Alejandro Serrano

new from me: In the wake of the Uvalde school shooting in 2022, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made a risky decision for a Texas Republican: He helped shepherd major gun safety legislation. Now critics are turning up the heat on Cornyn in what's shaping up to be the fight of his career.

t.co/Sa9INpUBNb

Officials Said They Busted a Tren de Aragua Party. Attendees Beg to Differ. A highly publicized multi-agency raid in Hays County resulted in dozens of arrests on low-level immigration charges and left an Austin mother's life in tatters. It also fit a pattern of unproven gang-...

In April, authorities raided what they say was a Tren de Aragua gathering. Attendees say it was a birthday party.

Among those detained included a homeless barber/DoorDash driver, and three people who fled Venezuela years ago *because of* that gang

🧵
www.texasobserver.org/officials-tr...

“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: DPS arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across Texas to aid Trump’s mass deportation The Department of Public Safety has shifted from Biden-era border enforcement to helping expel people from the country, a job once exclusively done by federal authorities.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has shifted from Biden-era border enforcement to helping expel people from the country, a job once exclusively done by federal authorities. @serranoalej.bsky.social @texastribune.org

“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: DPS arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across Texas to aid Trump’s mass deportation The Department of Public Safety has shifted from Biden-era border enforcement to helping expel people from the country, a job once exclusively done by federal authorities.

here is a link again to today's story again. it contains nuance I hope you spend time with, as well as unanswered questions we hope to answer.

if you want to talk to me on or off the record: alejandro.serrano@texastribune.org.

DM me for signal.
www.texastribune.org/2025/09/12/t...

Months after detaining 47 people accused of being Tren de Aragua in Austin, authorities offer no evidence of gang ties People at the raided house say they rented it for a birthday party and deny any connection to the gang. One man says law enforcement accused him of being in Tren de Aragua because of his tattoo.

But reporting has cast doubt on the assertion.

In Texas, one raid in Hays County raised fresh questions about evidence.

our June report:
www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/t...

DPS said as of mid-August it had identified nearly 6,500 “criminal illegal immigrants with active felony warrants in Texas for a variety of offenses.”

The Trump administration has similarly said it is prioritizing deporting "the worst of the worst."

In Eagle Pass, a tense border standoff between Texas and the federal government is reaching a crescendo A park on the Rio Grande is the new focus of a long battle over border enforcement that’s reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

The state also dropped buoys and razor wire into international waters, built a border wall, etc. --- all raising Qs about how much authority a state has to enforce immigration law.

here is a great story from January 2024 via @ujohnnyg.bsky.social
www.texastribune.org/2024/01/22/t...

When DPS officers were surged to the border in 2021, they began arresting asylum-seekers on state charges of criminal trespass, instead of crossing the border like CPB might.

It was one of several OLS aspects ...

It is not clear if DPS officers themselves are making the arrests. The story gets into this question of authority a bit:

Amid Trump immigration crackdown, Texas reins in border spending and shifts focus to deportations With border crossings at record lows, state authorities are being sent to arrest people accused of committing crimes in Texas after entering the country illegally.

Meanwhile, the number of border crossings has tanked. These numbers offer a glimpse into how state police are shifting their focus from the border toward aiding the Trump administration.

The #txlege this year appropriated another $3.4B for border security.
www.texastribune.org/2025/06/19/t...

Public records obtained by The @texastribune.org show that the teams have recorded 3,131 previously unreported arrests. Most people (88%) were picked up for violations of federal immigration laws. At least one in five in either Austin, Dallas or Houston.

Since, not much has been said or celebrated about the teams or their productivity. DPS has acknowledged their involvement in individual arrests, like these:
www.kxan.com/news/local/a...

cmf.statesman.com/news/local/a...

In January, Gov. Abbott directed DPS to dispatch teams to help President Trump's immigration crackdown.

And DPS is being tight-lipped about the ops, a stark contrast from the press releases, videos, pics + stats frequently published over the last 4 years of Operation Lone Star, a border mission started in response to the Biden admin's immigration policies.

“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: DPS arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across Texas to aid Trump’s mass deportation The Department of Public Safety has shifted from Biden-era border enforcement to helping expel people from the country, a job once exclusively done by federal authorities.

New: Texas DPS officers are helping arrest thousands of undocumented immigrants across the state, including in large cities whose Democrat leaders have historically opposed working w/ ICE.

Spokesperson tells me: "Operation Lone Star 2.0 is underway statewide..."
www.texastribune.org/2025/09/12/t...

“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: DPS arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across Texas to aid Trump’s mass deportation The Department of Public Safety has shifted from Biden-era border enforcement to helping expel people from the country, a job once exclusively done by federal authorities.

“Operation Lone Star 2.0”: Texas Dept. of Public Safety arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants across TX to aid Trump’s mass deportation

DPS has shifted from Biden-era border enforcement to helping expel people from the country...

