We’re looking into Texas’ border security initiatives, including what has worked, what hasn’t and how they affect residents. If you have experience on the border, we’d like to hear from you.
Immigration
In-depth reporting on border issues, policies, communities, and the impact of immigration across the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Operation Lone Star
Gov. Greg Abbott brags about his border initiative. The evidence doesn’t back him up.
Arrests of U.S. citizens hundreds of miles from the border. Claiming drug busts from across the state. Changing statistics. The data that Texas leaders use to boast about Operation Lone Star raise more questions than answers.
Posted in
TribCast
TribCast: Operation Lone Star and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week
Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial border mission was subject to a slew of bad news this week, including a major shakeup at the Texas Military Department, whose top leader Abbott replaced.
Posted in
Operation Lone Star
Shakeup of Texas border mission leadership continues as pair of two-star generals departs
The departure of three top officials in a week signals that officials may be looking to make changes to the heavily criticized mission. A soldier leading a unionization effort welcomed the moves.
Posted in
Operation Lone Star
National Guard troops were dispatched to famous Texas ranches with private security as part of border mission
The dispatching of troops to the sprawling private ranches, far from the border, raises questions about the use of National Guard troops, who have widely decried the mission as aimless, political and oversized, as the cost of the effort has already ballooned to $2 billion a year.
Posted in
State Government
Trump appointees are helping Texas derail Biden’s immigration agenda
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has sued the Biden administration 20 times in Texas federal courts over everything from mask mandates to immigration policies. Trump-appointed judges have ruled in seven of them, all in favor of Texas.
Posted in
Operation Lone Star
Gov. Greg Abbott replaces Texas military leader who has overseen heavily criticized border mission
Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer will take over as the military department’s new leader. He replaces Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, who was criticized for her handling of Operation Lone Star, as adjutant general of the Texas Military Department.
Posted in
Operation Lone Star
Webb County, a Democratic stronghold, is set to welcome Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial migrant arrests
The county is the most populous to embrace the Republican governor’s “catch-and-jail” policy to arrest people accused of crossing the border illegally for state crimes, including trespassing.
Posted in
Unconventional Wisdom
Analysis: The Fred Rogers test, for Texas public officials
Texas voters can get some guidance for sorting through the political noise of campaigns from an unlikely source — a comforting tale for children.
Posted in
Immigration
Biden’s latest border moves spur criticism that he’s continuing wall construction
The administration says it’s filling in wall gaps for agent safety and flood control, and documents suggest an environmental assessment for 86 miles of wall in South Texas is a stalling tactic.