The two firms awarded the contract have previously built barriers and designed ports of entry for the federal government.
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
After a Texas prosecutor dismissed dozens of migrant trespassing cases, some men were dropped at a border bus station
Officials said immigration authorities weren’t interested in taking migrants who had no criminal conviction into federal custody. But without documentation, at least one newly released migrant soon found himself back in detention.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Analysis: Texas and the U.S., lawyered up and ready to go to court
It’s usually the state suing the feds, but now the federal government is suing Texas for outlawing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. There are more lawsuits between the state and federal governments to come.
Posted in
State Government
State agency recommends two firms to oversee construction of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas-Mexico border wall
The state is expected to award the contract in mid-September to begin the construction of a Texas-Mexico border wall.
Posted in
Immigration
The federal government calls it a levee. South Texas immigration advocates and environmentalists see a border wall.
Border wall opponents say President Joe Biden broke his promise to halt border wall construction when Homeland Security started building a wall and calling it a levee.
Posted in
Operation Lone Star
Thanks to local politics and a railroad, rural Kinney County accounts for most of Texas’ migrant arrests
Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push, Texas state police have arrested hundreds of migrants in the conservative county, usually after spotting them on cargo trains or walking remote ranch lands. Sent to a state prison retooled as an immigration jail, many men were left without lawyers for weeks.
Posted in
Politics
Private donations for a Texas border wall have soared to $54 million. But it’s still unclear who’s giving.
After two months, the donations had petered out around $1 million. But the effort saw a major boost in August.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Senate approves spending nearly $2 billion on border security
Proponents of House Bill 9 denounced the Biden administration’s approach to border security, saying the state had no choice but to step in to ramp up enforcement.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House approves additional $2 billion for border security as state moves to build border wall
The bill would nearly triple border security funding from the last biennium. The legislation needs one more vote of approval from the House before moving to the Senate.
Posted in
Congress
Despair and optimism: Texans in Congress welcome Afghan refugees to the state, disagree on blame for tragedy in Kabul
Looking relieved but exhausted, 1,200 Afghan refugees arrived this week at El Paso’s Fort Bliss. Meanwhile, Texans remain on the ground in an increasingly dangerous Afghanistan.