U.S. BORDER POLICY

The administration was set to end Title 42, a pandemic-era rule aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19, on Monday. A lengthy legal battle is likely.

After drug cartel members began demanding monthly payments, she took her daughters to the border to seek asylum. They’ve been waiting in a Juárez shelter for more than a year.

The public health order that expels migrants to Mexico was launched early in the pandemic, and the Biden administration’s intention to end it has sparked a legal battle.

The Louisiana judge said he’ll hold a hearing in May to decide whether to block the administration from halting Title 42, the Trump-era health order that quickly sends all migrants back to Mexico.

The Biden administration had ended the policy that forced 70,000 migrants to wait in Mexico. But a federal judge in Texas forced the administration to restart the program in December.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner said Gov. Greg Abbott isn’t coordinating with the agency as Texas sends migrants far from their immigration proceedings.

About 30 people from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua traveled to the U.S. capital as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s new plan in response to the end of Title 42.

Abbott said he’s responding to the Biden administration announcement that it will lift a pandemic-era emergency health order that allowed immigration authorities to turn away migrants at the border, even those seeking asylum.

The Biden administration will drop the policy that critics have called an inhumane rule.

The administration says it’s filling in wall gaps for agent safety and flood control, and documents suggest an environmental assessment for 86 miles of wall in South Texas is a stalling tactic.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a rule earlier this week to list the prostrate milkweed, which lives along the Texas-Mexico border, as an endangered species. The rare plant is threatened in part by border security activities, scientists say.

A Cuban woman sent to Ciudad Juárez after seeking asylum in El Paso was raped as she waited for her U.S. court date. She worries more migrants could be victims of violence as the Biden administration revives the "remain in Mexico" program.

A Texas construction worker who’s been locked up for 11 months is one of an increasing number of undocumented immigrants detained since Biden took office — despite the president’s instructions to prioritize more dangerous immigrants.

The borders were closed to nonessential travel in March 2020, which hurt businesses in Texas border cities that rely on Mexican shoppers.

Federal officials have halted traffic so they can process thousands of Haitian migrants seeking asylum. The closure has made it difficult for the Texas city’s binational employees and business owners to keep normal operations going.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned would-be migrants that “your journey will not succeed” and promised to investigate the actions of mounted agents at the Rio Grande.

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.

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.

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.

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.

One day after Abbott told state troopers to pull over vehicles with migrants suspected of having COVID-19, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the governor's order violated federal law.

Immigration and border security continue to top Texas voters' list of most important problems facing the state. It is a particular concern of Republican voters.

Harris toured Border Patrol facilities in El Paso and met with local groups that aid migrants, but Republicans continued to attack her for not visiting the Rio Grande Valley, where a large number of border apprehensions are happening.

Gov. Greg Abbott pledged $250 million in state funds for a Texas-Mexico border wall and is soliciting donations to fund the rest.

Former President Donald Trump plans on touring Texas’ southern border with Gov. Greg Abbott later this month.

The prison — Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley — will have capacity for about 1,000 people.

The governor did not specify how long the wall would be or where it would be built. He directed the Texas Facilities Commission to hire a program manager to begin that research.

Critics have denounced Abbott's proposal as "political theater" that won't pass legal muster. But the two-term Republican governor says it's time to secure the border.

In this week's TribCast, Matthew speaks with Ross, Patrick and James about Gov. Greg Abbott's border wall idea, the politics of South Texas and the GOP statewide ticket in 2022.

A panel of experts will discuss the policy decisions that have created confusion at the border, what to expect in the coming months and possible paths to reform.