AltWeeklies Wire
What design elements at Karnes facility tell us about the state of immigrant detentionnew

No guard towers, no barbed wire, no road with armed checkpoints. The new Karnes County Civil Detention Center doesn't look much like a prison from the outside.
San Antonio Current |
Scott Andrews |
04-02-2012 |
Immigration
Remembering a Chicano Revolt in a Texas Townnew
The Cara Mia Theatre in Dallas recently reenacted a landmark event in Mexican-American civil-rights history: the Crystal City Walkout of 1969. The all-Chicano drama spotlights the valiant students who demanded equity, dignity, and opportunity in their education. Their victory changed the face of Texas public education forever.
San Antonio Current |
Gregg Barrios |
12-16-2009 |
Immigration
Boots On the Ground: A Day in the Life of a Border Sheriffnew

Sheriff Arvin West and his 17 deputies patrol a county nearly twice the size of Delaware on the Texas-Mexico border. And West, chair of Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, has traveled to Washington, D.C., 13 times since 2005 to testify about border security.
The Texas Observer |
Melissa del Bosque |
11-04-2009 |
Immigration
Friend and Foes of Illegal Immigrants Deal with the Delugenew
As the number of undocumented immigrants in this country continues to grow, so does the volume of the debate over how to fix the problem. The controversy has no clear end in view, or even likely to come into view for a long time.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Eric Griffey |
10-10-2008 |
Immigration
There Are No Honest Players Among Human Smugglersnew
Illegal immigrants are subject to pain and death at the hands of their "rescuers" if they don't pay up in full.
Houston Press |
Chris Vogel |
08-12-2008 |
Immigration
How Standing Up Against the Border Fence Cost One Federal Employee His Jobnew
Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge project manager Ken Merritt was asked to make a choice: support federal law, or sign off on the plan to build the border wall. He chose in favor of the refuge, and the decision ended his career.
The Texas Observer |
Melissa del Bosque |
07-02-2008 |
Immigration
Homeland Security's Actions May Help in Stalling the Border Wallnew
How Michael Chertoff's "mega-waiver" could awaken the Supreme Court, revive humane legislation, and create a kinder, gentler border.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
04-16-2008 |
Immigration
Walling Off the Rio Grande Will Claim Many Victimsnew
The Great River is now considered one of the world's most endangered waterways, but Texans may not have to watch this serpent expire from overuse. Homeland Security, empowered by the Secure Fence Act of 2006, is rushing to wall off the U.S. border with Mexico. In so doing, the River herself -- and thousands of our wildest acres -- stands forfeit.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
03-12-2008 |
Immigration
Surveyor Stakes and Costly Mistakes at the Bordernew
I've been on the road for a week, visiting with residents who make their home on El Rio and considering how U.S. Homeland Security plans to wall the border will change la frontera.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
03-05-2008 |
Immigration
Grappling With the Border Wallnew

A major policy shift is underway on the Texas border. Following the failure of Congress and the Bush administration to forge new immigration policies, those looking north have only the face of Homeland Security to judge us by. That face is the Wall.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
02-27-2008 |
Immigration
This Ain't No Picnic: Minutemen on Patrolnew

As one night with the Texas Minutemen proves, the sinister legions of "The Drug Cartel" have little to fear from this latest incarnation of border hysteria. As for the rest of us...
Austin Chronicle |
Diana Welch |
10-27-2005 |
Immigration
Cell Service as Salvation?new
Border-rescue groups say desert cell phone towers could save lives.
Tucson Weekly |
Alexis Blue |
10-06-2005 |
Immigration
At the Readynew

When the president of a Texas Minuteman group resigned because he couldn't stand the racist tendencies of other members in his chapter, it left many Houston residents debating the purpose of the volunteer border patrollers, and what good they might be doing.
Houston Press |
Keith Plocek |
08-22-2005 |
Immigration
Double Trouble: Wrong Juan Diaz Jailed for Drug Runningnew
Family man Juan Diaz had just passed his citizenship test when immigration officers arrived with a sealed federal indictment and arrested him.
Houston Press |
George Flynn |
08-23-2004 |
Immigration