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»
A week after a blast at a Texas fertilizer plant killed at least 15 people and hurt more than 200, authorities still don’t know exactly why the West Chemical and Fertilizer Company plant exploded. Here’s what we do know: The fertilizer plant hadn’t been inspected by OSHA since 1985. Its owners do not seem to have told Homeland Security that they were storing large quantities of potentially explosive fertilizer, as regulations require.... Read more»
Like many, the Fertilizer Institute, a trade group, has extended its condolences to the people of West, Texas, where a blast at a fertilizer plant Wednesday evening killed at least a dozen and injured about 200. The Washington-based institute, however, has lobbied against legislation that would require high-risk chemical facilities – including some of its members – to consider using safer substances and processes to lower the risk of catastrophic accidents and make such facilities less inviting to terrorists.... Read more»
The Gang of Eight debuted their immigration reform bill; New York dairy farmers, religious leaders and tech industry leaders including Mark Zuckerberg weighed in on the debate; Mexico faces law enforcement challenges and business opportunities.... Read more»
In the wake of the overwhelming Latino and Asian American support for President Obama in the 2012 election—support that was critical to his re-election—the political winds on immigration have shifted significantly to favor reform with a pathway to citizenship for the approximately 11 million undocumented living in our country.... Read more»2
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»
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»
The public’s view of a typical Mexican drug smuggler might not include U.S. Naval Academy grad Todd Britton-Harr, who was caught at a Border Patrol checkpoint in south Texas in December 2010 hauling a trailer with 1,100 pounds of marijuana. It turns out that the Border Patrol catches more American citizens with drugs than it does Mexican couriers.... Read more»1
The Supreme Court, poised to rule on a major affirmative action case, accepts another one. What this might say about dismantling race-conscious programs.... 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»
Border roundup: The world reacts to the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Mexican journalist Jaime Guadalupe Gonzalez Dominguez, Gov. Brewer loses in court, Arizona Republicans propose voting restrictions and the border economy continues to cross international lines... Read more»
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