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.
Immigration
In-depth reporting on border issues, policies, communities, and the impact of immigration across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
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.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Proposed Immigration Laws Create Unlikely Alliances
Proposing state enforcement of immigration laws can produce strange bedfellows. “Who would imagine that after 28 years of law enforcement the ACLU would be talking so nicely about me,” Sheriff Richard Wiles joked after being introduced as a common-sense sheriff by ACLU of Texas Executive Director Terri Burke for his opposition to proposed legislation patterned on Arizona’s.
Posted in
Demographics
Silvestre Reyes: The TT Interview
The Democratic congressman from El Paso on what life will be like with the Republicans in control of the U.S. House, why the information released by WikiLeaks shouldn’t be public, whether we should be sending troops to Mexico and why Gov. Rick Perry talks so much about spillover violence.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: “Hell No!” to Party Switching
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who survived the GOP rout last November, didn’t mince words Wednesday when asked if he’d considering throwing in with the other guys.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Big Bend Border Crossing
Alan Bersin, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol commissioner, will be headed to Big Bend National Park on Thursday for an announcement that might please residents of that remote area of the border. Bersin is set to meet with National Park Services staff to discuss the opening of a border crossing in Boquillas Canyon.
Posted in
Demographics
Now What?
Texas alternates election years with governing years, with legislative sessions set in the odd-numbered years after voters choose their leaders. There are variations, but it’s got a rhythm: Choose them, watch them govern, choose, watch. The elections behind us, it’s time to see what this particular bunch will do.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Names, Photos of Prison Escapees Released
The Webb County Sheriff’s Department has released the names and photographs of 151 inmates who escaped from a Mexican state prison on the border this month. So far, he says, there is no evidence the convicts have fled to Texas.
Posted in
Demographics
The Best Political Video Moments of 2010
Politics, like football, is a full-contact sport — and the 2010 election was filled with the kind of brawling you would expect. It also had plenty of bizarre moments of the sort that make the rest of the nation believe Texas really is a different country.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Slain Activist’s Family Seeks Asylum in Texas
The asylum case of a Mexican family whose matriarch was assassinated during a political protest could “define the politics of refugee detention” and shape how the U.S. weighs future cases of those wishing to flee political persecution in Mexico, an El Paso-based immigration attorney said Tuesday.