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Alejandro Serrano

@serranoalej.bsky.social
7.3K followers 207 following 111 posts

politics reporter @texastribune.bsky.social | email me: alejandro.serrano@texastribune.org

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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
New: The wrongful deportation of an Austin man, let back into the U.S. on Sunday, highlights what many have warned about for years: When local police join forces with the feds, it can lead to U.S. citizens being hassled, detained and even deported. 🧵 www.texastribune.org/2026/09/02/t...
texastribune.org
Texas man’s deportation raises questions about ICE partnerships
The federal government let U.S. citizen Brian José Morales García return to Texas on Sunday after deporting him to Mexico following a traffic stop in Central Texas.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
NEW: A 25-year-old man from Central Texas who was deported to Mexico despite insisting he was an American citizen returned to the country Sunday after the federal government reached an agreement w/ his lawyers in light of new evidence, per his lawyers. www.texastribune.org/2026/08/30/t...
texastribune.org
Feds allow return of U.S. citizen deported after traffic stop in Central Texas
Brian José Morales García maintained he was born in Denver after the federal government accused him of having entered the country illegally.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Earlier today at the Texas GOP convention in Houston, an elephant arrived and peed in an aisle between the press and delegates. Here is a video.
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Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
A man who says he was born in Colorado was deported recently after being pulled over in Texas, after which immigration officers denied his offers to show them proof of citizenship he says he had at home.
texastribune.org
ICE deported man to Mexico who says he’s a U.S. citizen
Brian José Morales García has a birth certificate showing he was born in Denver. ICE agents accused him of lying and says he entered the country illegally.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
New: People seeking a host of professional licenses in Texas, from electricians to dog breeders, will soon have to prove they are in the country legally under a new rule adopted Tuesday that could affect thousands of workers. #txlege www.texastribune.org/2026/03/24/t...
texastribune.org
Texas to require proof of immigration status for licenses
Officials approved the change after hearing from speakers who argued it would hamper the state’s economy and push immigrants to work without licenses in the black market.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
New: Texas Democrats more than doubled their turnout from 2024 during the primary elections on March 3 in the Rio Grande Valley, as the % of registered D voters who cast a ballot far exceeded that of recent elex. w/ this neat graphic: www.texastribune.org/2026/03/13/t...
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Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · 21/02/2026
Willie Colón, trombone and salsa legend, dies at 75
latimes.com
Willie Colón, trombone and salsa legend, dies at 75
Throughout his career, Colón released more than 40 albums, pioneering a salsa sound influenced by the streets of New York City and beloved by Latin immigrant households around the globe.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
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...
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
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...
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
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...
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Mike Hixenbaugh @mikehixenbaugh.com · 08/02/2026
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.
Photo shows a smiling baby
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
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...
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
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...
texastribune.org
How Democrats flipped a ruby red Senate seat in North Texas
Observers of the race said Rehmet’s working-class appeal, along with Latino and suburban backlash to GOP policies, fueled his win in a district Donald Trump carried by 17 points.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
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...
texastribune.org
Appeals court to reconsider 2023 Texas immigration law, SB 4
Senate Bill 4 returns to the 5th Circuit with border crossings at record lows, a sharp reversal from the influx that inspired Texas’ law authorizing state police to arrest undocumented immigrants.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
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:
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
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
t.co
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/27/john-cornyn-gun-bill-senate-primary-texas
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Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
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...
texasobserver.org
Officials Said They Busted a Tren de Aragua Party. Attendees Beg to Differ.
A highly publicized multi-agency raid in Hays County resulted in dozens of arrests on low-level immigration charges and left an Austin mother's life in tatters. It also fit a pattern of unproven gang-...
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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
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
texastribune.org
“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: DPS arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across Texas to aid Trump’s mass deportation
The 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.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
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...
texastribune.org
“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: DPS arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across Texas to aid Trump’s mass deportation
The 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.
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Kathleen Bush-Joseph @kathleenbush.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
“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
texastribune.org
“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: DPS arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across Texas to aid Trump’s mass deportation
The 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.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 12/08/2025
📽️ 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?
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Five years after shedding Confederate moniker, a West Texas high school may be Lee High again
The Midland school district rebranded Robert E. Lee High as Legacy High in 2020, part of a nationwide trend to distance public places from the Confederacy.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Increased attention on Texas House Democratic leader Gene Wu comes with more anti-Asian insults
“Is Gene Wu back in China?” state Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican, posted on X on Monday — the first day the House did not reach a quorum due to the absent Democrats.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
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...
texastribune.org
How a rural Texas sheriff became a poster child for serving Trump’s immigration goals
