Almost 157,000 inmates in the Texas prison system were counted by the U.S. Census Bureau as living where they’re incarcerated and not as residents of their home counties — a policy that some opponents argue has dire political and economic consequences.
Demographics
Explore population trends, diversity, and data shaping Texas communities, politics, and policy.
Ads Infinitum: White’s “Border Security” Pitch
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White promises 1,000 more security officers on the Texas-Mexico border in his latest TV spot, appropriately titled “Border.”
TribBlog: Iraq Hand-Me-Downs to Texas?
Eighteen Democrats in the Texas House have asked President Obama to send U.S. surveillance aircraft from Iraq to Texas to help guard the state’s border with Mexico.
2010: Bill White’s Border Security Plan [Updated]
Gubernatorial candidate Bill White unveiled a border security plan today and chided Gov. Rick Perry over border cameras and his “unauthorized” spending of security money.
Emilio’s Exile
Journalist Emilio Gutiérrez says that after he reported on allegations that Mexican soldiers robbed citizens, the military threatened his life. That led him to seek asylum in the U.S. — but instead, he landed in an immigration detention center for seven months. He’s still waiting to find out his ultimate fate.
TribBlog: Illegal Immigration Down in U.S.
The number of undocumented immigrants entering the U.S. has declined considerably in the past few years when compared to the first half of the previous decade, according to a new study by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The Brief: Aug. 31, 2010
The president’s in Texas again today, but this time he’s all business — or, rather, no business.
TribBlog: “La Barbie” Captured
Authorities in Mexico have detained the alleged Texas-born cartel leader Edgar Valdez Villarreal, also known as “La Barbie.”
TribBlog: Send in the Drone
State lawmakers have long been clamoring for an unmanned drone to boost security on the border. On Wednesday they’ll get their wish, as an unmanned drone begins patrolling the Texas skies.
The Huddled Masses
Five years after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana exiles have fundamentally changed Houston, and vice-versa. The uneasy arrangement was a shotgun marriage: Many evacuees had no choice in whether or where they went, and Houstonians had no choice, for humanity’s sake, but to take them in.