From @serranoalej.bsky.social

📽️ WATCH: Andry Omar Blanco Bonilla, one of the men Trump sent to CECOT, told our reporters he was beaten the moment the plane landed.

He says when he regained consciousness and saw the polished concrete floor, the bright lights, the men in uniform, he just asked God: What am I doing here? Why?

Five years after shedding Confederate moniker, a West Texas high school may be Lee High again The Midland school district rebranded Robert E. Lee High as Legacy High in 2020, part of a nationwide trend to distance public places from the Confederacy.

you should read my @texastribune.org colleague Carlos Nogueras Ramos' dispatch about how Midland high school may once again be named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee five years after the school shed its Confederate moniker -->

www.texastribune.org/2025/08/11/m...

Increased attention on Texas House Democratic leader Gene Wu comes with more anti-Asian insults “Is Gene Wu back in China?” state Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican, posted on X on Monday — the first day the House did not reach a quorum due to the absent Democrats.

New: Increased attention on Texas House Democratic leader Rep. Gene Wu of Houston comes with more anti-Asian insults.

www.texastribune.org/2025/08/06/t...

... and come September, most Texas sheriffs will be required by state law to seek such partnerships w/ ICE — even those in urban, Democratic areas who have been resistant to and even protested cooperating with ICE in the past.

link again to story -->
www.texastribune.org/2025/07/31/g...

Boyd, who has three 287(g) agreements with ICE, has urged fellow sheriffs to also enter agreements. But he may not have to do much convincing.

Since February, the number of such partnerships between Texas sheriffs and ICE has exploded by roughly 325%...
www.texastribune.org/2025/07/31/g...

How a rural Texas sheriff became a poster child for serving Trump’s immigration goals Roy Boyd has also become one of the loudest cheerleaders for partnerships between sheriffs and ICE to offer the federal agency unprecedented access to jails and deputies.

New: Meet Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd, who's emerged as a model for how sheriffs can serve in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement apparatus. Sheriffs are already set to supercharge Trump’s immigration crackdown — especially in Texas.

www.texastribune.org/2025/07/31/g...

Texas judge dismisses case against migrant deported to El Salvador for being an alleged gang member DPS troopers labeled Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, who remains in a Salvadoran prison, a Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang member based on a photo of him with a tattooed man.

New: A Venezuelan man accused by Texas police of being a Tren de Aragua member and sent to El Salvador was initially arrested on criminal trespassing charges when he crossed the border. This week a Texas judge dismissed that case. But he remains in ES's CECOT.

www.texastribune.org/2025/07/17/t...

Migrant deported to El Salvador after DPS labeled him a member of Tren de Aragua without evidence, lawyer says Lawyers for Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo deny he is a gang member and say the DPS accusation hinges on a photo they found of him standing next to a man with tattoos.

28-year-old Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, who has no known criminal record, was accused by Texas police of being in a Venezuelan gang because they found a photo of him posing with another man with tattoos, his lawyers say.

From ProPublica partner @texastribune.org:

Migrant deported to El Salvador after DPS labeled him a member of Tren de Aragua without evidence, lawyer says Lawyers for Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo deny he is a gang member and say the DPS accusation hinges on a photo they found of him standing next to a man with tattoos.

New: Texas police asked a Venezuelan migrant if he had tattoos. He didn't. But they found a photo of him standing next to a man who did. That was enough to label him a member of Tren de Aragua, getting him shipped to El Salvador, lawyers say.

www.texastribune.org/2025/06/18/t...

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s push to ban THC in Texas draws rare backlash from the right It’s an unusual situation for the lieutenant governor, long viewed by GOP activists as a stalwart conservative responsible for driving the Legislature rightward.

new from me:

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick got the THC ban he wanted — and an explosion of backlash.

As pressure mounts on the governor to veto #SB3, Patrick is in the unfamiliar position of taking flak from conservative activists and media personalities.

www.texastribune.org/2025/06/10/d...

Months after detaining 47 people accused of being Tren de Aragua in Austin, authorities offer no evidence of gang ties People at the raided house say they rented it for a birthday party and deny any connection to the gang. One man says law enforcement accused him of being in Tren de Aragua because of his tattoo.

Here is a link again to our report:
www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/t...

Months after detaining 47 people accused of being Tren de Aragua in Austin, authorities offer no evidence of gang ties People at the raided house say they rented it for a birthday party and deny any connection to the gang. One man says law enforcement accused him of being in Tren de Aragua because of his tattoo.

Meanwhile, the 30yo man, his 24yo wife and their two kids, 5 and 3, spent 20+ days in ICE detention. They were released to find an eviction notice on their home, a stack of bills and an uncertain future.

www.texastribune.org/2025/06/04/t...

But they were not arrested at the party --- they were arrested nearby. A criminal search warrant has few details about what authorities knew when they raided the party, and an affidavit that would typically have more info has been sealed by a state judge.

Court records show that troopers found nearly 4 grams of powder that tested positive for either meth or ecstasy, 7.6 grams of cocaine and three meth or ecstasy pills. Two ppl are facing state charges.