The cause of a fertilizer plant explosion here that killed 15 people on April 17 has been ruled “undetermined,” officials announced at a press conference in the town’s high school parking lot on Thursday.... Read more»
The Mexican government’s decision to limit the access that U.S. law enforcement agents had under the previous administration should be seen more as an effort to streamline enforcement and not as an affront to its northern neighbor, analysts and lawmakers say.... Read more»
Texas peace officers may soon be prohibited from asking about the immigration status of a victim of or a witness to crime, under a measure the House Committee on State Affairs approved Thursday.... Read more»
Immigrants living in the U.S. illegally can start on a path toward citizenship, but only after significant border-security measures are met and they pay a hefty fine, according to an outline of the comprehensive immigration reform bill senators introduced this week.... Read more»
Doubling down on their vows to focus on border security before considering immigration reform, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, will file legislation on Tuesday that will further scrutinize how well the federal government protects the U.S.-Mexico border.... Read more»
The utility says the facility is necessary to meet the needs of the growing city and county. It says it will use the latest technology to extract the cleanest fossil fuel available. But residents fear that a range of air and water contaminants will have an impact on their community.... Read more»
In his first inaugural address, the Great Communicator Ronald Reagan said that “government is not the solution, government is the problem,” and set out the conservative message that would prevail in Republican circles for the next 30 years.... Read more»
As the gun control debate swirls around issues like background checks and mental health, a new study reveals that gun running into Mexico remains a large-scale problem. Researchers estimated that as many as 253,000 firearms were purchased in the U.S. from 2010 to 2012 for the sole purpose of being trafficked across the border.... Read more»
Staff reductions at the country’s ports of entry have been postponed, easing for now some sequestration-induced anxieties of stakeholders and elected officials on the border.... Read more»
State Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, has filed legislation that would encourage Texas educators to learn how to help the state’s estimated 1 million public school students struggling with mental illnesses.... Read more»
After peaking in September, applications for deferred action have dropped off dramatically. Immigration attorneys think most eligible undocumented immigrants are in a wait-and-see mode amid the federal immigration reform debate.... Read more»
A Texas Democrat is taking his GOP colleagues to task on sequestration. In a letter, freshman congressman Pete Gallego tells border hawks they can’t be for the continued sequester and for increased border security at the same time.... Read more»
Here is a quick measure of the political climate in Texas, from one of the leaders of a group that wants to make this a competitive state: Texas Democrats don’t let friends run for statewide office.... Read more»
Sounding the alarm over a 70-year-old treaty that governs the release of water to Texas by Mexican officials, state and federal lawmakers say that Mexico is again falling short on its part of the agreement and that water users in the Rio Grande basin are feeling the impact.... Read more»
For the past year and a half, stealing a penny in Texas has been a felony under state law. Lawmakers didn’t set out to target the smallest of small-time thieves, though. It happened inadvertently in 2011 when they passed a bill aimed at curbing the growing problem of metal theft.... Read more»
The Mexican ruling party’s recent decision to adopt a platform that could open up the country’s giant oil monopoly to private investment has caught the attention of some industry gurus in Texas, who say the move bodes well for U.S. business interests.... Read more»
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