Texas has an estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants living between the Red and Rio Grande Rivers. Houston alone is home to about 600,000 of those. Texas has a 1,200 mile border with Mexico (the longest of any state). Texas has a booming Latino population that sees almost every other issue through the lens of immigration. […]
Archive | Immigration RSS feed for this section
Purging the Underground Economy in Texas
In Texas, we pride ourselves on job creation and entrepreneurship. This is the Promised Land, where you can be in charge of your own destiny. For many, if not most, this is true. For others, that rhetoric is used to dodge the law, pay people off the books, avoid taxes and contribute to a cancerous […]
Two Tragedies in Different Shadows
There were two tragedies in America with high death tolls over the last week and I am taken aback by the difference in the reactions to them. One was a mass shooting in a Colorado movie theater that left 12 Americans dead. The other was a truck crash here in Texas that killed 14 undocumented […]
Obama Misses a Texas-Sized Opportunity on Immigration
We’ve entered an interesting time in American politics when a Democrat can flog a Republican with the issue of illegal immigration. For years, conservative politicians have used it to call their opponents “open borders liberals.” President Obama, during his visits to San Antonio and Austin this week, slammed the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney for […]
Texas and Germany Face Labor Shortage for the Same Reason
The coming labor shortage reported on extensively at Construction Citizen, another website I write for, isn’t confined to the United States. Germany, an economic powerhouse like Texas, now has its economic performance threatened because the country’s businesses can’t find enough skilled laborers. Tweet Share
Border Fence Puts Texas Wildlife at Risk
It seems to be the environment and beautiful wildlife versus the way the government is handling border security in parts of South Texas. Tweet Share
Kansas Bucks the Trend; Tries to Authorize Illegal Immigrants
A fascinating story out of Kansas, where they’ve passed a law that would create a state-sponsored program to help businesses recruit workers who are illegally in the United States. Tweet Share
Is Gov. Chris Christie’s Presidential Buzz Only About Fundraising? AUDIO
Longtime political strategist Jason Stanford, who also has a book coming out soon about Rick Perry, points out that this is sort of like “sweeps week” for political fundraising and all the hype about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is likely about that and only that. Tweet Share
Illegal Immigrant UT Graduate to Perry: Don’t Back Down on In-State Tuition AUDIO
I just finished an interview with a young man who was brought to Texas illegally when he was four-years-old. Jose Torres-Don attended the University of Texas and received the in-state tuition break that has caused Gov. Perry so many headaches this past week on the presidential campaign trail. Tweet Share
Texas is the “Swinging Gate” for Drugs into America AUDIO
The Pentagon’s announcement that 1,000 National Guard troops will remain deployed along the US-Mexico border is underwhelming to security experts familiar with the inner workings of the Mexican drug cartels. Tweet Share
Follow the Conversation
About Scott
Scott Braddock is a journalist and political analyst based in Austin.
