https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/uriel-j-garcia/The latest news by Uriel J. García.enThu, 10 Apr 2025 14:07:03 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/texas-homeland-security-division-dps-senate-vote/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.By Uriel J. GarcíaThu, 10 Apr 2025 14:07:03 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/texas-homeland-security-division-dps-senate-vote/Texas Department of Public Safety boats on the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass on June 6, 2024.DPS airboats on the bank of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, seen from Piedras Negras, on June 6, 2024.Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/01/texas-senate-bill-8-vote-287g-agreements-sheriffs-ice/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.By Uriel J. GarcíaTue, 01 Apr 2025 17:14:56 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/01/texas-senate-bill-8-vote-287g-agreements-sheriffs-ice/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/25/texas-el-paso-mass-shooting-walmart-death-penalty-plea-bargain/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.By Uriel J. GarcíaTue, 25 Mar 2025 17:42:27 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/25/texas-el-paso-mass-shooting-walmart-death-penalty-plea-bargain/The family of Javier Amir Rodriguez, a victim of the El Paso Walmart shooting, at a 2022 memorial service at the El Paso County Healing Garden, on the third anniversary of the shooting that left 23 people dead.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.Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/19/texas-immigration-law-senate-bill-4-department-justice-lawsuit/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.By Uriel J. GarcíaWed, 19 Mar 2025 11:49:46 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/19/texas-immigration-law-senate-bill-4-department-justice-lawsuit/A National Guard soldier sits atop a wall made of shipping containers while watching the U.S.-Mexico border on Feb. 7, 2025 in Eagle Pass.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.Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-fema-federal-grants-immigrants/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.By Uriel J. García, Alejandro Serrano and Berenice GarciaThu, 13 Mar 2025 16:12:36 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-fema-federal-grants-immigrants/Migrants walk from a Department of Homeland Security tent facility in front of the McAllen bus station to Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center on April 22, 2021.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.Jason Garza for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/12/texas-legislature-immigration-bills/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.By Alejandro Serrano and Uriel J. GarcíaWed, 12 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/12/texas-legislature-immigration-bills/Migrants apprehended by state troopers after crossing the Texas-Mexico border are brought to the International Bridge in Eagle Passand handed over to Border Patrol custody on May 28, 2022.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.Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/03/texas-refugee-catholic-charities-federal-grants-trump-freeze/Catholic Charities Fort Worth says that its partners have had to lay off 750 people because of the freeze.By Uriel J. GarcíaMon, 03 Mar 2025 15:08:32 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/03/texas-refugee-catholic-charities-federal-grants-trump-freeze/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/12/texas-immigrants-deportation-operation-trump-eisenhower/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.By Uriel J. GarcíaWed, 12 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/12/texas-immigrants-deportation-operation-trump-eisenhower/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/alice-texas-buses-students-citizenship-border-patrol/The chief’s comments came after Alice ISD sent a letter to parents Wednesday warning students may be detained and possibly deported if they can’t prove they’re in the country legally. The letter was later removed from the district’s website.By Uriel J. García and Ayden RunnelsWed, 05 Feb 2025 22:03:43 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/alice-texas-buses-students-citizenship-border-patrol/A school bus waits at an intersection while driving its morning pickup route before dawn on Sept. 12, 2023 in West Odessa.A school bus waits at an intersection while driving its morning pickup route before dawn on Sept. 12, 2023 in West Odessa.Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/04/texas-immigrant-legal-aid-federal-program-department-justice/The agency’s reversal comes after a federal judge told the Trump administration it must continue to pay for grants and other programs it abruptly froze last month.By Uriel J. GarcíaTue, 04 Feb 2025 14:15:09 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/04/texas-immigrant-legal-aid-federal-program-department-justice/A plaque marking the U.S.-Mexico border between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.A woman commutes across the U.S-Mexico border crossing in Laredo on Nov. 9, 2021.Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/31/texas-immigrants-undocumented-trump-deportation/Across the state, immigrants and their loved ones are changing their daily habits as the Trump administration orders at least 1,200 daily arrests of undocumented people.By Uriel J. García, Alejandra Martinez and Berenice GarciaFri, 31 Jan 2025 16:29:07 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/31/texas-immigrants-undocumented-trump-deportation/People gather at Memorial Park in El Paso on Jan. 29 to protest immigration raids and deportations since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.People gather at Memorial Park in El Paso on Jan. 29, 2025 to protest ICE raids and deportations.