U.S. seeks court order requiring Texas to remove floating barrier in Rio Grande
The string of buoys is a safety hazard that violates treaties and harms relations with Mexico, Justice Department lawyers tell a federal judge. Full Story
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![A group of migrants walks around a string of buoys which was deployed to prevent migrants from swimming across the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass on July 14, 2023.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Booksellers sue over Texas law requiring them to rate books for appropriateness
Two Texas bookstores and three national bookseller associations file suit over House Bill 900, which requires private booksellers to rate books on appropriateness, and bans “sexually explicit” material from libraries. Full Story
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![Books at Vandegrift High School's library on March 2, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge tosses Biden administration asylum rule designed to reduce illegal border crossings
The judge gave the Biden administration 14 days to appeal his ruling on the policy, which federal officials credit for reducing migrant arrests at the border to the lowest number since Biden took office. Full Story
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![Members of the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Pubic Safety at the entrance to where hundreds of migrants wait to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents inside a makeshift migrant camp about three hours after Title 42 ended at 9:59 p.m. local time, Friday, May 12, 2023, in El Paso.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Tearfully testifying against Texas’ abortion ban, three women describe medical care delayed
The women, believed to be the first to testify about an abortion ban’s impact on their pregnancy since 1973, are seeking to clarify when a medical emergency justifies an abortion. Full Story
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![Amanda Zurawski, Samantha Casiano, Molly Duane, senior staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, and Ashley Brandt, address the press following the first day of testimony for Zurawski v. State of Texas outside the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility in Austin on July 19, 2023.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Professors sue Texas over TikTok ban, signaling First Amendment fight
The professors said the ban immediately halted research projects into TikTok and derailed their plans to lead classes discussing the social media app’s benefits and risks. Full Story
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![The TikTok logo outside the company's U.S. head office in Culver City, California, on Sept. 15, 2020.]()
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Lawsuit seeks to block Texas from banning gender transition-related care for children
The families argue the new law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, violates their parental rights by stopping them from providing medical care for their children and discriminates against transgender teens. Full Story
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![People gathered on the stairs across from the House floor to protest against SB 14, which seeks to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transgender youth, before it is heard for debate in the House at the state Capitol in Austin on May 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas judge who doesn’t want to perform gay marriage ceremonies hopes web designer’s Supreme Court case helps her fight
McLennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley filed a lawsuit after a state agency warned her about refusing to marry gay couples. She hopes a recent U.S. Supreme Court case about religious freedom helps her cause. Full Story
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![Gay marriage supporters hold a pride flag in front of the Supreme Court before a hearing about gay marriage in Washington, D.C., on April 28, 2015.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts -
Race-based college admissions are now banned, but Texas schools still have ways to ensure campuses are diverse
Higher education experts say universities can implement other strategies like targeted recruitment in underserved communities, eliminating legacy admissions and getting rid of test requirements. Full Story
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![Rice University in Houston, on March 11, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
University of North Texas can charge out-of-state students higher tuition than undocumented Texans, appeals court rules
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a federal judge’s previous injunction that barred the college from charging out-of-state American citizens more than undocumented immigrants living in the state. Full Story
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![Students walk the University of North Texas campus in Denton, TX on Feb. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Gunman in 2019 El Paso mass shooting receives 90 life sentences
Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty and was sentenced Friday in federal court. He still faces state charges, and the local district attorney says he intends to seek the death penalty. Full Story
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![From left: Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Hanna, defendant Patrick Crusius, defense attorney Joe Spencer, and U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, during the sentencing hearing of David Crusius in El Paso, on July 7, 2023.]()
Credit: Nacho Garcia Jr./Special to El Paso Times -
Texas courts struggle to resolve criminal appeals that got lost in Harris County for decades
Overlooked in the churn of one of the country’s busiest courthouses, the forgotten appeals included two death penalty cases, and one from a man who’s already finished his 20-year sentence. Full Story
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![The Harris County Criminal Justice Center in Houston on Nov. 16, 2016.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
“I want them to haunt you”: Man who killed 23 at El Paso Walmart hears from victims’ families
During the gunman’s sentencing, relatives of those killed nearly four years ago are telling him how he upended their lives. Full Story
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![As U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama listens, Francisco Javier Rodriguez, father of Javier Amir Rodriguez, testifies at the sentencing hearing of David Crusius, who killed 23 people and wounded 22 others at an El Paso Walmart on Aug. 3, 2019.]()
Credit: Nacho Garcia Jr./Special to El Paso Times -
Houston sues state in attempt to block new law that erodes cities’ power
House Bill 2127 — dubbed the “Death Star” law by opponents — prevents local governments from creating rules that go further than what’s allowed under broad areas of state law. Houston’s suit says the new law violates the state’s constitution. Full Story
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![The Houston skyline in November, 2017.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: How will Texas universities maintain diversity without considering race in admissions?
In this week’s two-topic TribCast, we discuss the U.S. Supreme Court blocking the consideration of race in college admissions and the dangerous heat inside Texas prisons this summer. Full Story
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![UT Austin students respond to the Young Conservatives of Texas critiquing affirmative action policies on Oct. 26,
2016. The Young Conservatives were met with criticism, which resulted in a protest and several intense conversations among students.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles/The Texas Tribune -
Nearly 1.4 million Texans could be impacted by U.S. Supreme Court decision blocking student loan forgiveness
The court ruled in favor of the six GOP-led states that alleged President Joe Biden overstepped his authority with his loan forgiveness plan. Full Story
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![A student sits by the Littlefield Fountain at the University of Texas on May 30, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Judge says DPS must release documents related to Uvalde shooting response
The state police agency had been withholding nearly all of its records on law enforcement’s botched response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. DPS will have an opportunity to redact the files before they are released. Full Story
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![Family members and friends participate in a march in support of those killed and injured in the school shooting at Robb Elementary, in Uvalde on July 10, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
With race-based admissions no longer an option, states may imitate Texas Top 10% Plan
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the practice unconstitutional, admissions experts say other states could look to Texas’ Top 10% Plan as a way to diversify their student bodies. Full Story
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![The Texas flag flies on the south lawn of The Univerisity of Texas at Austin campus on Dec. 3, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
UT-Austin only Texas public university affected by Supreme Court’s ending use of race in admissions
No other public universities use race as a factor, but Texas private schools like Rice and Southern Methodist University will be impacted. Full Story
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![Students walk through the University of Texas campus on May 30, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
New Texas laws favor parents in child abuse investigations as legislators try to limit number of kids in foster care
Legislators also passed bills that will provide foster kids entering the troubled system with duffel bags or backpacks and those aging out of the system with help setting up bank accounts. Full Story
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![The sun sets behind the Texas Capitol in Austin on May 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Charges filed against five more people in San Antonio smuggling tragedy that killed 53 migrants
A year after the nation’s deadliest human smuggling event, federal prosecutors say seven people face a maximum of life in prison. One of the suspects, who was not identified, has not been arrested. Full Story
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![Community members gather at a makeshift memorial on Thursday, June 30, 2022 outside San Antonio, TX. Community members paid their respects to the 53 people who died after being left in a truck trailer in a human smuggling operation. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune