Border communities struggle to keep younger, educated residents when larger cities dangle economic and quality-of-life opportunities. They’re afflicted with the reputation of being black holes of talent — where escape is necessary in order to prosper.
Immigration
In-depth reporting on border issues, policies, communities, and the impact of immigration across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Slideshow: Border Bus
On both sides of the border, there are calls to end the U.S. Border Patrol’s Alien Transfer and Exit Program. But Border Patrol officials say their plan to break the connection between smugglers and immigrants is working.
TribBlog: Less Vitriol, More Laws on Immigration
The inflamed immigration rhetoric of the past couple of years has waned, but a report the National Conference of State Legislatures released today shows that state lawmakers still have passion for the issue.
Road to Nowhere
The U.S. Border Patrol says its illegal immigration repatriation program is working to break the crossing cycle in Arizona, but officials in Texas and Mexico worry the program creates more problems than it solves.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramsey and others on Bill White and the changing state of the race for governor; Thevenot’s two-parter on what Dallas churches are doing to combat social ills and racial division; Ramshaw on the use of force by school district police departments (and why parents don’t know about it); Grissom’s two-parter, abetted by Stiles, on unregulated payday lenders; Aguilar on Mexican immigrants who play against type; and Rapoport on those missing extra checks for retired public employees. The best of the best from November 21 to 25, 2009.
Upwardly Mobile
The number of Mexican-born professionals living in the United States has more than doubled since 1995. They’re not the undocumented workers you see in evening-news mug shots or aerial photographs of a littered and barren desert. They’re college graduates — some with multiple degrees — who join their blue-collar counterparts in their journeys north.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Multi-part stories from Ramshaw and Grissom and Stiles on mental health services for detained immigrants and on payday lenders who provide exorbitantly priced credit to people with nowhere else to turn… Twitter, word clouds and the race for governor — a Stiles joint… Farouk Shami is in and Hu was there to watch… Philpott went to Bastrop for a gather of Republican governors… Rapoport finds a State Board of Education that’s trying to control itself… and we have the skinny on legislative races that are likely to be competitive (only about 5 percent of the races on the ballot). It’s the best of The Texas Tribune from November 14 to 20, 2009.
Detaining Care, Part Three: Andre’s Story
Andre Osborne was so over-medicated in the Willacy Immigration Detention Center that he fell off of the top bunk of his bed, badly injuring his face and eyes.
TribBlog: DPS: We’re Stopping the Bad Guys
The day after DPS warns parents that Mexican cartels are trying to recruit their kids to sell drugs, the agency issues a press release that says DPS efforts are pushing back drugs and preventing them from getting here.
Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Smugglers
That warning comes as law enforcement officials report an increase in the number of youth from Mexico and the United States becoming involved in human and drug trafficking.

