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Gov. Greg Abbott, seen at a Thanksgiving dinner event in Edinburg on Nov. 26, 2024, said in a statement Wednesday that $500 million in grant funding would "continue to build a safer Texas for all."
2 days ago

Gov. Greg Abbott announces more than $500 million in public safety grants

Read full article: Gov. Greg Abbott announces more than $500 million in public safety grants

The grants will go to private and public sector recipients in Texas for a variety of public safety priorities, including securing the southern border.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar told the Texas Tribune that his idea to add buoys to the Rio Grande to deter illegal immigration didn't go anywhere at the time because the International Boundary and Water Commission didnt give the necessary permits.

Henry Cuellar pitched adding buoys in Rio Grande to deter migrants years ago

Read full article: Henry Cuellar pitched adding buoys in Rio Grande to deter migrants years ago

The congressman said he joined other Democrats in opposition to the use of the floating barriers and razor wire at Texas’ border because of the lack of permits.

CBP officers discovered over $30 million worth of methamphetamine concealed within a shipment of serrano peppers at the Pharr International Bridge.

Over $31M worth of drugs found in serrano pepper shipment at Texas border

Read full article: Over $31M worth of drugs found in serrano pepper shipment at Texas border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pharr International Bridge in Texas made a significant drug bust, discovering $31 million worth of methamphetamine hidden in a shipment of serrano peppers.

People in Piedras Negras, Mexico, take photos of recently-installed concertina wire on the U.S. side as Border Patrol agents patrol the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass on Nov. 8, 2021.

Texas’ top elected officials signal Texas could cut border spending after Trump takes office

Read full article: Texas’ top elected officials signal Texas could cut border spending after Trump takes office

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have both recently signaled new openness to winding down the state’ border security operation.

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens to Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, as he tours the southern border with Mexico, on Aug. 22, 2024, in Sierra Vista, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

What are the laws surrounding mass deportation? Houston attorney weighs in

Read full article: What are the laws surrounding mass deportation? Houston attorney weighs in

President-Elect Trump assures a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants as one of his first campaign promises.

Democratic Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, right, secured a fifth term in office with bipartisan support. The county tipped strongly for Donald Trump, reflecting a broader trend of Republican gains along the border.

Trump’s near sweep of Texas border counties shows a shift to the right for Latino voters

Read full article: Trump’s near sweep of Texas border counties shows a shift to the right for Latino voters

The former president captured 55% of Latino voters in the state, according to exit polls. He also won 14 out of the 18 counties within 20 miles of the border, a number that doubled his 2020 performance in the Latino-majority region.

A ridge in South Brewster County overlooking Big Bend National Park on Jan. 23, 2024. The Texas General Land Office has purchased ranches in Brewster and Starr counties this week.

Texas buys two ranches near the border, including a huge property next to Big Bend National Park

Read full article: Texas buys two ranches near the border, including a huge property next to Big Bend National Park

A Starr County property was purchased to build border wall, while Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said the state has many options for a sprawling ranch in West Texas.

Protesters march toward Shelby Park on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. A rally was held near Shelby Park protesting the current occupation of the park by the Texas Department of Public Safety as part of Operation Lonestar. The park, which became a global focal point for illegal border crossings, was once open to the public but is now closed to the public and heavily fortified.

Eagle Pass residents rally to have state return Shelby Park

Read full article: Eagle Pass residents rally to have state return Shelby Park

Residents say they can no longer access the park after the state seized it against the city’s wishes in January.

Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, clockwise: A Venezuelan migrant family arriving in El Paso; the Rio Grande and Shelby Park in Eagle Pass; Andrs Garca, Border Patrol agent and public affairs officer at the border wall near Mission; a Customs and Border Protection officer and K-9 inspecting trucks at the Port of Laredo.

Many Americans say immigration is out of control, but 24 hours on the Texas-Mexico border showed a new reality. Will it last?

Read full article: Many Americans say immigration is out of control, but 24 hours on the Texas-Mexico border showed a new reality. Will it last?

The Texas Tribune and The Associated Press visited five locations along the 1,254-mile span to separate the facts from the political narrative during a heated election year.

Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, speaks about border issues with Laura Barrn-Lpez, correspondent for PBS News Hour, at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, TX on Sept. 6, 2024.

Mayorkas: Texas’ immigration policies have wreaked havoc and disorder

Read full article: Mayorkas: Texas’ immigration policies have wreaked havoc and disorder

The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary specifically called out the state’s policy of busing migrants to cities in other parts of the country.

A bus with dozens of migrants leaves an El Paso shelter and heads to New York City on Aug. 31, 2022. The city and county of El Paso sponsored the voluntary bus trips to relieve pressure on local shelters that summer.

Texas’ busing of migrants hits a speed bump as fewer enter country

Read full article: Texas’ busing of migrants hits a speed bump as fewer enter country

The bus trips to Democrat-run cities stopped after June as the number of migrants apprehended across the southwest border plummeted.

Border patrol agents along the Texas-Mexico border.

