Willie Colón, trombone and salsa legend, dies at 75

The death of Ruben Ray Martinez, which would be the earliest deadly shooting by fed officers since the start of President Trump's immigration clampdown, came to light bc of a FOIA lawsuit from nonprofit watchdog American Oversight for records. www.texastribune.org/2026/02/20/t...

New: Houston-area developer Colony Ridge, accused of running a predatory lending scheme that deceived Latinos, reached a $68M settlement w/ Texas and the feds. This detail 👇 stuck out –– undocumented ppl can't get a driver's license or official ID in TX. Report: www.texastribune.org/2026/02/10/c...

Democrat Taylor Rehmet’s stunning upset victory in last month's Texas Senate #SD9 elex is explained in part by the massive swing by Latinos toward his campaign compared to other Dems in recent elections. to see the change, @amahaja.bsky.social made these maps: www.texastribune.org/2026/02/09/t...

This is Amalia. She spiked a fever of 104 in ICE lock up, a lawsuit says. Her oxygen levels dropped to 50% Officers stood watch during her 10-day emergency hospital stay. When she was well enough to leave, doctors said Amalia should go home. Instead, ICE put her and her mom back in detention.

Two weeks ago, the El Paso Medical Examiner ruled the death of a 55yo Cuban detainee at an immigration center in El Paso was a homicide. ICE bypassed the county ME w/ the latest death, sending the body to an Army hospital instead. www.texastribune.org/2026/02/03/t...

NEW: How Democrat Taylor Rehmet upset a MAGA candidate to flip a North Texas Senate district that Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024 + what folks are making of the special election, held on a Jan. Saturday w/ no other candidates on the ballot. #txlege #sd9 www.texastribune.org/2026/02/02/t...

Texas passed a '23 immigration law in response to record border crossings under the Biden admin. Today, a challenge to the law returns to court under v diff circumstances: crossings are low + TX is helping the Trump admin + the DOJ is no longer a plaintiff. www.texastribune.org/2026/01/22/t...

Two weeks ago, Texas AG Ken Paxton announced that his office had arrested 35 undocumented people they turned over to ICE. So, I asked via an open records requests for arrest reports and any other relevant docs related to the apprehensions. The AG's office says there aren't any:

new from me: In the wake of the Uvalde school shooting in 2022, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made a risky decision for a Texas Republican: He helped shepherd major gun safety legislation. Now critics are turning up the heat on Cornyn in what's shaping up to be the fight of his career. t.co/Sa9INpUBNb

In April, authorities raided what they say was a Tren de Aragua gathering. Attendees say it was a birthday party. Among those detained included a homeless barber/DoorDash driver, and three people who fled Venezuela years ago *because of* that gang 🧵 www.texasobserver.org/officials-tr...

The Texas Department of Public Safety has shifted from Biden-era border enforcement to helping expel people from the country, a job once exclusively done by federal authorities. @serranoalej.bsky.social @texastribune.org

New: Texas DPS officers are helping arrest thousands of undocumented immigrants across the state, including in large cities whose Democrat leaders have historically opposed working w/ ICE. Spokesperson tells me: "Operation Lone Star 2.0 is underway statewide..." www.texastribune.org/2025/09/12/t...

“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: Texas Dept. of Public Safety arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across TX to aid Trump’s mass deportation DPS has shifted from Biden-era border enforcement to helping expel people from the country... From @serranoalej.bsky.social

📽️ WATCH: Andry Omar Blanco Bonilla, one of the men Trump sent to CECOT, told our reporters he was beaten the moment the plane landed. He says when he regained consciousness and saw the polished concrete floor, the bright lights, the men in uniform, he just asked God: What am I doing here? Why?

you should read my @texastribune.org colleague Carlos Nogueras Ramos' dispatch about how Midland high school may once again be named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee five years after the school shed its Confederate moniker --> www.texastribune.org/2025/08/11/m...

New: Increased attention on Texas House Democratic leader Rep. Gene Wu of Houston comes with more anti-Asian insults. www.texastribune.org/2025/08/06/t...

New: Meet Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd, who's emerged as a model for how sheriffs can serve in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement apparatus. Sheriffs are already set to supercharge Trump’s immigration crackdown — especially in Texas. www.texastribune.org/2025/07/31/g...

New: A Venezuelan man accused by Texas police of being a Tren de Aragua member and sent to El Salvador was initially arrested on criminal trespassing charges when he crossed the border. This week a Texas judge dismissed that case. But he remains in ES's CECOT. www.texastribune.org/2025/07/17/t...

28-year-old Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, who has no known criminal record, was accused by Texas police of being in a Venezuelan gang because they found a photo of him posing with another man with tattoos, his lawyers say. From ProPublica partner @texastribune.org:

New: Texas police asked a Venezuelan migrant if he had tattoos. He didn't. But they found a photo of him standing next to a man who did. That was enough to label him a member of Tren de Aragua, getting him shipped to El Salvador, lawyers say. www.texastribune.org/2025/06/18/t...

new from me: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick got the THC ban he wanted — and an explosion of backlash. As pressure mounts on the governor to veto #SB3, Patrick is in the unfamiliar position of taking flak from conservative activists and media personalities. www.texastribune.org/2025/06/10/d...

