Nearly two months after border-area cattle inspection stations in Mexico ceased operations amid security concerns, the sites have reopened on the Texas side of the border. A popular South Texas lake, however, is now on the radar. Full Story
The long-awaited debate over the Arizona immigration law between state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, and state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio — promised but never facilitated by CNN — took place today on Dallas radio station KRLD. Full Story
The federal government has more than tripled the number of visas granted to undocumented victims of such crimes as domestic violence and rape. The policy change is designed to aid prosecutors in securing witnesses and convictions, but some fear the incentive of legal status will spur false accusations. Full Story
In the Tribune's TribLive event Wednesday, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst takes a position on the controversial Arizona immigration law that requires police to check the immigration status of citizens. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry today released his updated homeland security plan, and border congressmen want to know why he's not sending more federal security money to the border. Full Story
More than 30 religious, immigration and environmental advocacy groups sent a letter to Democratic U.S. Senate leaders Thursday calling on them to oppose a Republican measure to build more fencing on the southern border. Full Story
How do the three candidates vying to be the state GOP's next chair feel about the hot-potato issue of immigration? Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that they believe their fellow Republicans shouldn't rush to embrace the controversial new Arizona law. Full Story
In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben consider the latest twists in the immigration debate, hit on what Texas' political landscape might look like in 2012 and ponder why Yao Ming appears in a Perry web video. Full Story
At tonight's Rose Garden celebration of Cinco de Mayo, Barack Obama said he intended to begin work on "comprehensive immigration reform" this year, even though many administration observers predicted the issue was too controversial to tackle following the bloody battle over health care reform legislation. Full Story
Aides to Gov. Rick Perry's re-election campaign have accused his Democratic challenger, Bill White, the former mayor of Houston, of running a “sanctuary city," where officers don't inquire about immigration status during routine patrols and investigations. But Houston's policy is remarkably similar to that of Texas DPS under Perry. If Houston is a sanctuary city, why isn't Texas a sanctuary state? Full Story
To the sound of drums and the sight of American flags, more than 25,000 people marched on Dallas City Hall in the latest episode in Texas' endless immigration saga. Full Story
Stiles and Thevenot's searchable database of more than 5,800 public schools, Thevenot on why smaller high schools are better, Garcia-Ditta on the possible unification of Big Bend National Park with Mexico, Grissom on what's likely to happen on immigration reform this year (nothing), Hamilton on how Admm Bobby Ray Inman is managing a crisis, Hu on the health care reform straw man, Ramsey on the no-shoo-in-for-the-experienced-guy special election in Senate District 22, Philpott on the likely post-Arizona immigration brawls, Ramshaw on the emergence of concierge care as a response to health care reform, Aguilar on how Texas will soon become Cuba's top U.S. trading partner, Stiles and Babalola's searchable database of more 160,000 inmates in Texas prisons, M. Smith on the depressing fact that every single U.S. Attorney position in Texas is now vacant, and my on-camera sit-down with Texas Transportation Commission chair Deirdre Delisi. The best of our best from April 26 to 30, 2010. Full Story
A joint effort among the U.S. Census Bureau, Valley lawmakers and community groups is smoothing over the tensions of the past couple of weeks, when the bureau announced that 95 percent of residents of South Texas colonias were not getting their Census forms in the mail. Full Story