Social Policy

Rick Perry: Mum's The Word

Rick Perry has adopted a more behind-the-scenes approach this time around. That doesn't mean he hasn't been busy.

Roe v. Wade, 40 Years On: Rick Perry Still Carries The Battle Flag

The 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade is not so much a time of celebration, Rep. Donna Howard told a small crowd on the south steps of the Capitol this morning, as it was a look at the progress towards healthy women and healthy communities. Some of that, liberal lawmakers predict, is likely to erode t ... More >>

Sen. Dan Patrick Named Senate Education Chair, Re-dedicates Himself to Private School Vouchers

Conservative Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) probably wasn't expecting broad accolades from the education community when he was named chair of the Senate Education Committee on Thursday, and the quick negative reaction from mainline education groups did not disappoint. The dean of Harris County conser ... More >>

Rick Perry Stands Tall Against Socialism, Obamacare and Godless Federal Dollars

Governor Rick Perry has confirmed in a letter today to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that he's no pal of socialism and as such, must reject two key measures of Obamacare - a state insurance exchange and expanding Medicaid. To embrace a state exchange would mean playing ... More >>

Will HISD Thumb Its Nose at Rick Perry & Go for the Race to the Top?

The deadline is looming for the next round of the Race to the Top, a program federal education department officials all but admit was drafted for Houston Independent School District after Texas refused to compete for federal grants. When Education Secretary Arne Duncan hinted such a district-based ... More >>

Crossing The Line: Days of Rage

The U.S. Supreme Court and President Obama leave the undocumented and their allies no choice but to escalate civil disobedience.

ICE Sweep Nets 74, Including Child Molesters, in Houston Area

A nationwide sweep of convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and "egregious" immigration violators resulted in almost 100 arrests out of the Houston field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE took in 3,100 people nationwide in its six-day "Cross Check" operation, with 74 com ... More >>

Pro-Lifers To Walk From Houston To Dallas

Thirty-nine pro-life women will walk, beginning tomorrow, from the Planned Parenthood building in Houston to the federal courthouse in Dallas, "where it all began." "All" meaning Roe v. Wade, which heralded America's descent into the Satan-worshipping, baby-killing, Muslim-led swamp that it is toda ... More >>

Ron Paul and Sci-Fi

More Than 20,000 Deported from South Texas in 2011, Feds Say

La Migra piles up the numbers.​The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced its deportation numbers today for fiscal 2011, which ended in September. Nationwide almost 400,000 were deported -- an ICE record -- and more than 20,000 were deported from South Texas, the agency ... More >>

Texas: Immigration Detention Capital of the Country

In Texas, illegal immigration is often extremely lucrative.​Texas is number one again today. To our trophy case of great honors, we add Most Beholden To Private Corporations, When It Comes To Illegal Immigration. The Detention Watch Network recently released aggregated data about the big busi ... More >>

May Day Immigration Rally Draws Thousands (and Opponents) in Houston

Photos by Christopher Patronella, Jr.​Some three thousand people joined together in Houston on Sunday to take part in May Day rallies held all across the nation as the battle over immigration laws has taken center stage. Demonstrators blanketed the streets around Burnett Bayland Park as they flow ... More >>

Planned Parenthood: Punched in the Uterus by Misguided Texas Senate

More bad news for women who rely on Planned Parenthood.​A Texas Senate subcommittee wrangled the vulvas of Texas women into a chokehold yesterday with its latest assault on Planned Parenthood. Republican Senator Robert Deuell, who is a physician, introduced a bill to a three-member subcommitte ... More >>

Lack Of Social Safety Net Tying Many Musicians To Day Jobs

"I fantasize sometimes that my musical career would hit gold and help us escape these grim realities, but it's not something I really expect to happen." ​There are few issues in the current political climate more fraught with contention than whether or not the U.S. government will take a more ... More >>

Cactus Poaching

Return to Sender

What Would Comprehensive Immigration Reform Look Like If the Feds Got Off Their Duffs?

FAIR-y Tales

Russell Pearce and Other Illegal-Immigration Populists Rely on Misleading, Right-Wing Reports to Scapegoat Immigrants and Terrify Penny-Pinched Americans.

