“What’s suing Tylenol going to do? Is it going to help the kids? Is it going to bring more awareness? Is it going to get our kids diagnosed more early?” Please read this one. @thebarbedwire.com spoke with parents of autistic kids in Texas. They had a lot to say. thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/16/t...

This week a bathroom bill went into effect in Texas for the first time. After 10 years and 19 attempts. To regulate bathrooms for 1% of the population. The obvious question is… why? Here are the answers we found, after years and so much reporting. thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/04/a...

Work for this story began in 2023 as part of a project by the Investigative Reporting Workshop, a nonprofit newsroom at American University. Students, interns, and editors over the past two years combed through more than 1,600 bills filed nationally since 2015. thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/04/a...

Amanda Aguilar, an immigration lawyer, said cartels held one of her clients for ransom immediately after his deportation to Mexico via the Tamaulipas border. “My clients will say, ‘Can you please ask them not to drop me off in Tamaulipas?” Aguilar said. “And I do ask, but ICE just doesn’t care.”

This article by @19thnews.org and @thebarbedwire.com tells the story of Emmanuel Gonzalez, a 15-year-old with an intellectual disability who was in ICE custody for 48 days. Follow both publications on Flipboard. flipboard.com/@19thnews flipboard.com/@thebarbedwire

Maria Garcia reported her intellectually disabled son missing in Oct. Police called federal immigration instead of his mom. He was kept in custody — until Friday. “In front of the entire world, they tried to make others believe I was a bad mother,” said Garcia. thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/24/d...

A video of a Black woman seemingly denied care while in labor has left a lot of people saying: This isn’t an outlier. Texas is one of the worst states for maternal healthcare, and the Black maternal mortality rate is nearly 3X that of white women, per state data. thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/18/v...

preach.

in the same breadth, Talarico blamed the media for the recent @axios.com article about his social accounts following porn actors and escorts, calling it “clickbait” and claiming Axios published it just to make money. was quick to dismiss the notion of hypocrisy. www.axios.com/2025/11/08/t...

“When did pedophilia become a partisan issue?” Talarico in response to questions about the Epstein files and Trump connection. American people deserve all the information, he added. #tribfest25

back in Texas for #Tribfest25 and the James Talarico panel is packed this morning. lot of excitement as Talarico talks about faith and love for neighbors. “Politics is just another word for how we treat our neighbors.”

Nikalie Monroe conducted what she called a social experiment on TikTok, calling churches across the country to ask for baby formula for a fictional two-month-old. The majority do not offer to help her, including three in Texas. thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/11/t...

After the verdict was read and the jury released, 379th District Court Judge Ron Rangel turned to the family of slain 46-year-old Melissa Perez, including her four children.  “The jury wanted me to tell the family they were very sorry for your loss,” said Rangel.

Forget false bravado. Vergil Ortiz Jr., the boxer known as ‘The Texas Machine,’ is “relentless” in the ring, but in conversations, his quiet confidence and curiosity rival his athletic prowess.  Our contributor sat down with him in Saudi Arabia after his last win. thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/06/v...

Are you a social media manager who is passionate about the culture and lives of Texans? Our incredible social media manager was recruited for an exciting, glossy new opportunity, which means ...we’re hiring! Come work with us at @thebarbedwire.com 💕 www.journalismjobs.com/job-listing/...

for all the journalists on this platform — if you haven’t read about Ya’akub yet, now’s the time. his work straddles activism + journalism (documenting activism, I’d say). I feel slightly unhinged, but this is a test case for labeling media as aids of terrorists. thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/04/h...

DHS is accusing Ya’akub Vijandre of “glorifying terrorism” via social media posts. He didn’t violate immigration law, or any laws that we’re aware of. This is the most blatant case we’ve seen yet that the Trump admin is labeling dissent as terrorism. thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/04/h...

Ya’akub Ira Vijandre is a 38-year-old Muslim Filipino photojournalist who sheds light on human rights abuses. As a DACA recipient, his arrest holds drastic implications for the state of free speech in America.

A photojournalist was arrested by ICE at gunpoint — and his DACA status revoked. “Ya’akub isn’t being accused of breaking immigration law — his DACA protection doesn’t expire until May 2026. In fact Ya’akub’s lawyers say he hasn’t been accused of any crime.” thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/04/h...

Today’s the day to vote!!! Let @briangaar.bsky.social be your guide thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/07/t...

Texans love to gripe about property taxes, potholes, and school funding, but when it’s time to vote for the people who actually fix (or ignore) those things, most folks suddenly remember they’ve got laundry to do.

"To be queer in Texas is to be enraged, joyful, desperately frustrated, emboldened by solidarity, sometimes scared for yourself and your friends, and other times grateful for a thoughtful, sparkling community." Our EIC, @oliviamesser.bsky.social, opens up about how queer Texas really is. ⬇️

Texas is one of the queerest states in America — 1.8 million of us, more than double the number of queer New Yorkers. Welcome to Big & Bright 🌈⭐👏 , The Barbed Wire’s new space for queer life in Texas! Subscribe here: thebarbedwire.com/subscribe-bi...

