Secure Communities, a controversial government program that identifies immigrants in custody in local jails, is now active in every county in Texas, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced today. Full Story
"It is impossible to carry out our role in these conditions," read the editorial this week in El Diario de Juárez. "Tell us, therefore, what is expected of us as a medium." The paper was directly addressing Mexican drug traffickers who assassinated its young photographer Luis Carlos Santiago in broad daylight, but the whole world took notice — and asked if the Mexican media was finally waving the white flag before the cartels and gangs now warring for control of the bloodied country. Diario editor Pedro Torres explains that the intent was simply "to call attention to what is going on." Full Story
The author of Drug Lord on rumors of Mexican political corruption, how the drug war is like Prohibition, why drug traffickers aren't like Muslim extremists, whether the U.S. media really understands Mexico and why Hezbollah has set up shop across the border. Full Story
The defense bill blocked by Republicans in the U.S. Senate could impact Texas. One of the measures that failed to move forward was an amendment that would have given some undocumented immigrants a path to legal status through education. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports. Full Story
Senate Republicans voted unanimously against opening debate for the defense authorization bill this afternoon, a move that blocked the so-called DREAM Act, a controversial immigration measure. Full Story
A group of people who typically prefer to stay out of the limelight gathered this morning to urge lawmakers to support the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. Full Story
Terrence Poppa discusses the third edition of his book, Drug Lord, which includes a new epilogue that analyzes how U.S. drug policy has hindered Mexico's efforts to curtail drug violence and corruption. Full Story
Libertarians launch a new political action committee, Texas Libertarios, to show Latinos they have more choices than just Republicans and Democrats. Full Story
Ramsey on the fourth University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll (with insights into the statewide races, issues, the budget, and Texans' view of the national scene), Hamilton and Thevenot in Galveston on the anniversary of Hurricane Ike, Ramshaw on secret hearings that separate children from their guardians, Hu on what former state Rep. Bill Zedler did for doctor-donors who were under investigation, Aguilar on the troubles around Mexico's bicentennial, Galbraith talks coal and wind with the head of the Sierra Club, E. Smith interviews state Rep. Debbie Riddle about tourism babies and godless liberals, Grissom on why complaints about city jails go unaddressed, Philpott on the debate that will apparently never happen and Stiles continues to put the major-party gubernatorial candidates on the map: The best of our best from September 13 to 17, 2010. Full Story
For the 12th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the GOP state representative from Tomball about what she really said on CNN, whether "tourism" babies are a threat to national security, why an Arizona-style immigration law would be right for Texas and whether she'll back Joe Straus for speaker. Full Story
Despite the violence-fueled cancellation of bicentennial festivities in other major border towns, Nuevo Laredo plans to forge ahead with its celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Full Story
Nearly half of all Texans would repeal the constitutional promise of citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil, and nearly two-thirds would favor Arizona-style laws allowing the police to ask about the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
Galbraith's three-parter on the battle over wind power transmission lines, Grissom on a convicted killer who got probation, Aguilar on how the U.S. census counts inmates in the Texas prison system, Stiles launches a new interactive tool tracking the candidates for governor, Hamilton on the Texas A&M University System's latest accountability measure for faculty, Hu's interview with Democratic megadonor Steve "Back to Basics" Mostyn, Philpott on how the Texas economy compares to that of other states and Ramsey on the start of the 2010 election sprint: The best of our best from Sept. 6 to 10, 2010. Full Story
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. Full Story
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White promises 1,000 more security officers on the Texas-Mexico border in his latest TV spot, appropriately titled "Border." Full Story
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. Full Story
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. Full Story
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. Full Story
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. Full Story