FAIR-y Tales: Mexican Macro-economics

State Rep Leo Berman: A "Birther" Bill And Oh, So Much More

Leo Berman: Probably not a big Jon Stewart fan​Texas, we have our birther bill!! Thanks to Rep. Leo Berman of the Panhandle Tyler, the Texas legislature will take up a bill saying no one can be on the ballot in Texas for president (or vice-president! All bases covered!!) unless they present t ... More >>

Asylum Denied

Unlike refugees from other troubled countries, only a fraction of Mexicans seeking U.S. asylum are accepted – no matter how horrible their wounds or their stories.

Seized

Inside the brutal world of America's kidnapping capital

Hip-Hop for HIV Awareness Concert

Welcome to Mi Pueblito, Washington

The small-town, family-farm lifestyle that we love to celebrate is being preserved — thanks to Mexican immigrants.

What's a Little Marriage Fraud Between Amigos?

It's a felony, sure, but in the absence of real immigration reform, some young, assimilated illegal immigrants see it as their best path to citizenship.

Badlands

From Ground Zero of the immigration crisis along the Mexican border

Even Rick Perry Can't Support Arizona's Immigration Law

Rick Perry appeals to Move On, ACORN and Daily Kos​People, if there is one rule in life, it's this: If Rick Friggin' Perry thinks you've gone too far to the right, it's time to check yourself before you wreck yourself.Perry's office has just issued a statement saying the controversial new Arizona ... More >>

SPECIAL MINUTEMAN PROJECT EDITION

If Halloween Is Coming, So Are Offensive Costumes

​The "Illegal Alien" costume causing uproar amongst immigrant rights activists, anti-immigrant supporters and free speech advocates is the first major faux pas of this Halloween season. While anti-immigrant supporters are scrambling to find the costume, immigrant rights activists are calling for ... More >>

Shipley Do-Nuts Pays Up For Using Illegal Immigrants

​Shipley Do-Nuts, the oddly spelled longtime Houston morning favorite, will be forking over a ton of cash to the feds for using illegal immigrants in the workplace.The U.S. Attorney's office has announced the company will pay a $250,000 fine and forfeit $1.3 million to the government for harboring ... More >>

SPECIAL APRIL FOOLS' DAY EDITION

Gloom And Doom For Uninsured Texas Children

Tom Tancredo and Coconuts

ICE Won't Be Nabbing Illegals At Hurricane Shelters

Was Cesar Chavez Really Against Illegal Immigration?

The DREAM Act Might Be Dead, But These Kids' Hopes Are Not

They are American in everything but name. They can go to college in Texas and improve themselves. Doesn't matter. At the end of the day, they're just illegal immigrants without social security numbers or futures.

College Immaterial for High School Students in Vocational Training

Good paying jobs, no huge loan burdens, exciting course work — the new vo-tech attracts more and more hi-tech students

Virtual Vouchers

Back to the Future

Andrea Bowers presents life before Roe v. Wade

Children at Risk

Best Democrat

District 147 State Representative Garnet Coleman

Million-Dollar Babies

Some CEP students have been locked in for years

Needling the Mayor

Former drug czar Lee Brown has trouble negotiating a question about why there's no needle-exchange program for addicts in Houston

Paying the Price

Hospital district officials wanted a simple one-sentence policy on immigrant health care. What they got instead was a criminal probe and plenty of politics.

Learning How to Survive (at) CEP

HISD and a paid trustee get entangled in the spreading empire of a private firm touting safe alternative schools for troubled kids. So why are some students and parents so scared?

See George Educate

A Texas journalist gives George W. Bush his due

Shin Splits

Shiatsu doc closes up shop

All in a Day's Work

Lockheed Martin's welfare-reform efforts have cost taxpayers across the country millions. So naturally, Lockheed Martin has been hired to train and find jobs for the poor in Houston and Harris County.

Cozy Ties

In the battle to privatize welfare services in Texas, corporate bidders have enlisted some inside help

"A Flaky Deal"

To snare a federal grant, the city of Houston overstated the extent of lead poisoning among children in poor neighborhoods. But now that it's got the money, the city can't figure out how to help those who need it most

Old and In The Way

How slow turnings of tiny bureaucratic gears grind up real Texans