Immigrants Keep Saying She’s Ripping Them Off. Why Won’t Texas Stop Her?
The attorney general's office once aggressively pursued fraudsters targeting immigrants. Not on Ken Paxton's watch.
Jason Buch
Jason Buch is a special investigative correspondent for the Observer and a freelance reporter based in Austin. He covers border affairs, criminal justice, and civil rights.
Articles by Jason Buch
Cuba’s Government Is in Trump’s Crosshairs, but Political Dissidents Find No Refuge Here
As the president has mulled invading the island and imposed harsh sanctions, old legal pathways have closed while asylum denial rates for Cubans are near 80 percent.
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.”
Deaths Uncovered in Laredo Show the Ongoing Toll of Border Militarization
“The people we’re finding now dying on the U.S. side of the border are the people who could not wait.”
In Laredo’s Last Stand Against Trump’s Border Wall, Are City Leaders Making a Deal with the Devil?
"A lot of the same arguments for why you wouldn't build it in Big Bend are the exact same arguments for why you wouldn't build it in Laredo," say opponents of the wall, as local officials have sought to accommodate the feds' demands.
Trump’s New Tool to Speed Up Wall Construction May Be a Trap for Texas Landowners
The administration is using a new kind of “right-of-entry” request that allows building earlier in the legal process. Property owners could be signing away more than they realize, attorneys say.
‘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 proved more trouble for the government than it was worth.
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.
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.
Border Barriers to Harm Reduction
Militarization is making it harder for healthcare workers to reach people who use drugs.