immigration

A portion of the border wall built by We Build The Wall, a private group that raised money through a GoFundMe account, on private land in El Pasoâs west side. May 28, 2019.

Private group must stop building border wall in South Texas, judge says in temporary order

by Teo Armus, The Washington Post

The group, We Build The Wall, said it has cleared a mile and a half of land next to the Rio Grande and plans to begin installing the wall within 48 hours, with a goal of completing it by Jan. 15.

Full Story

The border fence sits atop a levee on the periphery of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Hidalgo County in February 2017.

Jared Kushner’s new assignment: Overseeing the construction of Trump’s border wall

by Josh Dawsey and Nick Miroff, The Washington Post

President Donald Trump has set an aggressive goal: building more than 400 miles of new barrier by the end of 2020. That will require quickly seizing lots of private land in Texas.

Full Story

A Mexican Soldier patrols the makeshift migrants camp at the base of Paso del Norte International Bridge in Ciudad Juarez on Oct. 3, 2019. Migrants wait close to the port of entry so they won't lose their spot in line to legally cross into the U.S. and seek asylum.

Trump administration to shuttle migrants from Tucson to El Paso under "Remain in Mexico" policy

by Arelis R. Hernández, Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti, The Washington Post

The policy hasn't started in Arizona, so the government plans to bus migrants to El Paso, then send many of them to Ciudad Juárez while their asylum claims are pending, administration sources say.

Full Story

Ordered under the George W. Bush administration, a controversial incomplete border wall along the Rio Grande River in South Texas has had environmental and cultural impacts.

As government prepares to seize more land for a border wall, some Texas landowners prepare to fight

by Julián Aguilar

In Laredo, border landowners are receiving letters from the federal government, requesting permission to enter their land for surveying. "Hell no, we're not signing anything," one recipient said.

Full Story

Center for Public Policy Priorities CEO Ann Beeson and Educate Texas Executive Director John Fitzpatrick at the launch of Texas Counts in Austin on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.

Texas isn't providing major support for the 2020 Census. Local officials and nonprofits say they will instead.

Several nonprofits, local governments and philanthropy organizations have formed Texas Counts, a coalition aimed at ensuring an accurate census count in 2020, which could affect representation in Congress and billions in federal funding.

Full Story

Genesis (left) and Jose Hernandez play with donated toys on the Mexican side of the Brownsville/Gateway Bridge. Their family has been camped on the bridge for four days awaiting an opportunity to apply for asylum.

Federal judge issues partial block of Trump administration's third-country asylum rule

by Julián Aguilar

A U.S. district judge ruled the administration’s third-country rule doesn’t apply to people who sought asylum before July 16.

Full Story

A group of Central American migrants walks next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence after they crossed the borderline while a Border Patrol agent looks through the fence in El Paso, Texas, U.S May 15, 2019.

Apprehensions of undocumented immigrants on the Southwest border continue to fall

by Julián Aguilar

The figure is the lowest since July 2018 and marks the fifth consecutive month that the number has dropped.

Full Story

Two young children are seen inside a temporary migrant holding area setup by CBP under the Paso del Norte International port of entry between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso on March 27, 2019.

A Trump administration strategy led to the child migrant backup crisis at the border

by Neena Satija, Karoun Demirjian, Abigail Hauslohner and Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post

Interviews, emails and memos detailing the strategy show that officials knew that without enough beds in government shelters, children would languish in Border Patrol stations not equipped to care for them.

Full Story

Protesters gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices arew scheduled to hear oral arguments regarding the Trump administration’s bid to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in Washington D.C. Nov. 12, 2019.

Trump administration tells Supreme Court it owns termination of DACA program

by Robert Barnes, The Washington Post

The U.S. Supreme Court heard opening oral arguments Tuesday on the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Full Story

On immigration issues, a wall between Texas partisans, UT/TT poll finds

by Ross Ramsey

Texas voters from the two major parties are split on a range of immigration issues, including immigration policy, deportations and bilingual education, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Full Story

Voters are worried about leadership, border issues, health care and guns, UT/TT Poll finds

by Ross Ramsey

National leadership and border issues top the list of voter concerns about the country; at home, it's the border and gun control, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Full Story

West Texas detention facility in Sierra Blanca.

ICE transfers detainees out of West Texas facility after water shortage in Sierra Blanca

by Julián Aguilar

The shortage has forced the West Texas Detention Facility, operated by Louisiana-based LaSalle Corrections, to turn off its water nightly.

Full Story

A U.S. border patrol agent stands at the limit of the U.S. and Mexico border in Eagle Pass. Concertina wire can be seen to the left of the officer. Feb. 8, 2019.

Trump's controversial "remain in Mexico" immigration policy expands along Texas' southern border

by Julián Aguilar

The Migrant Protection Protocols, a program requiring migrants to wait in Mexico as their asylum requests are pending, is in effect in Eagle Pass, El Paso, Laredo and Brownsville.

Full Story

West Texas detention facility enacting water conservation measures after depletion of local water tanks

by Julián Aguilar

The Sierra Blanca facility, which houses ICE detainees, shuts down its water supply at 11 p.m. daily to allow its on-site water tanks to replenish overnight.

Full Story

Rows of tents are situated near the entrance of the Gateway International Bridge in Matamoros, Tamaulipas on Oct. 16, 2019. Approximately 2000 migrants have camped near the entrance of the bridge in hopes of obtaining asylum in the United States.

Conditions deteriorating at makeshift camp on the Rio Grande where thousands await U.S. asylum

by Acacia Coronado

The camp began forming last summer in Matamoros, Mexico, and now an estimated 2,000 people, many of them children, live in squalid conditions as they wait weeks or months to request U.S. asylum.

Full Story

A group of migrants are escorted by CBP agents near the Paso del Norte International Bridge in El Paso on June 15, 2019.

Trump administration testing rapid asylum review, deportation process in Texas

by Robert Moore, The Washington Post

The accelerated reviews seek to accomplish two of the president's goals: deterring migrants from attempting to cross the U.S. border and pushing asylum seekers out of the United States.

Full Story

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers execute criminal search warrants and arrest more than 100 company employees on federal immigration violations at a trailer manufacturing business in Sumner on August 28, 2018.

Immigration agency decides against six-figure fines for undocumented immigrants living in sanctuaries

by Julián Aguilar

Last summer, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents told some undocumented immigrants it was considering giving them six-figure fines. Last week, the agency backed down.

Full Story

Supporters of President Donald Trump showed up in large numbers to the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Thursday, a few even camped out in line the night before and many stood in lines that continued for blocks around the arena.

Donald Trump fans in Dallas say the president just “gets” them

by Alex Samuels

Their support for the president is steeped in two main beliefs: He’s done exactly “what he said he’d do,” and his remarks toward Democrats and people of color matched what they said and believed.

Full Story

She fled a violent Honduran gang to seek asylum in Texas. Now she might be deported because she didn't file paperwork in Mexico.

by Julián Aguilar and Acacia Coronado

The Trump administration's policy to deny asylum to migrants who didn't seek protections elsewhere is now being enforced. Immigration attorneys warn the new rule could forever diminish U.S. asylum policy.

Full Story

U.S. President Donald Trump greets supporters as he disembarks Air Force One after landing at El Paso International Airport in El Paso on February 11, 2019.

No refugees allowed? Trump’s plan to give states and cities a veto prompts an outcry.

by Griff Witte, The Washington Post

Gov. Greg Abbott in 2016 threatened to pull Texas from a refugee resettlement program. But Austin Mayor Steve Adler thinks refugees benefit his city. A new White House plan could mean a state could ban refugees even when a city is prepared to welcome them.

Full Story