In our session kickoff edition of the TribCast, Ross, Elise, Ben and Reeve discuss the state’s budget morass, so-called “sanctuary city” legislation and their impressions of the newly sworn-in Texas Legislature.
Immigration
In-depth reporting on border issues, policies, communities, and the impact of immigration across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Guides
Texplainer: What’s an Emergency Item?
Ever hear something about Texas politics or policy and wonder what it is? Or read something that made you think, “I have no idea what that means”? We’re here to help. From questions about why Rick Perry is within his legal right to shoot a coyote while jogging to what the heck “chubbing” is, Texplainer will answer your burning questions. Today: “What’s a Legislative emergency item?”
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Demographics
Perry Pressed on “Sanctuary Cities”
Gov. Rick Perry wants an end to “sanctuary cities,” but in a press conference Wednesday morning, he didn’t name specific cities he wants Texas lawmakers to target. Nor did he address whether the Department of Public Safety’s policy of state troopers not inquiring about the immigration status of people they pull over should be changed.
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Demographics
Dream Deferred?
College students who would have benefited from federal passage of the DREAM Act, which would have provided a pathway to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants, are turning their attention to the Texas Legislature. As Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, protesters rallied at the Capitol on Tuesday against a number of immigration bills lawmakers will consider.
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Demographics
He Sells Sanctuary
Gov. Rick Perry has designated the elimination of “sanctuary city” policies as one of the 82nd legislative session’s emergency items — but as the Tribune has noted repeatedly in the last year, the state’s in no position to throw stones.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Hispanic Democrats: Lege “Chasing Ghosts”
Hispanic members of the Texas House responded swiftly to Gov. Rick Perry designating abolishing “sanctuary” cities a legislative emergency. “Instead of leading us through a $27 billion dollar budget shortfall that is poised to cripple our schools, our communities and the public health system, we are chasing ghosts,” said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio.
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Demographics
Molly Molloy: The TT Interview
As 2010 drew to a close, the death toll in Juárez surpassed an astonishing 3,100 for the year. Since 2008, New Mexico State University librarian and professor Molly Molloy has been painstakingly keeping a daily tally of each one of the drug war killings that has made the city across the Rio Grande from El Paso one of the most dangerous in the world.
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Criminal Justice
The General at War
Rick Perry might be the state official most publicly doing battle with the the federal government, but Greg Abbott is quietly leading the charge on behalf of Texas. The Attorney General, who was just sworn into his third term in office, talked recently with Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune.
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State Government
A Conversation With Three Incoming House Members
For our first TribLive conversation of 2011, I interviewed Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock; Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs; and Paul Workman, R-Austin, about the Speaker’s race, the budget shortfall, immigration, the Tea Party and how they and other newbies will navigate the 82nd legislative session.
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Criminal Justice
Pomp, Circumstance, Consequences
The 82nd Texas Legislature convenes in Austin this week, and while it’s not as much fun as the circus — usually — it’s more important and does have its share of comedy and drama.