New: Two months ago, a cadre of Texas and federal authorities crashed what they later described as a Tren de Aragua gathering in Hays County and detained 47 people, including kids. Since, the authorities involved in the raid have not said much. 🧵 www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/t...

New: Texas would further cement its role in enforcing immigration laws under a bill the state Legislature voted to send to the governor Sunday that would require most sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. more here: www.texastribune.org/2025/06/01/t...

A Texas Senate panel today advanced a bill that would no longer allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition. Out-of-state tuition is typically three times more expensive than in-state tuition. via @jessicapriest.bsky.social + @aydenrunnels.bsky.social

20 years ago, Texas studied immigration and found that undocumented immigrants' economic contributions outweighed their costs. Now, for the first time since, Texas may conduct a similar study — but only focus on the costs.

New: Texas is one step closer to studying the impact of immigration on the state for the first time in almost two decades, but might exclude from the assessment the benefits that undocumented immigrants contribute to the state’s economy. www.texastribune.org/2025/04/22/t...

New: Gov. Greg Abbott gave President Donald Trump credit when Texas closed a border site for booking migrants. But arrests were already low, records show. www.texastribune.org/2025/04/14/t...

It all starts with a flush of a toilet: El Paso is about to embark on a whole new way to save its limited water supply via mi tocaya @alereports.bsky.social: www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/e...

“Great journalism isn’t exclusive.” Love this message from @serranoalej.bsky.social and @arelisrhdz.bsky.social during our student workshop today.

After four prosecutors and nearly six years, El Paso DA decided it’s time to stop pursuing the death penalty for the mass shooter who in 2019 killed 23 people in a local Walmart and said he wanted “to shoot as many Mexicans as possible.” via @ujohnnyg.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/03/25/t...

87 degrees in mid-March feels a bit much imho

Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold. this is an incredible read via @eleanorklib.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/03/18/t...

NEW (and my first BlueSky post!): How overwhelmed is the Houston-area criminal justice system? Read my story about a man who spent 18 years in the Harris County jail pre-trial. www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investi...

Robert Morris, Texas megachurch pastor and former Trump adviser, indicted for child sex crimes.

Texas lawmakers have filed dozens of bills that could further cement the state’s role in immigration enforcement — long the sole responsibility of the federal government — should they become law. here's a primer on some of the proposals w/ @ujohnnyg.bsky.social --> t.co/mMUxY4HMik

come work at the @texastribune.org we have openings for two (!) politics reporters, a GA reporter and an economy and industry reporter. more about the positions here: t.co/7J0nOXsFzt

New: The Trump administration fired five judges from federal immigration courts in Texas. Union president tells me: “We can give President Trump congratulations ‘cause he just increased the backlog of immigration cases.” www.texastribune.org/2025/02/27/t...

ICE said 118 people were arrested during an operation Monday in Colony Ridge outside of Houston but only released information about one of the arrests. ICE has not responded to requests for a list of the names, ages and charges against those who were arrested. www.texastribune.org/2025/02/25/t...

The owners of a South Texas bakery accused of illegally hiring undocumented immigrants for $8/hr were also housing them next door — a detail that a federal judge ruled was sufficient to charge the couple with harboring the workers. via @beregarcia.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/02/21/t...

The owners of a South Texas bakery were arrested and charged with harboring undocumented workers, a relatively rare incidence of federal agents pursuing business owners for allegedly employing undocumented immigrants. via @beregarcia.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/02/20/t...

Trump’s mass deportation plans have echoes of a 1950s federal crackdown that swept through Texas fascinating history via @ujohnnyg.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/02/12/t...

UPDATE: Border Patrol chief calls report that agents will board buses to check students’ citizenship “absurd” www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/a...

New @ujohnnyg.bsky.social: The Alice Independent School District in South Texas warned parents in a letter Wednesday that U.S. Border Patrol agents may be checking the immigration status of students on school buses traveling for extracurricular activities. www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/a...

Operation Lone Star was born out of Texas' frustration with Biden to secure the border. Now that Trump's in office, there's no sign of pulling back on the multi-billion state effort. via @serranoalej.bsky.social and @jasperscherer.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/t...

New: After teasing border security rollback, Texas plunges in deeper after spending $11 billion over the last four years during the Biden administration. w/ Jasper Scherer www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/t...

New: Texas National Guard soldiers now have the authority to make immigration arrests and help detain and deport undocumented people under an agreement between the state and the Trump administration. "This is absolutely an unprecedented invocation of authority." www.texastribune.org/2025/02/03/t...

Icymi: this story from West Texas by @serranoalej.bsky.social is a good indicator of what life may be like under Trump 2 for anyone not holding a US passport or driver’s license in rural or Trump- aligned communities ( major metro areas, which tend to be D, simply don’t have the jail space)

An immigrant faces deportation after a routine traffic stop in Texas, sparking more fear, story by @serranoalej.bsky.social www.texastribune.org/2025/01/29/t...