The commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on why he believes the Texas-Mexico border is secure, why deportations of criminals have reached unprecedented levels, why trade between the U.S. and Mexico still thrives and what motivates most undocumented immigrants to enter this country illegally.
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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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Stiles on Bill White’s donor-appointees, M. Smith on a form of meritless lawsuit that’s still legal in Texas, Ramshaw on what federal health care reform means for the future of physician-owned specialty hospitals, Galbraith’s interview with the chairman of the Public Utility Commission, Philpott on the latest flap over federal education funding, Grissom on the finally-in-compliance Dallas County Jail, Titus on the oiled pelicans of the BP spill, Hamilton’s interview with the new chancellor of the Texas State University System, Ramsey on the political and legal definitions of residency, Hu on Barack Obama’s visit to Austin and Aguilar on what the U.S. could be doing to aid Mexico: The best of our best from August 9 to 13, 2010.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Legalize It? You Must Be High
Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske laid out the case against legalizing marijuana and other drugs today at a border security conference.
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Congress
HuTube: Texas Lawmakers and Terror Babies, Cont.
In today’s must-watch video, the Texas congressman who first brought up the “terror baby” claims on the U.S. House floor isn’t taking too kindly to being challenged about it.
Posted in
Demographics
Alone Together
Gov. Rick Perry and his Democratic challenger, Bill White, appeared on the same stage in Austin on Thursday. But anyone itching for a debate between the two was disappointed. The candidates were separated on the schedule by other speakers and were never even in the room at the same time. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune filed this report.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: No “Terror Baby” Records
State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, says “former FBI officials” are the sources of her information about a terror baby plot. When the Tribune asked her office for records of any such conversations, her chief of staff said they don’t exist.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Ambassador to Mexico Talks Border Security, Trade
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual kicked off the 2010 Border Security Conference in El Paso with a recap of the violence to date, and his explanation of why the border will survive.
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Demographics
HuTube: FBI Talks “Terror Babies”
State Rep. Debbie Riddle’s terror baby claims of earlier this week were called “absurd” last night by a former FBI official, who said “there was never a credible report, or any report for that matter … to indicate that there was such a plan.”
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Demographics
TribBlog: How Many U.S. “Anchor” Babies?
Of the 4.3 million babies born in the U.S. in 2008, 340,000 — about 8 percent — had parents who were undocumented immigrants, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Anchia vs. Riddle on “Terrorist Babies”
Tuesday night on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, state Reps. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, and Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, debated the perilous issue del día: anchor babies. According to Riddle, women would give birth to terrorist babies in the U.S. who can then destroy America once they come of age.