Judge weighing whether to close El Paso shelter that aids undocumented immigrants
Texas argues that Annunciation House is breaking state law by harboring undocumented immigrants, something the shelter's lawyers called "utter nonsense." 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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![Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House, speaks at a press conference on Feb 23, 2024. Earlier this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced a lawsuit against the migrant shelter Annunciation House for allegedly operating a stash house and human trafficking. Annunciation House has been providing aid and shelter to migrants in El Paso for more than 40 years.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
DPS has charged hundreds of migrants who rushed a border gate with rioting. A judge has thrown out the charges.
Two different groups surged through an El Paso border gate. An El Paso judge has twice thrown out the resulting criminal charges. Full Story
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![A group of migrants walk to an El Paso County Sheriff transport van to be taken to processing on March 20, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Justin Hamel -
A Houston woman applied for a green card. She was banned from the U.S. for a decade.
Claudia González was 15 when she crossed the border into Texas to reunite with her mother. Now she’s back in Mexico, separated from her 15-year-old son and her husband in Houston. Full Story
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![Claudia González, 36, worships at her church in Tamaulipas, México on Sept. 17, 2023. After living in Texas for two decades and receiving a work permit through DACA, she applied for her green card, hoping to become a legal permanent U.S. resident.]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
In El Paso, apathy, alienation and discontent with candidates drives low voter turnout
Across this border city, which sees some of the state’s lowest voter turnout, many residents either didn’t know there was an election in March or had reasons for avoiding the polls. Full Story
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![Jorge Trujillo outside of the Memorial Park Senior Citizen Center vote center in El Paso on March 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Disagreement and confusion on display in hearing over Texas’ new immigration law
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments about whether to allow back into effect a law allowing state and local authorities to deport migrants. Full Story
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![A group of migrants walk to an El Paso County Sheriff transport van to be taken to processing on the day the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on Texas' motion to lift a block an immigration law that would allow state officials to arrest migrants suspected of being in the country illegally, in El Paso, on March 20, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Justin Hamel -
Texas’ new immigration law is blocked again
Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed Senate Bill 4 to go into effect, a federal appeals court let an earlier injunction stand. SB 4 lets Texas police arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border. Full Story
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![Migrants walk along the Rio Grande passed the recently installed buoys in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. As there is concertina wire installed along the Urbina’s property, migrants are told to walk to the end of the property. Many make that walk which can be difficult to do through slippery rocks in the water, the current and the inclined river bank, while some find spots through the concertina wire and manage to get through.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
Supreme Court permits Texas police to arrest people who illegally cross the border as the SB 4 legal clash continues
The ruling allows Texas to start enforcing SB 4 while a lawsuit over its constitutionality remains pending before a federal appeals court. Full Story
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![The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2022.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Biden temporarily blocked from diverting border barrier funds
A judge’s ruling is the latest development in an ongoing border enforcement battle between Texas and the president. Full Story
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![Border wall construction resumes near the Eli Jackson Cemetery in Pharr on March 21, 2022. In 2020, Congress exempted the cemetery from border wall construction, but it has started once again and is near completion.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
El Paso judge blocks Ken Paxton’s efforts to subpoena Annunciation House
The judge questioned Paxton’s true motives to investigate the shelter, saying there is “a real and credible concern” the state has a predetermined goal of shutting down Annunciation House. Full Story
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![205th District Judge Francisco Dominguez speaks during a motion hearing with in the 205th District Courtroom in El Paso on Thursday, March 7, 2024.]()
Credit: Gaby Velasquez/El Paso Times/USA TODAY Network via REUTERS -
Texas federal judge dismisses Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against Biden’s immigration program
The Trump-appointed judge has previously ruled against the Biden administration in other immigration-related lawsuits brought by Texas. This time, he said, Texas has no standing to sue. Full Story
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![A group of migrants are detained by U.S. Border Patrol on Feb. 3, 2024, in Quemado.]()
Credit: Michael Nigro/Sipa USA via REUTERS