what she says will be a series of Spanish-language commercials that will air on South Texas cable — on CNN, Fox News, and Univision. Full Story
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh's decision not to run for reelection creates many opportunities for El Paso politicians, but in this Democrat-dominated city, the cards are stacked against Republicans. Full Story
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Starting Monday, U.S. Border Patrol plans to ship about 100 undocumented immigrants a day from Arizona back to Mexico through a remote border entry point in Presidio, and Gov. Rick Perry is displeased. Full Story
The leader of Texas' largest business group said Wednesday that Gov. Rick Perry's new election promise to crackdown on employers who hire undocumented workers would be unfair and untenable. Full Story
Border officials say their communities aren't being overrun with "lawless hordes" of Mexican drug runners and people smugglers, and they said Gov. Rick Perry is painting an inaccurate scary picture of their home. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry and former New York Mayor and GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani are traveling the state this week, touting anti-gang legislation and state border security efforts. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry is expanding Operation Border Star, a multi-agency border security effort he launched in 2007, sending teams of Texas Rangers and National Guard troops to curb border crime and prevent spillover violence from Mexico. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry gave Texas border sheriffs another $2 million for a virtual border wall of web cameras that in its first full year failed to meet nearly every law enforcement goal his office originally set. Full Story