ICE says it deported more than 500 people in the Houston area in one week
The agency did not offer details about the types of crimes or immigration violations the majority of the people were accused of. Full Story
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Uriel J. García is an immigration reporter based in El Paso. Before joining the Tribune in 2021, he worked at the Arizona Republic where he covered police violence and immigration enforcement. He started his journalism career at the Santa Fe New Mexican where he covered the city's immigrant community and criminal justice issues. Originally from Mexico and a native Spanish speaker, Uriel grew up in Phoenix and graduated from Arizona State University.
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![A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent’s badge in front of the J.J. Pickle Federal Building in downtown Austin on April 1, 2025.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. declares military zone around El Paso, allowing soldiers to arrest migrants
It’s the second military zone the Trump administration has created at the border, following one on the New Mexico-Mexico border, where a group of migrants were arrested on Monday. Full Story
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![The Rio Grande, which marks the U.S.-Mexico border, is covered in concertina wire in El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on May 27, 2024.]()
Credit: Paul Ratje for the Texas Tribune -
Bill to create a Texas Homeland Security Division passes state Senate
Senate Bill 36, a priority bill for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, would create an office within the Department of Public Safety focused on immigration enforcement, organized crime and threats to state infrastructure. Full Story
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![DPS airboats on the bank of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, seen from Piedras Negras, on June 6, 2024.]()
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Sheriffs would be required to cooperate with immigration agents under bill approved by Senate
Senate Bill 8 would require sheriffs in urban counties to enter into 287g agreements with ICE, which can then train deputies and jailers on how to identify and apprehend undocumented immigrants. Full Story
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![Webb County Sheriff and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detain an individual in February 2021.]()
Credit: John Lamparski/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
After four prosecutors and nearly six years, El Paso DA decides it’s time to stop pursuing the death penalty for mass shooter
The new DA campaigned on seeking the death penalty for the 2019 massacre, but said he offered the gunman a plea deal of life in prison to avoid dragging out the case for several more years. Full Story
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![The family of Javier Amir Rodriguez, who was killed at the Walmart shooting in 2019, is seen during a memorial service on the third anniversary of the August 3rd Walmart mass shooting that left 23 dead, at the El Paso County Healing Garden, Wednesday, August 3, 2022, in El Paso.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Trump administration drops challenge to Texas law targeting people who illegally cross the border
Senate Bill 4, the Texas law that makes illegally crossing the border a state crime, will continue to be challenged by two immigrant rights groups and El Paso County. Full Story
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![A National Guard soldier sits atop a wall made out of shipping containers while watching over the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Eagle Pass.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant money
A letter sent this week claims the grant recipients, including many Texas cities and counties, may have illegally “induced” undocumented immigrants to enter the country. Full Story
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![Migrants walk from a DHS tent facility in front of the McAllen bus station to Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center on April 22, 2021.]()
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How state lawmakers are trying to crack down on illegal immigration
From requiring law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal officials to forcing state contractors to use E-Verify to spot undocumented workers, here are the bills that could reshape the state’s immigration policies. Full Story
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![People who were apprehended by state troopers after crossing the border were brought to the International Bridge in Eagle Pass, where they were handed over to Border Patrol custody on Thursday, May 28, 2022.]()
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Texas refugee aid group sues to unfreeze $36 million in federal funds
Catholic Charities Fort Worth says that its partners have had to lay off 750 people because of the freeze. Full Story
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![Afghan refugees arrive at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia while en route to military facilities in the U.S. on Aug. 26, 2021.]()
Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY via REUTERS -
Trump’s mass deportation plans have echoes of a 1950s federal crackdown that swept through Texas
Seventy-one years after the Eisenhower administration launched a high-visibility operation to arrest undocumented immigrants, President Trump is following some of the same playbook. Full Story
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!["Wetbacks," workers from Mexico board deportation buses at the McAllen (Texas) detention center, ca. early 1950s]()
Credit: Courtesy, Texas AFL-CIO Mexican American Affairs Committee Records, University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections