Trump says he could declare national emergency to build border wall
Asked Friday if he would declare a national emergency to get the wall built, Trump responded: “We can do it. I haven’t done it. I may do it. I may do it.” Full Story
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![President Donald Trump talks to reporters about an impending U.S. Government shutdown as he participates in a bill signing ceremony for the “First Step Act” and the “Juvenile Justice Reform Act” in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on December 21, 2018.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts -
The Texas Tribune's most-read stories of 2018
No surprise: Our audience was drawn to our reporting on the U.S. Senate race between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke. And our most-read story of 2018 let readers know how they could help migrant children at the border. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera: O'Rourke/Robin Jerstad: Cruz -
As ICE releases hundreds of migrants en masse in El Paso, local shelter eyes more beds
Immigration shelters in the El Paso area are trying to expand capacity as the federal government released hundreds of migrants this week with no place to go and without warning. Full Story
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![Javier Grajeda hands out hamburgers to asylum-seeking migrants who were released by ICE on Christmas Eve in El Paso, Texas.]()
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Tornillo facility for migrant kids will remain open into 2019, federal government confirms
The facility, which critics have called a “tent city” and sits on a remote port of entry, was opened in June to house mainly unaccompanied minors who crossed the border without parents or guardians Full Story
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![Aerial view of the tent city at the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in Tornillo on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018. The shelter opened in June and has grown approximately 10 times in size, compared to file photos. Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Guatemalan boy who died in U.S. custody spent two days at El Paso Border Patrol station
The boy and his father were taken to the El Paso Border Patrol station, where they were held for two days, CBP said. They were later taken to the Alamogordo station. CBP said it was looking into options to relieve overcrowding in its facilities in the El Paso sector, which includes El Paso County and all of New Mexico. Full Story
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![CBP participates in "operational readiness exercises" to prepare for the caravan moving through Mexico and heading towards the border, according to a CBP agent, at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry on Friday, November 9, 2018, in El Paso, Texas.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Catch up on some of The Texas Tribune's top projects from 2018
The Texas Tribune produced several deep-dive investigations in 2018 that examined various issues that affect Texans across the state. Here's a look at some of those standout projects. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera / Reynaldo Leal / Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
ICE dumps hundreds of migrants at a bus station on eve of Christmas without warning shelters
Lawmakers and immigrant rights groups scramble after ICE releases hundreds of migrants without alerting local shelters. Full Story
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![Mariel Mendez, 28, sits with her son at a park in downtown El Paso on Christmas Eve 2018. The asylum seekers were part of a group of hundreds ICE released to a bus station.]()
Credit: Julián Aguilar/The Texas Tribune -
Watch videos of panels from the 2018 Texas Tribune Festival
Over 300 speakers — and thousands of attendees — descended on downtown Austin for the three-day Texas Tribune Festival examining politics and policy issues facing Texas and the United States. Here are some selected conversations on topics including immigration, gun violence and politics. Full Story
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U.S. Supreme Court denies Trump administration request to immediately enforce new asylum rules
President Donald Trump’s Nov. 9 proclamation barred asylum for anyone who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border between official ports of entry. It came in reaction to recent caravans of migrants from Central America. Full Story
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![Families from Guatemala and Honduras wait for their opportunity to apply for asylum. The said the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on the American side of the bridge have not given them much information other than they need to wait here.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
Report: Feds investigating Southwest Key, migrant shelter operator for thousands of kids in Texas
The Austin-based non-profit has received $1.1 billion in federal funds since the start of 2016 and currently houses 3,644 migrant children at shelters across the state. Full Story
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![Southwest Key CEO Juan Sanchez talks to Tribune investigative reporter Jay Root at the Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 29, 2018.]()
Credit: Steve Moakley for The Texas Tribune -
Trump administration: Deal reached to force asylum seekers to wait in Mexico as cases are processed
The United States has been in negotiations with Mexico for weeks to reach such an accord, believing that illegal crossings will decline if Central Americans believe the asylum system will no longer offer them a way to avoid deportation. Full Story
![Families from Guatemala and Honduras wait for their opportunity to apply for asylum. The said the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on the American side of the bridge have not given them much information other than they need to wait here.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
Audit questions how DPS verifies eligibility when issuing Texas driver's licenses
The audit says the Texas Department of Public Safety lacks the controls to ensure necessary documents are collected and retained. Full Story
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Federal judge overturns White House policy on asylum seekers fleeing domestic or gang violence
A Washington D.C.-based judge ruled the policy, which was implemented by former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in June, went against standards set forth in the Immigration and Naturalization Act. Full Story
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![Gissela Diaz, 3, is held by her father a few feet from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol checkpoint. The father says they have been waiting on the bridge for days.]()
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U.S. House Democrats call for congressional investigation into Guatemalan child's death
Lawmakers said they had more questions than answers after touring Border Patrol facilities in New Mexico where a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl was held before her death. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, and other current and incoming members of Congress toured the U.S. Customs and Border Protection station in Lordsburg, N.M. on Dec. 18, 2018 to learn more about the in-custody death of a 7-year-old immigrant girl.]()
Credit: Jesus Rosales for The Texas Tribune -
Family of Guatemalan girl who died in federal custody call for "thorough investigation"
“Premature and inaccurate statements undermine the integrity of the investigation,” attorneys for the family of Jakelin Caal Maquin said in a statement Saturday. Full Story
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Beto O'Rourke and other Democrats urge public to keep Tornillo in spotlight
The population at the detention center for migrant children has quietly swelled from a few hundred to about 2,800 in about six months. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, flanked by U.S. Sens. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota (left), and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, speaks to the press after touring the tent city that holds thousands of immigrant children, in Tornillo on Dec. 15, 2018.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
7-year-old migrant girl taken into Border Patrol custody dies of dehydration, exhaustion
The Guatemalan child was taken into custody last week after crossing from Mexico into the United States illegally with her father and a large group of migrants along a remote span of New Mexico desert Full Story
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![A memorial in the desert near Falfurrias on April 2, 2013. Brooks County officials and ranchers have discovered the bodies of hundreds of undocumented immigrants over the years.]()
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Texas border-area officials could get a funding boost to help ID human remains
The Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2018 would allow border counties to apply for federal grants to help identify bodies of undocumented immigrants. Full Story
![A memorial in the desert near Falfurrias on April 2, 2013. Brooks County officials and ranchers have discovered the bodies of hundreds of undocumented immigrants over the years.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Eric Thayer -
A court ruling may allow migrant families to be held indefinitely. These families know what that could be like.
Migrant children are not supposed to be detained for more than 20 days in unlicensed facilities. Texas may be able to license two family detention centers, in Dilley and Karnes County, after an appeals court ruling last week. Full Story
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Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: These Texas candidates are about to find out what they’ve really won!
The campaigns were long and hard, and now we know the winners. Let's look at what they're in for once they take office in 2019. Full Story
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![Texas House members huddled near the dais on Aug. 15, 2017. The House adjourned sine die one day before the Legislature's special session would have been forced to conclude.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera