Nice piece by @michellepitcher.bsky.social covering the challenges to an investigation of ICE's killing Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. It was odd that city officials misinterpreted the defense federal agents have, reasonably performing their duties, with a www.texasobserver.org/houston-ice-...

Houston Is Testing Whether Trump’s ICE Is Above Texas Law

After the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, local authorities have struggled to stake their claim on an investigation into a killing within the most populous Texas city’s limits.

texasobserver.org

Rip benjamin Alire Saenz. He has an essay coming in our October El Paso issue. His last piece of writing. elpasomatters.org/2026/07/28/b...

Renowned El Paso author, artist Benjamin Alire Sáenz dies at 71

“Ben was irrepressibly hopeful of the human spirit,” longtime friend Ruben Garcia said about Sáenz, an award-winning author whose “Aristotle and Dante” young adult novel was adapted into a movie in 20...

elpasomatters.org

From @jlbuch.bsky.social: “We’re gonna be riding around areas where most everybody thinks it’s unsafe. And you’re gonna see that there’s really nothing to be worried about. We’re just out here having a good time.”

Postcard: Cycling the Rio Grande as Trump's Wall Looms

“We’re gonna be riding around areas where most everybody thinks it’s unsafe, and you’re gonna see that there’s really nothing to be worried about.”

texasobserver.org

Eleven people were charged in the smuggling deaths of seven migrants in Texas. Six of the victims, including a 14-year-old boy, were found dead inside a train shipping container in Laredo in the sweltering heat. bit.ly/4fUrvIk

Eleven indicted in smuggling deaths of seven migrants in Texas

Six of the victims, including a 14-year-old boy, were found dead inside a train shipping container in Laredo in the sweltering Texas heat.

bit.ly

New from @jlbuch.bsky.social: A road created by Border Patrol during wall construction gives the perfect perspective for a cycling tour of the region's natural beauty (and overall safety).

Postcard: Cycling the Rio Grande as Trump's Wall Looms

“We’re gonna be riding around areas where most everybody thinks it’s unsafe, and you’re gonna see that there’s really nothing to be worried about.”

texasobserver.org

What do you need to know about the South Texan whose ambitious plan to remake trade with Mexico - with powerful backers in Austin and DC - is dividing Eagle Pass? @benwermund.bsky.social has key takeaways from our piece www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

The Puerto Verde Global Trade Bridge is being pitched as an ultra-modern international port that will transform trade with Mexico. But residents of Eagle Pass are leery of the project in part because its leader has spent more that $2M to win political support www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

How a trucking magnate's quest to transform Eagle Pass set off a political fight

Ruben Garibay's push for a new trade bridge has won support from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and other powerful leaders. But local critics worry it's a boondoggle.

houstonchronicle.com

They Were Charged With Assaulting ICE Agents. The Cases Are Crumbling. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/u...

They Were Charged With Assaulting ICE Agents. The Cases Are Crumbling.

nytimes.com

"Tribal police departments make up a small fraction of Washington’s law enforcement workforce, but they are a disproportionately common landing place for officers like Haglin who’ve been fired elsewhere" www.investigatewest.org/fired-office...

Washington tribal police hire fired officers at outsized rates

Tribal police in Washington hire officers fired elsewhere at a rate four times higher than their share of the workforce

investigatewest.org

Whenever I'd go to Eagle Pass lately, no matter what I was writing about, everyone wanted to talk to me about Puerto Verde, the ambitious and controversial international bridge planned for just outside the city. @benwermund.bsky.social and @ajcorchado.bsky.social were having the same experience

Flooding in the Rio Grande last night apparently carried off border buoys being staged in Quemado, prompting the closure of Eagle Pass's international bridges. Looks like from the city's livestream that the bridges are reopened www.facebook.com/share/v/1EZx...

Readers of @houstonchronicle.com are well served by this @johnwferguson.bsky.social piece noting how unusual it is for prosecutors to make a warrant public at this point in an investigation (and raising questions about whether they even need one) www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

FBI obtains warrant to search Salgado's van for evidence of drugs

FBI investigators sought permission to search the van involved in the ICE shooting, citing suspected methamphetamine. In a rare move, the warrant is public.

houstonchronicle.com

The Supreme Court couldn’t be bothered to correct litigants who think filing a lawsuit gives them permission to commandeer the Fourth Estate and force journalists to burn sources. Fewer whistleblowers will be willing to come forward as a result.

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker@pressfreedomtracker.us · last mo.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court declined today to pause enforcement of a $800-per-day fine against journalist Catherine Herridge, levied against her for her refusal to divulge her confidential sources:

From @liseolsen.bsky.social in our magazine: Texas Rangers were asked to assist a border city in three murder cases -- including that of a local attorney. The results? A botched trial; a controversial plea and lots of missing evidence.

The Troubling Disappearance of ‘El Gallito’

A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. Will anyone ever be held responsible?

texasobserver.org

About five years ago I was wandering around Laredo's Azteca neighborhood when I noticed a huge grove of palms near the banks of the Rio Grande. I'd walked and driven those streets before, but for some reason that impressive stand of Washingtonian palms caught my eye that day. I got to visit that

Long live the King m.youtube.com/watch?v=pOK7...

