Border News | Click2Houston

Biden administration speeds up deportation flights for Haitians in growing Texas migrant camp

The situation in Del Rio spiraled this week as more than 15,000 migrants, many of them from Haiti, arrived at the border in recent days, settling in a makeshift camp as they waited for CBP agents to process their petitions to stay in the U.S.

Bill tripling Texas’ border security budget and allocating $750 million to wall construction becomes law

Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas was stepping up to do the federal government’s job after Biden’s immigration policies had “opened the floodgates” to illegal immigration and crime.

Thousands of Haitian migrants fleeing disaster and unrest seek asylum at Del Rio bridge

With an estimated 12,000 migrants already crowded under the international bridge and thousands more expected, Del Rio’s mayor declared an emergency Friday and requested state assistance.

Dan Patrick warns Democrats are allowing in immigrants for “silent revolution,” mirroring language of far-right extremists

Patrick’s comments mirrored a far-right theory that says political elites are replacing white populations through mass migration and demographic changes. He called the increase of migrants at the border an “invasion.”

Gov. Greg Abbott backpedals on pledge to shut down border crossings and blames Biden administration for confusion

Abbott’s announcements come as thousands of migrants — mostly from Haiti — have gathered under an international bridge in Del Rio.

State agency awards $11 million contract to oversee construction of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas-Mexico border wall

The two firms awarded the contract have previously built barriers and designed ports of entry for the federal government.

State agency recommends two firms to oversee construction of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas-Mexico border wall

The state is expected to award the contract in mid-September to begin the construction of a Texas-Mexico border wall.

Customs and Border Protection seized dozens of boxes of horse medications at US-Mexico border

Texas man caught trying to smuggle 350 lbs of meat across the border

US Customs Agents make meaty seizure at Texas-Mexico border

The federal government calls it a levee. South Texas immigration advocates and environmentalists see a border wall.

Border wall opponents say President Joe Biden broke his promise to halt border wall construction when Homeland Security started building a wall and calling it a levee.

Thanks to local politics and a railroad, rural Kinney County accounts for most of Texas’ migrant arrests

Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push, Texas state police have arrested hundreds of migrants in the conservative county, usually after spotting them on cargo trains or walking remote ranch lands. Sent to a state prison retooled as an immigration jail, many men were left without lawyers for weeks.

Private donations for a Texas border wall have soared to $54 million. But it’s still unclear who’s giving.

After two months, the donations had petered out around $1 million. But the effort saw a major boost in August.

Texas Senate approves spending nearly $2 billion on border security

Proponents of House Bill 9 denounced the Biden administration’s approach to border security, saying the state had no choice but to step in to ramp up enforcement.

Texas Gov. Abbott extends border disaster declaration for 43 counties

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has extended the border disaster declaration for 43 counties in South Texas.

Texas House approves additional $2 billion for border security as state moves to build border wall

The bill would nearly triple border security funding from the last biennium. The legislation needs one more vote of approval from the House before moving to the Senate.

Texas House committee approves bill to spend an extra $2 billion on border enforcement

A border sheriff told lawmakers that some landowners who are afraid of migrants crossing their property have asked him, "When can I shoot?"

Asylum-seeking families and children made up nearly half of July border crossings: “This is young mamas and daddies trying to save their families”

Migrant crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border reached a 21-year high in July. This video takes you to the epicenter: Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, where more crossings are happening than in any other region in the country.

As Gov. Greg Abbott beefs up border enforcement, some locals want very different kinds of help

Amid the heated rhetoric around an increase in migrants, people on opposite ends of the Texas-Mexico border see the problems — and solutions — differently.

‘Law enforcement down here is over-extended’: Galveston County constables work overtime to assist at border

Analysis: Texas, the bellwether state

A number of the top issues facing the country — mask mandates, voting, immigration — have something in common: Texas.

Texas border communities grapple with dueling crises, COVID-19 pandemic and migrant surge

Texas judge’s order to revive “remain in Mexico” policy misinterprets immigration law, migrant advocates say

Advocates say the policy that forced 70,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are pending will create dire conditions for migrants if it’s revived.

Texas to spend $25 million on 2-mile concrete barrier amid Gov. Greg Abbott’s push for a state-funded border wall

The barrier in Eagle Pass is the first glimpse into how much a state-funded border wall could cost. But Abbott’s office says it’s a “concrete barrier” that is separate from his border wall push.

Federal judge extends order blocking Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive for law enforcement to pull over vehicles transporting migrants

Abbott instructed state troopers to pull over civilian drivers transporting migrants who may be infected with COVID-19 and seize vehicles if they don’t comply.

Border mayors, county judges ask feds to pause release of migrants

Democratic Congressman from Laredo, Henry Cuellar helped lead a meeting between several south Texas community leaders and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Galveston County sends more law enforcement to help with border crisis

At least three Galveston County deputies and one elected constable will be heading to Kinney County next week as part of Gov. Greg Abbot’s border initiative.

‘First in nation discovery’: US Customs Agents find rare, invasive beetle in box of jackfruit at Texas-Mexico border

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez’s nomination to lead ICE approved by Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved on Wednesday the nomination of Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales to be Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Judge temporarily blocks Gov. Abbott order on migrant travel

A federal court judge in El Paso issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday, preventing state troopers from enforcing Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order that restricts the travel of certain migrants.

Federal judge temporarily blocks Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to pull over vehicles with migrants, which drew racial profiling concerns

The U.S. Justice Department sued Abbott and Texas after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland called the order “dangerous and unlawful.”

Feds sue Texas over Gov. Abbott order restricting travel of certain migrants

The US Department of Justice filed suit against the State of Texas and is asking for either a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to prevent the enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order restricting the travel of certain migrants.

Justice Department sues Texas over Gov. Greg Abbott's order for law enforcement to pull over vehicles with migrants

On Wednesday, Abbott issued the order, allowing Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to reroute civilian vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry, or seize the vehicles, if police suspect the driver is transporting migrants who have COVID-19.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar joins Sen. Lindsey Graham in demanding that Biden appoint border czar

Cuellar and Graham’s letter is the latest in a series of criticisms against the Biden administration’s border security response.

Gov. Greg Abbott's border security initiative rolls out with confusion, missteps and a whole lot of state troopers in Val Verde County

The governor's decision to go all in on border security is evolving rapidly, and many of those on the ground don't know how it's going to work.

BORDER

KPRC 2 crew shares what they are seeing along the Texas-Mexico border

Braulio Fernandez Ecological Park, Ciudad Acuña

Some Haitian migrants remain determined to stay in US, while others reconsider

Houston activists hold demonstration against deportation of Haitian refugees

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s closure of Del Rio bridge disrupts businesses and jobs on Texas side of the U.S.-Mexico border

Options shrink for Haitian migrants straddling Texas border

Border patrol agents criticized for treatment of Haitian migrants in Del Rio as U.S. tries to dissuade more from coming

Public health director addresses COVID-19 vaccine myths

Feds work to reduce size of camp under Del Rio bridge that’s housing thousands of migrants who fled unrest and natural disasters