Five years after mass shooting, El Paso dedicates a new memorial to the victims
For Albert “Tino” Ortega, Aug. 3 will forever remain a solemn date on the calendar. It holds sobering significance for many El Pasoans as on that date in 2019, 23 people were killed in a terrorist attack at an El Paso Walmart, a tragedy fueled by racism that — with nearly 50 federal hate crime charges — became one of the country’s largest hate crime cases.
A federal utility assistance program favors cold-weather states, giving less money to hot places like Texas.
The program helps low-income people with heating and cooling bills, but advocates say it disadvantages Texas and other warm-weather states, even though extreme heat is a key cause of weather-related deaths.
Judge blocks Texas AG’s effort to obtain records from migrant shelter on US-Mexico border
A Texas judge has ruled in favor of a large migrant shelter on the U.S.-Mexico border that Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking to shut down over claims that the facility encourages migrants to enter the U.S. illegally.
Ken Paxton sues to revoke an El Paso nonprofit’s state registration after it didn’t immediately hand over client records
Annunciation House, a network of shelters that serves migrants, sought relief from the attorney general’s demand to immediately release information about its clients. Paxton accused the religious group of smuggling humans across the southern border.
U.S. Department of Justice says it’ll sue if Texas enforces new law punishing illegal border crossing
The state has until Jan. 3 to say it won’t arrest people accused of unauthorized entry from Mexico. If not, the Biden administration will sue, saying immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.
Texas Legislature sends $1.54 billion bill for border barriers to Gov. Abbott
Senate Bill 3 would also appropriate $40 million for state troopers to patrol Colony Ridge, a housing development outside of Houston, and allow the state to send money to local jurisdictions to offset the cost of enforcing another immigration-related bill.
Federal judge orders immigration agents to stop removing Texas’ concertina wire on the border
Border Patrol agents have cut through the state’s wire to free migrants or take them into custody. Judge Alia Moses will hear arguments from Texas and the Biden administration next week to determine whether her temporary order will continue past Nov. 13.
Mexican journalist’s 15-year quest to receive U.S. asylum ends with a yes
Emilio Gutiérrez Soto fled with his son to the U.S. border in 2008 after his reporting on the Mexican military led to threats. He was working on a Michigan farm when he got the news that his asylum request was finally approved.
DeSantis recruiters eyed Catholic church for migrant flights that bishop calls 'reprehensible'
Mark Seitz, the Roman Catholic bishop of El Paso, Texas, tells The Associated Press that Florida Gov_ Ron DeSantis' flights of migrants from the Texas border to California are “reprehensible” and “not morally acceptable.”.
8-year-old girl dies while in federal custody on the border
The child and her family were in custody at a border station in Harlingen before she was transported to a local hospital. The death comes less than a week after the expiration of Title 42, which had allowed authorities to quickly expel migrants from the U.S. during the pandemic.
Chaos on Mexico border averted, for now, as US turns page in migration rules
The U.S. has turned the page on pandemic-era immigration restrictions with relative calm at its border with Mexico as migrants adapt to strict new rules aimed at discouraging illegal crossings and await the promise of new legal pathways into the country.
In the final hours of Title 42, migrants line up and border cities brace for the unknown
Long lines formed again next to the border wall in El Paso — a scene repeated in other parts of the southern border — as migrants anticipated the end of a policy that has allowed immigration agents to quickly expel them.
Progressive causes lose big in San Antonio and El Paso charter elections
San Antonio voters rejected by wide margins an effort to decriminalize abortion and require police to issue citations rather than make arrests for some nonviolent offenses. In El Paso, an effort to wean the city from fossil fuels fared similarly poorly.
As U.S. prepares to end rapid expulsions of migrants, a Venezuelan family decides to risk crossing the border
A Venezuelan couple with two children waited in Mexico for weeks for a chance to claim asylum. They decided to cross the border after a relative died in a detention center fire and other family members successfully made it across.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn eyes the seemingly impossible: a bipartisan deal on immigration
Riding the success of his historic congressional session last year where he helped pass the first gun safety bill signed into law in a generation, Cornyn is hopeful that his ability to strike deals across the aisle will help Congress achieve another elusive legislative goal: an immigration deal.
Correction: Biden-Classified Documents story
In a story published January 10, 2023, about the Justice Department's review of potentially classified documents in the Washington office space of President Joe Biden's former institute, The Associated Press erroneously reported the number boxes seized by the FBI during its August search of Mar-a-Lago.
Legal expert weighs in on new Biden immigration plan, border enforcement
President Joe Biden plans to see border enforcement operations in El Paso Sunday after announcing a new parole process that includes turning away Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Haitians who illegally cross the border from Mexico.