Gerry Van King "U.S. Party Call" (1999)

YouTube video by Austin History Center

m.youtube.com

New from @jlbuch.bsky.social: First Amendment advocates are horrified at the decision in the legal case of this citizen journalist and provocateur, and its implications for media everywhere. But Priscilla Villarreal remains defiant.

‘La Gordiloca’ Lost at the Supreme Court but Won in Laredo

The citizen-journalist and social media provocateur's case against local officials was thrown out in a decision that horrified First Amendment advocates. But, at home, observers say arresting her…

texasobserver.org

Thrilled that the @texasobserver.org has co-won this year's Izzy Award for Independent Media, named for I.F. Stone: www.parkindymedia.org/winners-of-t...

Winners of the 18th Annual Izzy Award - Park Center for Independent Media

The Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) is honored to announce that this year’s Izzy Award “for outstanding achievement in independent media” will be shared by one outlet, Texas Observer; journal...

parkindymedia.org

(10) We are continuing to report on ICE conditions, deaths and medical care. Please reach out to me and Colleen DeGuzman (contact info below.) We take your confidentiality seriously. @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2026/02/19/i...

Covering immigration is hard — and a federal court’s restriction on accessing immigration records doesn’t help. @rcfp.org is urging the court to immediately address the problem so the press and public can more easily monitor the government’s actions.

RCFP urges federal district court in Pennsylvania to lift restrictions on accessing immigration records

A federal court is unlawfully prohibiting journalists from copying immigration records at the courthouse. The practice must stop.

rcfp.org

Thirty-two people died in ICE custody nationwide last year, surpassing the previous high of 20 in 2005, according to federal data. Nearly a quarter of last year’s deaths occurred in Texas.

What you need to know about Texas ICE detention deaths

Last year was the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Nearly a quarter of those deaths occurred in Texas.

texastribune.org

New from @jlbuch.bsky.social: “That facility is, like, terrible, horrible. There’s a lot of people in there. A lot. Each room has like 45 capacity. And they’re putting like 60 people in each room. The restroom is a mess. Dirty. People are sleeping on the floor, people are sleeping in the restroom.”

How Trump's ICE Is Locking Up Longtime Texans with Paths to Legal Status

The case of one Houston man, nearly deported to India after a quarter-century here, shows what happens when prosecutorial discretion is abandoned.

texasobserver.org

@rcfp.org's statement on the arrest of independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, who were charged with violating federal law while covering a protest inside a Minnesota church. 🔗 Read more: www.rcfp.org/lemon-fort-a...

#BestOf2025 from @jlbuch.bsky.social: The first deaths passed largely unnoticed by anyone other than the families and friends of those who consumed the tainted substances. A clearer picture wouldn’t emerge until 911 calls began flooding in the following morning.

How Texas’ War on Drug Users Fueled an Austin Overdose Disaster

A mass casualty event last spring lays bare the state’s backward approach to the ongoing crisis spurred by fentanyl and other super-potent substances.

texasobserver.org

New from @jlbuch.bsky.social: Earlier this month, the San Antonio-area enclave of Castle Hills agreed to pay $500,000 to former city council member Sylvia Gonzalez, who had alleged that political opponents in the local government orchestrated criminal charges to silence her.

Castle Hills Settles 'Retaliatory Arrest' Case for $500,000 in Win for Free Speech Advocates

Along with the monetary settlement, city officials agreed to send its employees to training that the Texas Municipal League will develop about Sylvia Gonzalez’s case.

texasobserver.org

New from @jlbuch.bsky.social: Research suggests a harm reduction approach helps drug users stay healthier and enter recovery. But doing this work on the border has become more dangerous and difficult as troop presence increases.

In Juárez, a Militarized Border Makes Drug Use More Deadly

Growing security deployments pose unique challenges for harm reduction groups.

texasobserver.org

Across the border from El Paso, Chihuahua is setting up a massive surveillance network. In the past, intel collected by Mexican law enforcement (or provided by the U.S.) has gone straight to the cartels. Now Texas wants to participate. www.texasobserver.org/texas-chihua...

Just Beyond the Texas Border, Chihuahua Is Launching a Burgeoning State Surveillance System

The 20-story Torre Centinela looming over Juárez is part of a much larger AI-powered network that won’t stop at the U.S.-Mexico divide.

texasobserver.org

ICYMI: The real-life consequences of DOGE. How DOGE Left Mohammad Halimi’s Life in Tatters

DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family.

Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U...

propublica.org

Our top story, from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Advocates for police transparency say a new bill would supercharge cops' ability to shield misconduct from the public. www.texasobserver.org/secrecy-g-fi...

Texas Lawmakers Push ‘Massive Secrecy Grab’ to Shield Police Files

As public attention has shifted away from policing reform, legislators attempt to shove information into the dark.

texasobserver.org

Since Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay Republicans’ new map, state leaders have challenged the limits of traditional democratic norms to break the impasse.

In redistricting clash, Texas GOP flexes power to shut down Democrats' last tool of resistance

Since Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay Republicans’ new map, state leaders have challenged the limits of traditional democratic norms to break the impasse.

texastribune.org