So proud of @oliviamesser.bsky.social — it was almost exactly a year ago that I read her draft and we decided it wasn’t the right time to publish. It sat in our trello board until we started to build Big & Bright — our first vertical dedicated to the full spectrum of queer life in Texas.

I wrote the first version of this draft almost exactly a year ago, but I wasn’t ready. I am now. thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/27/t...

A judge ordered Leqaa released on bond — twice — and DHS appealed and used a rare automatic stay to keep her in detention — twice. Even compared to other pro-Palestinian protesters detained by the Trump administration her case stands out. thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/27/l...

“Listen we could either have groceries for a week or two or spend a day at the fair.” thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/21/t...

such wild questions to have to ask… Can a woman in her own apartment behind a locked glass patio door with a blunt object really be a threat to police officers? Enough of a threat they need to shoot and kill her? thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/16/s...

Can a woman in her own apartment behind a locked glass patio door with a blunt object really be a threat to police officers? A San Antonio jury will decide the answer, as former officers are tried for murder for the first time in the city’s history. thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/16/s...

If you weren’t actively rooting for the Cowboys or Texans to make it all the way this year — time to unlock your inner armchair coach. Bad Bunny is headlining the Super Bowl halftime show. And we’ve got less than 18 weeks to ensure a Texas team is there for it. thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/29/m...

I’ve edited several stories in a row about federal immigration and protest-related cases. and I’m noticing a trend: at the beginning, rhetoric is hot, fingers are pointed, charges are severe. then, as we dig in, the cases start to fall apart… thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/24/n...

NEW: @thebarbedwire.com conducted an in-depth review of the court records and statements thus far in the July 4 Prairieland case and found holes that call into question the government’s narrative. thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/24/n...

I still hate the male doctor who blankly stared at me while I begged for help with my migraines in 1st trimester. and still! can’t wait to be retroactively prosecuted for whatever imagined sin I did while pregnant. thanks @moiradonegan.bsky.social as always www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I wrote about the Trump administration’s false claims about Tylenol, and the moral—not scientific—burdens they place on pregnant women’s bodies. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

22-year-old Ward Sakeik, a Palestinian woman who has lived in Texas since she was 9, says her experience in federal detainment could only be identified as “human trafficking.” And she’s not staying quiet about the women she was forced to leave behind. thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/22/w...

post-retirement truth-telling is an interesting period in the life cycle of every politician. did not call Dade Phelan to be the dark knight of free speech but here we are. thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/16/d...

love editing @iamleslierangel.bsky.social because there is always a chance that one of us or @oliviamesser.bsky.social will cry. which we did here. because journalism matters, our words matter, and who writes them matters. we will keep taking that seriously at @thebarbedwire.com

I wrote about the weekend in Texas football thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/15/c...

are you football-curious? have no idea who Kirk Herbstreit is (or he gives you the ick)? @thebarbedwire.com is here to help. we’re doing Texas football coverage our way. which means jokes, internet moments and just enough analysis to hold your own in a group chat. thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/15/c...

Firing a Black woman for quoting Kirk’s horrific statements about Black women is insane. It seems the Washington Post would rather perform politeness (and demand that the people Kirk harmed do it too) that tell the truth: karenattiah.substack.com/p/the-washin...

"The Bullock Museum glorifies Texas heroes while treating slavery like an awkward uncle no one wants to talk about." At the link @briangaar.bsky.social examines the serious consequences of teaching history this way. ⬇️

publishing this story from @briangaar.bsky.social in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death (bomb threats, ill-advised op-eds) has me thinking about how fundamental agreed upon facts are to a functioning society. if we can’t get the Alamo right… thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/11/b...

Texas loves to pick on queer kids. It’s also one of the queerest states. It’s diverse, and also opened an ICE detention center on the site of a WWII internment camp. Yet, for every Ted Cruz, there’s a Barbara Jordan. For every Joe Rogan, there’s a Simone Biles. thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/10/t...

After lawmakers failed to pass a THC ban, Abbott steps in. Because nothing says “personal freedom” like showing your ID for a watermelon-flavored cube.

Texas lawmakers spent weeks fighting over THC like it was the last brisket plate at Franklin’s, only to adjourn their special session with nothing to show for it but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s sulk-face. Now, Gov. Abbott has decided to issue an executive order and pretend it was all part of the plan.

we’re trying a version of Monday morning quarterbacking for Texas football fans and those who just want to know enough to hold a conversation about C.J. Stroud (its me). please let us know how we did: thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/08/h...

when I say this bill was a dramatic and surprise win for survivors during the last lege session, I mean a down to the buzzer vote and an unlikely supporter in Angela Paxton. and now it’s law thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/04/t...

The Texas Senate has passed HB7, which will incentivize people to bring $100k lawsuits against anyone who makes, sends, or transports abortion medication in Texas. A Texas mother who nearly died giving birth warns HB7 does not protect anyone. “Let doctors treat bleeding without a lawyer." ⬇️

“Women of childbearing age should just leave Texas.” Okay, aside from the economics of that... I’m an eighth generation Texan whose ancestors were among the first-ever to plant oats in places towns later formed. I deserve the right to stay here and fight for my home by telling the truth about it.

Apparently banning weed gummies is harder than outlawing women’s rights, because THC is still legal in Texas. ⬇️