Immigration

Not every crowd is an adoring crowd. Gov. Rick Perry got a reality check in San Antonio this week.

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A decision on the whether to advance the state’s pending “sanctuary cities” legislation will not be made until Monday, leaving less time for lawmakers to consider the bills before Wednesday’s special session deadline.

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Texas Gov. Rick Perry made no mention of the federal government’s overreach or the violence he says is spilling across the state’s border during a brief and tense public appearance today before hundreds of Latino elected officials.

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Lawmakers to lobbyists: Butt out of TWIA fight.

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Tearful testimony from students brought to the country illegally and a new ICE directive that stresses discretionary enforcement has raised more concerns over the state's pending "sanctuary cities" legislation.

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The Tribune counts down to the end of the special session with updates on where the major issues added to the agenda by Gov. Rick Perry stand.

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Like parents threatening to withhold allowance from a misbehaving child, proponents of Senate Bill 9 are warning local authorities across the state: Comply or face the fiscal consequences.

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Want a quick recap of some of the happenings this week in the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly video rundown of the action under the dome.

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Aaronson and Murphy visualize what happened to the nearly 5,800 bills introduced in the 82nd Lege, Aaronson, Hasson and Swicegood interactively recap the budget battle, Aguliar on the surge in illegal re-entry cases prosecuted by the Obama administration, Galbraith on a coal plant that wants a water deal from the LCRA, Grissom interviews a man wrongly imprisoned and nearly executed — twice, Hamilton on a controversial UT regent who wants a do-over in the debate over higher ed reform, Ramshaw on the continuing fight over pre-abortion sonograms, Root on Rick Perry's newsmaking trip to NYC and M. Smith on whether cash-strapped school districts will raise taxes: The best of our best content from June 13 to 17, 2011.

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The controversial Secure Communities initiative, aimed at deporting criminal aliens but criticized for removing mostly minor offenders of lesser crimes, may undergo considerable changes, according to the director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

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One of the most emotional and controversial issues of the year centered around the sanctuary cities bil. Senate Democrats managed to block SB 9 during the regular session, but it's found a new life in the special session. Behind the scenes, some question whether the Democrats are now reaping what they sowed when one of their members pushed the Legislature into overtime.

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Likely voters in Texas approve of President Barack Obama almost as much as they approve of Gov. Rick Perry, according to the third and final release of poll results from the Texas Lyceum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of civic leaders.

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State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, speaks to a crowd protesting the sanctuary cities bill at a rally held by the Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance at the Texas Capitol.

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On this week's episode, Reeve, Julian, Morgan and Jim discuss Texas Monthly's list of the best and worst legislators, education and immigration in the special session, and Gov. Rick Perry's still-hypothetical presidential bid.

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Texans are hammering away at Barack Obama for failing to secure our borders and for refusing to put forward a comprehensive immigration-reform plan, but the number of federal prosecutions for "illegal re-entry" has quietly skyrocketed under his administration.

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Texas peace officers will be allowed to inquire into the immigration status of any person arrested or legally detained under legislation passed by the Texas Senate early Wednesday morning.

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The Center for Urban Research at the City University of New York released a map of Houston today using data from the Census Bureau to visualize changes in race and ethnicity population patterns.

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Less than a week after Gov. Rick Perry added the measure to the special session agenda, the contentious “sanctuary cities” bill is one step closer to what lawmakers see as its inevitable passage.

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Aguilar on a newly exposed rift in the GOP, Dehn on what summer overtime for lawmakers costs taxpayers, Galbraith on one bright spot for environmentalists this session, Grissom on reports of abuse shrouding a death row case, Hamilton on the long slog toward higher education reform, Ramsey on where the Big Three stand, Ramshaw on the filibuster-induced rise of a state senator, Root on Perry's jump into the culture wars, M. Smith on a new wrinkle in the school finance battle and Tan on the "pansexual" debate that nearly killed the crucial fiscal matters bill: The best of our best content from June 6 to June 10, 2011.

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U.S. law enforcement officers in Hidalgo County received heavy fire today from alleged drug cartel operatives along the Rio Grande, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

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