Rio Grande

18 Stories

SCOTUS Says Border Agents Can Cut Texas' Razor Wire

Court ruled 5-4 on emergency appeal

(Newser) - The Supreme Court sided 5-4 with the Biden administration on Monday, allowing Border Patrol agents to cut through razor wire Texas officials installed along the border to deter migrants. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar urged the justices to "restore Border Patrol's access to the border it is charged...

3 Migrant Drownings New Flashpoint in Border Debate
3 Migrant Drownings New
Flashpoint in Border Debate
the rundown
Jan 15, 2024 12:45 PM CST

3 Migrant Drownings New Flashpoint in Border Debate

Feds accuse Texas of refusing to allow them to try to save woman, two children. Texas denies it

(Newser) - The drownings of a migrant woman and two children trying to cross from Mexico into Texas on Friday night has become the latest flashpoint in the immigration debate between Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration. However, both sides have different stories about how the drownings unfolded:
  • Feds: Border Patrol
...

Joint US-Mexico Body Makes Big Find on Border Barrier

Topographical survey discovers that nearly 80% of controversial buoy barrier is in Mexico, not US

(Newser) - Migrant advocates, environmentalists, and the Mexican and US governments have all pushed back at the controversial border barrier Texas has installed in the Rio Grande to prevent migrants from crossing into the United States. Despite recovering at least two bodies along the barrier since it was installed in July, and...

Out of the Rio Grande, a 'Troubling' Report

Mexican officials say 2 bodies have been found along Texas' controversial floating barrier

(Newser) - Despite warnings over possible dangers , as well as a lawsuit from the Justice Department, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hasn't budged on removing the floating barrier in the middle of the Rio Grande, part of his state's efforts to keep migrants from crossing over from Mexico. Now, two bodies...

Body of Soldier Who Drowned Trying to Rescue Migrants Found

Bishop Evans was a 'hero who risked his life in service of Texas and America'

(Newser) - The body of a National Guard soldier who drowned while trying to rescue two struggling migrants from the Rio Grande was recovered Monday morning, authorities say. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Specialist Bishop E. Evans, a 22-year-old Texas Guardsman from Arlington, was a "hero who risked his life in...

Mom Tries to Cross Rio Grande With Kids, 9-Year-Old Dies

BP agents were able to resuscitate migrant mother, 3-year-old, but girl didn't regain consciousness

(Newser) - Tragedy has struck a mother from Guatemala trying to make her way into the US with her two children, both Mexican nationals. Newsweek reports that on March 20, US Border Patrol agents received a rescue call after bystanders saw three people stranded on an island on the Mexican side of...

8-Year-Old Drowns Crossing Rio Grande

Storm has made trying to reach Texas even more dangerous

(Newser) - An 8-year-old boy from Honduras drowned while trying to cross the freezing Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas with his family. Although they had stopped on a small island, the boy "couldn't withstand the pounding water, which covered him and kept him submerged for several meters," Mexican...

Image Taken at the Rio Grande Is 'Our Version of Syrian Photo'

Father, toddler drowned in Rio Grande

(Newser) - They died seeking the American dream—and their photo is now being used to illustrate the dangers migrants face. A heartbreaking image of a Salvadoran father and his young daughter, who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande on Sunday, was captured Monday by journalist Julia Le Duc and published...

In Area 'Rife With Human Trafficking,' a Sad Discovery

Bodies of woman, toddler, 2 babies found at US-Mexico border near Rio Grande

(Newser) - Four bodies were found along the US-Mexico border Sunday night, and three of them were young children. The remains of a 20-year-old woman, a toddler, and two infants were found in a brushy area near the Rio Grande, southeast of Anzalduas Park in the Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area, KRGV...

Mystery at the Border: Boy With Writing on Shoes

3-year-old found alone in cornfield on Tuesday

(Newser) - The popular kids show PAW Patrol flashed on a computer screen at a Border Patrol station in Texas on Tuesday. In front of the screen sat a 3-year-old boy officials had just found crying alone in a cornfield in the Rio Grande Valley near Brownsville, not far from the US-Mexico...

How the US Shrank One Square Mile

It happened 50 years ago at the Mexican border

(Newser) - It's been half a century since the US shrank by a square mile thanks to a combination of geography and politics. The Rio Grande, between Texas and Mexico, has shifted over the years—and its movements between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico have changed our borders. In...

Rio Grande Is New Hot Spot for Border Crossings

Tops Tucson crossings for first time in two decades

(Newser) - Unauthorized border crossings from Mexico to Tucson are so 2012. In 2013, it's all about Texas' Rio Grande Valley, which has topped Tucson's apprehension figures for the first time in 20 years, the New York Times reports. Since October 2012, 94,305 people have been apprehended crossing in...

US Bride, Mexican Groom Wed on Border Raft

Treaty from 1848 makes strange ceremony possible

(Newser) - An American woman married her longtime Mexican beau on a raft in the middle of the Rio Grande river yesterday, in a strange ceremony designed to exploit an obscure treaty loophole. Ruben Alfonso Fierro and Stephanie Guerra have been living together in America for years, and have four American children...

Border Fence Strands Some Texans in 'No Man's Land'

Border wall erected up to a mile north of Rio Grande in parts of state

(Newser) - Pamela Taylor and her husband built their home on the banks of the Rio Grande 50 years ago, but when the Department of Homeland Security built a big steel fence here last year, Taylor and seven other homeowners found themselves on the wrong side, wedged between the fence and the...

Mexican Drug Cartels Join Forces to Wipe Out Rival

War against Zetas fueling surge in violence along Rio Grande

(Newser) - Three of Mexico's warring drug cartels have agreed to stop shooting each other for as long as it takes to wipe out a fourth, up-and-coming cartel, the BBC reports. Anti-narcotics authorities say that the Sinaloa, La Familia, and Gulf cartels are seeking to exterminate the Zetas, a breakaway group of...

Go Ahead and Mess With Texas
Go Ahead
and Mess
With Texas
ANALYSIS
Apr 24, 2009 11:28 AM CDT

Go Ahead and Mess With Texas

Nate Silver does electoral math for 5 Lone Star States

(Newser) - An obscure provision of Texas statehood gives it the right to split into five smaller states, writes Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com. He outlines the potential new entities:
  1. New Texas: Centered on Austin, as populous as Kentucky, and split down the middle politically—city vs. suburbs.

Mexican Drug Bucks Ensnare Texas County, Sheriff

Border sheriff faces trial for clearing the way for drug traffickers

(Newser) - Starr County on the Texas border is enjoying boom times while the rest of the country is stuck in recession, the Los Angeles Times reports. The county—still one of America's poorest—lies at the center of the cross-border drug trade, and while residents acknowledge that illicit cash has long...

Border Patrol Destroys Foliage With Chemicals

Killing plants will cut hiding places for immigrants, smugglers

(Newser) - In an effort to keep smugglers and illegal immigrants from hiding in heavy vegetation as they attempt to cross the Mexican border, the US Border Patrol is looking to Agent Orange for inspiration. One plan for cutting down on possible hiding places on riverbanks is to use an herbicide that...

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