Tag Archives: undocumented immigrants
In ‘Yellow Rose,’ the American Coming-of-Age Story Finally Includes Undocumented Youth
Set in Austin, the film tracks a Filipina teen dreaming of a country music career—and fighting to keep her family together.
“I never fit in,” croons Rose Garcia in one of the early scenes of Yellow Rose. For the young protagonist—a Filipina teen who sports a cowboy hat and blow...Read More
A Small County Bets Big on Locking Up Undocumented Immigrants
Jones County has an empty prison and a load of debt. Their solution? Dust off the old prison and fill it with undocumented migrants.
By late November, residents of Jones County, a swath of Texas plains home to some 20,000 souls, should have new neighbors: about 1,000 undocumented immigrant me...Read More
Video: ‘Traumatic, Unnecessary’ Arrest of Austin Woman Shows How Cops Can Worsen Mental Health Crises
Bodycam footage of police arresting a young woman diagnosed with schizophrenia shows how Texas cops turn mental health emergencies into traumatic confrontations—and even deportations.
Everything was fine, until suddenly it wasn’t. On the morning of July 19, 2018, Tania Silva was wandering through East Austin, acting oddly. Silva, a 21-yea...Read More
Waco Immigrant Mom Locked Up for 2 ½ Years, Alleges Sexual Assault by Guard
Estela Fajardo, a prominent Waco business owner, is stuck in a web of criminal and immigration issues that’s torn her from her four kids. Now, the county says she’s lying about sexual assault.
Estela Fajardo, a prominent Waco business owner, is stuck in a web of criminal and immigration issues that’s torn her from her four kids. Now, the county says...Read More
‘Pressure, Dissuasion, Coercion’: Trump Officials Repeatedly Intervened to Stop Teen Refugees’ Abortions
Government emails show that federal officials intervened to prevent abortions, forced teenage girls to call their parents and sent them to religiously affiliated “crisis pregnancy centers.”
In early March, a minor girl staying in a shelter for undocumented immigrants in Texas run by BCFS, a religiously affiliated nonprofit, convinced a judge to let...Read More
Attorney: Undocumented Teen Seeking Abortion Faced Abuse at Refugee Shelter
Once the shelter found out she wanted an abortion, staff “harangued” her about the decision, some even asking what she planned to name the baby, the attorney told the Observer.
Before she fled to the United States, Jane Doe, as she’s known in court filings, allegedly watched her parents beat her older sister, who had become pregnant ...Read More
Federal Prisons Don’t Even Try to Rehabilitate the Undocumented
The Bureau of Prisons fails to provide basic resources to undocumented prisoners.
Flickr/Thomas Hawk Editor’s note: This commentary was published in collaboration with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the cr...Read More
The 10 Best Observer Stories of 2016: ‘I Have a Name/Yo Tengo Nombre’
‘I Have a Name’ is an online visual database to help identify migrants who died crossing the Texas-Mexico border.
Editor’s Note: This is not a story per se. It’s a labor of love that took Multimedia Editor Jen Reel a year to complete. It’s also a blend of journali...Read More
Introducing ‘I Have a Name/Yo Tengo Nombre’
‘I Have a Name’ is an online visual database to help identify migrants who died crossing the Texas-Mexico border.
Today, the Texas Observer is launching a project a year in the making. “I Have a Name/Yo Tengo Nombre” is an unusual undertaking for the Observer: Most of t...Read More