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/28/texas-immigrants-dps-department-public-safety-ice-arrests-warrants/According to the governor, 5,400 immigrants in Texas have a warrant for their arrest.By Uriel J. GarcíaTue, 28 Jan 2025 12:34:21 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/28/texas-immigrants-dps-department-public-safety-ice-arrests-warrants/Department of Public Safety Special Operations agents escort a group of migrants through private property near Brackettville on Nov. 9, 2021. Agents turned the migrants over to Border Patrol.Department of Public Safety Special Operations agents escort a group of migrants through private property as part of Operation Lone Star after catching them in Kinney County near Brackettville, Texas on Nov. 9, 2021. The owner of the property did not sign the affidavit to allow DPS to arrest undocumented migrants in their property, so they will be processed by Border Patrol. Verónica G. Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas TribuneGabriel V. Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/28/texas-border-immigrants-federal-legal-aid-cut-off/The decision to halt the program could prevent thousands of people detained in immigration detention centers from receiving legal advice.By Uriel J. GarcíaTue, 28 Jan 2025 11:45:26 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/28/texas-border-immigrants-federal-legal-aid-cut-off/South Texas Family Residential Center, an ICE detention center in Dilley, on Sept. 30, 2020. The U.S. Department of Justice has halted federal programs that helped detained migrants obtain legal help.South Texas Family Residential Center, an ICE detention center in Dilley, on Sept. 30, 2020.Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/24/texas-trump-immigration-policy-prosecutors-police-undocumented/The Trump administration this week threatened local officials with prosecution if they interfere with its planned immigration crackdown.By Alejandro Serrano and Uriel J. GarcíaFri, 24 Jan 2025 12:42:21 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/24/texas-trump-immigration-policy-prosecutors-police-undocumented/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/21/texas-border-migrants-trump-asylum-executive-order/Hours after Trump’s inauguration, his administration canceled appointments allowing migrants to enter the U.S. to request asylum, leaving many of them stranded on the U.S.-Mexico border.By Uriel J. García and Alejandro SerranoTue, 21 Jan 2025 18:59:01 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/21/texas-border-migrants-trump-asylum-executive-order/Margelis Tinoco Lopez at El Buen Pastor migrant shelter in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico on Tuesday. Tinoco Lopez was in line for her CBP One appointment when President Donald Trump issued an executive order following his inauguration that immediately canceled all CBP One appointments.Margelis Tinoco Lopez was in line for her 1pm CBP One appointment when President Trump was sworn into office and issued an executive order that immediately canceled all CBP One appointments, including her own. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on January 21, 2025.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-mass-deportations-trump/The new administration could use the existing system of federal agents, local police and jails to funnel more people into the deportation pipeline.By Uriel J. García and Alejandro SerranoFri, 17 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-mass-deportations-trump/Central American migrants who were apprehended crossing the Rio Grande in Brownsville were flown to El Paso for processing, then deported to Mexico across the Paso del Norte International Bridge on March 16, 2021.Migrants from Central America that were apprehended crossing the Rio Grande in Brownsville were flown to El Paso for processing and then deported to Mexico across the Paso del Norte International Bridge on March 16, 2021.Paul Ratje for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/07/congress-bill-deportation-undocumented-crimes/The proposal requires immigration authorities to hold and deport immigrants charged with crimes like burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting.By Uriel J. García and Katharine WilsonTue, 07 Jan 2025 16:48:23 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/07/congress-bill-deportation-undocumented-crimes/https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/texas-border-wall-greg-abbott-landowners/At least a third of landowners approached by state officials have refused to let wall be built on their properties. That’s forced the state to largely build on ranchland in remote areas, or erect sections that are full of gaps.By Zach Despart, Yuriko Schumacher and Uriel J. García, Photos by Eli HartmanThu, 19 Dec 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2024/texas-border-wall-greg-abbott-landowners/Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/25/texas-24-hours-border-takeaways/Reporters from both organizations spent a day documenting the reality on the border. Here’s a summary of what they found.By Berenice Garcia, Uriel J. García, Jakob Maurer and Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune, and Juan A. Lozano and Elliot Spagat, Associated PressWed, 25 Sep 2024 11:52:03 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/25/texas-24-hours-border-takeaways/A private border wall that extends nearly three miles stands in Mission, on Friday morning, Aug. 9, 2024.A private border wall that extends nearly three miles is seen in Mission, Texas on Aug. 9, 2024.Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/25/texas-border-24-hours-trump-harris-migrants/The Texas Tribune and The Associated Press visited five locations along the 1,254-mile span to separate the facts from the political narrative during a heated election year.By Berenice Garcia, Uriel J. García, Jakob Maurer and Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune, and Juan A. Lozano and Elliot Spagat, Associated PressWed, 25 Sep 2024 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/25/texas-border-24-hours-trump-harris-migrants/Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, clockwise: A Venezuelan migrant family arriving in El Paso; the Rio Grande and Shelby Park in Eagle Pass; Andrés García, Border Patrol agent and public affairs officer at the border wall near Mission; a Customs and Border Protection officer and K-9 inspecting trucks at the Port of Laredo.Christina Smallwood, foreground, and Andrés García, Border Patrol agents and Public Affairs officers look for migrants underneath the vehicular McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge in Hidalgo, Texas, early Friday, Aug. 9, 2024.Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune