Tag Archives: immigration

The forthcoming travel ban and the MLB season

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Just a little cloud hanging over Opening Day, that’s all. President Trump’s expected travel ban on more than three dozen countries could prevent some Astros and other Major League Baseball players from Cuba and Venezuela from coming into — or leaving — the United States. … Continue reading →

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Beware the egg smugglers

Posted on March 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I admit, I giggled a little at this. Since January, Texas area CBP officers have encountered more than 90 people attempting to import raw eggs from Mexico. As egg prices in the U.S. are hitting record highs, the price of … Continue reading →

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On HPD and immigration enforcement

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Worth keeping an eye on. Houston Police Department officials pledged to “push for efficiency and effectiveness” in 2025 and further clarified their stance on immigration enforcement as part of a Tuesday presentation to the city’s Public Safety Committee. At the … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over elimination of ICE’s sensitive locations policy

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them luck. Twenty-seven churches and organizations — some with ties to Texas’ Jewish and Christian faith communities — are suing the Trump administration over the elimination of ICE’s sensitive locations policy. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, Feb. … Continue reading →

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Appeals Court hears Catholic Charities case

Posted on February 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Hoping for a good outcome. A Texas appeals court panel on Wednesday appeared skeptical of the procedure used by Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office as it sought to question under oath the leader of one of the state’s largest migrant … Continue reading →

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Menefee gets the go ahead to fight against Trump executive orders

Posted on February 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Go get ’em. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee wants to go on the offense against President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which he argues would have lasting effects on Harris County. Harris County Commissioners approved the county attorney’s request to pursue litigation … Continue reading →

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The kind of people we’re going to need to win back

Posted on February 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

So be careful when you encounter them. On a recent windy, cold afternoon in [El Paso], dozens of people gathered at a park for an immigrant rights demonstration to denounce the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Some held signs reading: “Immigrants … Continue reading →

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Maybe do more than just worry about what mass deportations might do to Texas?

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Just a thought. In Texas, undocumented people have built apartment complexes and skyscrapers that changed skylines. They have picked fruits and vegetable in fields, cooked in restaurant kitchens, cleaned hospitals and started small businesses. They have become stitched into communities … Continue reading →

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Abbott wants federal reimbursement for all his border boondoggle spending

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We all want things. Gov. Greg Abbott is asking the federal government for more than $11 billion in reimbursements to Texas for the costs of border security operations and wall construction during the Biden administration. In letters sent Thursday to … Continue reading →

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HISD addresses the “ICE in schools” issue

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox. Dear HISD Community, Many of our staff are receiving questions about how HISD manages state and federal law enforcement agencies on our campuses. We want to assure you that our policies have not changed, and they align … Continue reading →

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SCOTx hears Paxton’s appeal of the Annunciation House case

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A big one. The Texas Attorney General’s Office told sometimes skeptical Texas Supreme Court justices Monday that El Paso’s Annunciation House migrant shelters are harboring undocumented immigrants and can’t use Catholic religious beliefs as a legal justification for its actions. … Continue reading →

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Jolt Initiative gets a reprieve from Paxton harassment

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good news for now. A nonprofit focused on increasing Latinos’ civic participation can continue its work without fear of being shut down by the state after a federal judge granted a stay on Oct. 24 in a lawsuit the group … Continue reading →

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It’s crawl-out-from-under-a-rock season

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

As predictable as the end of Daylight Saving Time around here. Three Houston-area Republicans have filed a lawsuit alleging that “tens of thousands” of people should be purged from the Harris County voter roll amid a national push to cast … Continue reading →

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A further clipping of Paxton’s wings

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This could be big. A federal magistrate judge has struck down a 100-plus year old Texas statute authorizing the state’s attorney general to investigate certain businesses and organizations for violating state laws. Judge Mark Lane of the Western District of … Continue reading →

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DACA at the Fifth Circuit

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A big week for that terrible court. On Thursday the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a case to determine the future of “Dreamers” who came to the country as children, including an estimated 27,000 Houstonians. The hearing is the latest … Continue reading →

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Another immigration nonprofit sues Paxton

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

He just can’t quit harassing them. An El Paso nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrants and migrants has filed a lawsuit that attempts to block an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has increasingly targeted groups on … Continue reading →

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You can count non-citizen voters on one hand

Posted on September 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

And still have fingers left over. Data compiled by the conservative Heritage Foundation shows that noncitizen voting in Texas isn’t a widespread problem and instead shows other instances of voter fraud committed by U.S. citizens are more prevalent. Since 2017, … Continue reading →

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Paxton sued over voter registration purge activities

Posted on September 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Counterpunch time. A nonprofit focused on increasing Latinos’ civic participation sued Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court Friday so it could continue its voter registration efforts after the Republican official targeted them in an investigation last month. The organization … Continue reading →

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Another Paxton bullying attempt gets knocked down

Posted on August 31, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Oh for four. I like that. A Travis County judge on Thursday denied an effort from Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office to question the leader of a Brownsville organization that provides migrants with humanitarian aid, delivering the state’s top civil … Continue reading →

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The current state of voter purging

Posted on August 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll start here, and there’s a lot to unpack. Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that the state has removed over 1 million names from the Texas voter rolls, mainly people who moved out of state or died but including … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit against FIEL tossed

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A Harris County judge has denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to shut down local immigration nonprofit FIEL Houston. Paxton originally petitioned to shut down FIEL in July for allegedly violating rules that govern the organization’s nonprofit status. … Continue reading →

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Paxton finds a new target to bully

Posted on August 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Vile, disgusting, authoritarian – one quickly runs out of adjectives. Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down an immigrants rights group in Houston, alleging it is “systematically” flouting nonprofit rules by advocating too aggressively against state laws and … Continue reading →

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Another Paxton attempt to harass a migrant shelter halted by a judge

Posted on July 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

How much do you have to hate migrants to keep doing this? Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton cannot depose the leader of a McAllen migrant shelter, a Hidalgo County judge ruled Wednesday. District Judge Bobby Flores’ decision shuts down attempts … Continue reading →

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Paxton appeals Annunciation House ruling

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Totally expected, which doesn’t make it any less despicable. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will appeal an El Paso district judge’s ruling that blocked his efforts to close the Annunciation House networks of shelters for migrants crossing the border. “For … Continue reading →

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Judge rejects Paxton’s bullying against Annunciation House

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good. An El Paso district court judge has denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to shut down the Annunciation House network of migrant shelters in El Paso, saying the state was harassing its employees and guests. In a pair … Continue reading →

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Annunciation House hearing

Posted on June 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This one is on the merits, to determine if Ken Paxton has any evidence to support his outlandish claims that the religious charity is engaged in “human trafficking”. An El Paso judge will rule within two weeks on the attempt … Continue reading →

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Migrants’ lawsuit against company that flew them to Martha’s Vineyard can proceed

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. A federal judge in Boston has ruled that migrants flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022 can proceed with a lawsuit against the Florida company that took them there. The judge also dismissed claims against Florida Gov. … Continue reading →

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The Fifth Circuit has its merits hearing on SB4

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is the big one. A federal appeals court heard arguments Wednesday from Texas and the federal government about whether it should continue blocking a new Texas law that would let state police arrest migrants suspected of entering the U.S. … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit leaves SB4 block in place

Posted on March 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A federal appeals panel late Tuesday night declined to put Texas’s migrant deportation law back in effect, saying the state law seizes powers that are “likely reserved to the United States.” The 2-1 opinion from the 5th Circuit Court … Continue reading →

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Mexico asks Fifth Circuit to keep blocking SB4

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

They definitely have an interest in this. The Mexican government is urging a federal court to block Texas’ migrant deportation law, arguing it will trample the country’s right to regulate its own borders, terrorize the 2.4 million Mexican nationals living … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit has its SB4 hearing

Posted on March 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

More whiplashing. The chief judge on an appeals panel weighing whether to block Texas’ new migrant deportation law appeared skeptical that it does not run afoul of longstanding precedent leaving immigration enforcement solely to the federal government. Questioning the state’s … Continue reading →

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And just like that, SCOTUS flipflops on SB4

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

UPDATE: It’s blocked again! A federal appeals court late Tuesday night stopped a state law allowing Texas police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border — hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed it to go … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS pauses SB4 again

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This time indefinitely. The Supreme Court on Monday extended a temporary block on a new Texas immigration law that is being challenged by the Biden administration. In an order issued by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, the court again imposed a … Continue reading →

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SB4 remains on hold

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Fine by me. No rush. The Supreme Court on Tuesday further delayed a new Texas law empowering state authorities to arrest and deport migrants that would transform immigration enforcement long left to the federal government. Justice Samuel Alito extended an … Continue reading →

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