Spider monkeys, parrot eggs and pythons, oh my! A look back at strange items found during border inspections

Read full article: Spider monkeys, parrot eggs and pythons, oh my! A look back at strange items found during border inspections

Ever wondered what bizarre items people try to smuggle across the U.S. border? Check out these strange finds from border inspections: live spider monkeys, giant African Land Snails, and even Xanax pills hidden in yarn spools! Learn about these unusual cases and more as KPRC dives into the creative lengths smugglers go to. Tune in Friday at 6 a.m. for an exclusive look at how customs agents keep the country safe. Don't miss out

The border wall in a remote part of southern New Mexico. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office said the federal government must resume wall construction after it failed to appeal a judge's decision in a Texas lawsuit.

Texas attorney general says Biden must continue border wall construction after court deadline passes

Read full article: Texas attorney general says Biden must continue border wall construction after court deadline passes

Texas sued to stop an executive order issued by President Biden on his Inauguration Day to stop border wall construction and divert funds that had already been allocated for the project.

State law enforcement officers stand guard as workers construct a string of buoys being deployed to prevent migrants from swimming across the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass on July 14, 2023.

Texas’ floating barrier in the Rio Grande can stay for now, appeals court says

Read full article: Texas’ floating barrier in the Rio Grande can stay for now, appeals court says

After Texas deployed the barrier, a panel ordered it removed. The full appeals court says it can stay while a lower court hears a case on the merits.

A Mexican migrant waits to be transported after being arrested for trespassing on private property near the border by Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers as part of Operation Lone Star on Nov. 9, 2021.

El Paso County officials say it’s time the state pays for Operation Lone Star arrests

Read full article: El Paso County officials say it’s time the state pays for Operation Lone Star arrests

County officials issued a disaster declaration Tuesday, saying the state’s mass arrests at the border have cost the county millions of dollars and overwhelmed its criminal justice system.

A table with religious objects for sermons at the Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen in 2021. The nonprofit is the target of an investigation by the Texas Attorney General's office, which has accused border charities that help migrants of illegally harboring undocumented immigrants.

Texas attorney general can’t question Catholic Charities director over migrant services, court says

Read full article: Texas attorney general can’t question Catholic Charities director over migrant services, court says

Wednesday’s ruling is the second time a Texas judge has ruled against the attorney general for investigating shelters helping migrants.

Migrants walk through the mostly dry river bed of the Rio Grande toward concertina wire guarded by Texas National Guard soldiers along the U.S.-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on May 27, 2024.

Border Patrol agents recorded the fewest monthly migrant apprehensions since 2021 on southern border

Read full article: Border Patrol agents recorded the fewest monthly migrant apprehensions since 2021 on southern border

Migrant apprehensions in Texas decreased by nearly one-third in June, the first month of a new order by President Joe Biden that widely limited asylum claims.

The state took control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass despite city leaders' objections to use it as a staging area for Operation Lone Star.

Eagle Pass residents have mixed feelings about sharing their city with the National Guard

Read full article: Eagle Pass residents have mixed feelings about sharing their city with the National Guard

Texas has sent thousands of soldiers to the border as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s multibillion-dollar initiative Operation Lone Star. No border town has felt their presence more than Eagle Pass.

A soldier with the South Dakota National Guard stands near the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass in September 2023.

GOP-led states have pledged hundreds of troops and spent millions of dollars to help Texas secure the border this year

Read full article: GOP-led states have pledged hundreds of troops and spent millions of dollars to help Texas secure the border this year

The federal government has deployed National Guard to the border for years, but more than a dozen states have dug into their own budgets to send even more personnel

Gov. Greg Abbott looks at crane lifting a section of the border wall in place after giving a press conference at Rio Grande City on Dec. 18, 2021.

At half a mile a week, Gov. Greg Abbott’s border wall will take around 30 years and $20 billion to build

Read full article: At half a mile a week, Gov. Greg Abbott’s border wall will take around 30 years and $20 billion to build

The state has built about 34 miles of wall spread out across at least six counties on Texas’ 1,254-mile border with Mexico.

A Texas National Guard soldier holding a pepper ball launcher monitors the concertina wire along the border in El Paso that migrants must cross to surrender to Border Patrol in El Paso, on June 1, 2024.

Texas National Guard is shooting pepper balls to deter migrants at the border

Read full article: Texas National Guard is shooting pepper balls to deter migrants at the border

Migrants in Mexico said they’ve been shot by the rounds, which leave bruises and disperse a chemical irritant. The state says Guard members are trained not to aim directly at people.

Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House, speaks at a press conference on Feb 23, 2024. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the migrant shelter for allegedly operating a stash house and human trafficking. Annunciation House has been providing aid and shelter to migrants in El Paso for decades.

Judge weighing whether to close El Paso shelter that aids undocumented immigrants

Read full article: 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."

A child touches the razor wire at the border wall between El Paso and Ciudad Jurez, Mexico on June 19, 2021.

“Why now?”: Biden’s new immigration policy to limit asylum seekers faces quick criticism in Texas

Read full article: “Why now?”: Biden’s new immigration policy to limit asylum seekers faces quick criticism in Texas

President Joe Biden’s new executive order, unveiled Tuesday, will restrict the number of asylum seekers allowed to cross the border when crossings reach a certain level.