Texas — United States — Alexandra Ulmer

Nov 8

Nov 8 Texas cracks down on migrants but dozens of trespassing cases fall flat

Gaston, a Venezuelan human rights lawyer, spent years visiting the country's most squalid prisons as he defended students jailed for protesting its socialist government.

Fearing retaliation by the authorities for his work, Gaston decided to flee to the United States. There, he was arrested by Texas state troopers, court records show. It was one of roughly 1,600 trespassing arrests of recent border-crossers in Texas since July under an immigration crackdown by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, dubbed Operation Lone Star.

Sep 21

Sep 21 Migrants on school buses? Texas town feels caught in the middle

Alexandra Ulmer

On Friday night, a local lawyer published a Facebook post saying that local school district buses were transferring migrants, mostly Haitians, to processing facilities. "THE SAME BUSES OUR CHILDREN WILL RIDE ON MONDAY!!!!" Jacques De La Mota wrote alongside pictures of a yellow school bus seemingly picking up migrants in the dark.

Sep 18

Sep 18 As news of U.S. flights back to Haiti spreads, migrants fret about where to go

Alexandra Ulmer

Eddyson Langlais, 24, was huddled under the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas, alongside thousands of fellow Haitian migrants on Friday night, when he saw news on Facebook that felt like a gut punch: The United States was going to fly Haitians back to their homeland.

Sep 17

Sep 17 WhatsApp instructions, Mexican struggles: How Haitians ended up in Texas camp

Alexandra Ulmer

Haitians camped out under a Texas bridge followed instructions circulated on WhatsApp to get there, according to a dozen migrants who said the tips delivered to their phones helped them evade checks by Mexican authorities.

Jul 6

Jul 6 Promise vs practice: Police body-cam delays in Texas capital frustrate reformers

Alexandra Ulmer

Advocates of police reform in Austin cheered a year ago when the city agreed to release video from officers’ body cameras within 60 days of incidents in which they used force that caused serious injuries. But since then, only a single body camera video has been released on time - in a non-fatal police shooting.