Roy Boyd has also become one of the loudest cheerleaders for partnerships between sheriffs and ICE to offer the federal agency unprecedented access to jails and deputies.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Texas judge dismisses case against migrant deported to El Salvador for being an alleged gang member
DPS troopers labeled Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, who remains in a Salvadoran prison, a Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang member based on a photo of him with a tattooed man.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 18/06/2025
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:
texastribune.org
Migrant deported to El Salvador after DPS labeled him a member of Tren de Aragua without evidence, lawyer says
Lawyers for Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo deny he is a gang member and say the DPS accusation hinges on a photo they found of him standing next to a man with tattoos.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Migrant deported to El Salvador after DPS labeled him a member of Tren de Aragua without evidence, lawyer says
Lawyers for Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo deny he is a gang member and say the DPS accusation hinges on a photo they found of him standing next to a man with tattoos.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s push to ban THC in Texas draws rare backlash from the right
It’s an unusual situation for the lieutenant governor, long viewed by GOP activists as a stalwart conservative responsible for driving the Legislature rightward.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Months after detaining 47 people accused of being Tren de Aragua in Austin, authorities offer no evidence of gang ties
People at the raided house say they rented it for a birthday party and deny any connection to the gang. One man says law enforcement accused him of being in Tren de Aragua because of his tattoo.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Bill requiring that Texas sheriffs work with federal immigration authorities heads to governor’s desk
Senate Bill 8 would further expand the state’s role in enforcing immigration laws, long the sole jurisdiction of the federal government.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
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
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Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
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.
texastribune.org
Texas may study the impact of immigration again, but focus only on costs
The only time the state conducted such an assessment two decades ago, it found that undocumented Texans contributed more to the state’s economy than they cost the state.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Texas may study the impact of immigration again, but focus only on costs
The only time the state conducted such an assessment two decades ago, it found that undocumented Texans contributed more to the state’s economy than they cost the state.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
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...
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Toilet to tap: El Paso is about to embark on a whole new way to save its limited water supply
El Paso’s dry climate — it rains just 9 inches annually — is one of the reasons the city has taken water management so seriously.
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Investigative Reporters & Editors @ire.org · 28/03/2025
“Great journalism isn’t exclusive.” Love this message from @serranoalej.bsky.social and @arelisrhdz.bsky.social during our student workshop today.
Arelis (WaPo) and Alejandro (Texas Tribune) stand at the front of the classroom. The scene shows their presentation title “Great Journalism isn’t exclusive” and the IRE logo.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
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...
texastribune.org
After four prosecutors and nearly six years, El Paso DA decides it’s time to stop pursuing the death penalty for mass shooter
The new DA campaigned on seeking the death penalty for the 2019 massacre, but said he offered the gunman a plea deal of life in prison to avoid dragging out the case for several more years.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
87 degrees in mid-March feels a bit much imho
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
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...
texastribune.org
After COVID, Texas is less prepared for the next pandemic
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.
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neenareports.bsky.social @neenareports.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
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...
houstonchronicle.com
Houston man held in Harris County Jail for 18 years without a trial
A man accused of killing Joel Osteen's great-aunt waited almost two decades in the Harris County Jail without a trial.
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Texas Tribune @texastribune.org · 12/03/2025
Robert Morris, Texas megachurch pastor and former Trump adviser, indicted for child sex crimes.
texastribune.org
Robert Morris, Texas megachurch pastor and former Trump adviser, indicted for child sex crimes
Morris is a former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, and Gateway — one of the nation’s largest megachurches — has been particularly active in Dallas-area GOP politics.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
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
t.co
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/12/texas-legislature-immigration-bills/
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
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
t.co
https://www.texastribune.org/jobs/
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Trump administration removes five immigration judges in Texas, union says
The move raises concerns about large case backlogs that have persisted for years.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
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...
texastribune.org
More than 100 arrested in Colony Ridge immigration raids, ICE says
The development outside of Houston has long drawn the ire of Texas Republicans who claim it’s a haven for undocumented people.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
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...
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
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...
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Trump’s mass deportation plans have echoes of a 1950s federal crackdown that swept through Texas
Seventy-one years after the Eisenhower administration launched a high-visibility operation to arrest undocumented immigrants, President Trump is following some of the same playbook.
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Uriel J. García @ujohnnyg.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
UPDATE: Border Patrol chief calls report that agents will board buses to check students’ citizenship “absurd” www.texastribune.org/2025/02/05/a...
texastribune.org
Border Patrol chief calls report that agents will board buses to check students’ citizenship “absurd”
The chief’s comments came after Alice ISD sent a letter to parents Wednesday warning students may be detained and possibly deported if they can’t prove they’re in the country legally. The letter was l...
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
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...
texastribune.org
Texas school district warns Border Patrol may board buses and question students about citizenship
A letter sent to Alice ISD parents Wednesday said a student may be detained and possibly deported if they cannot prove they are in the country legally.
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