Texas

Senior editor Hector Luis Alamo gives a rundown of some of the facts, bits of news, real histories, and actual lies he came across during the past week.

This week’s wrap-up comes to you from the cozy confines of quarantine, as senior editor Hector Luis Alamo has managed to catch COVID for only the second time this year.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on whether the Biden administration has the right to decide which undocumented immigrants federal agents should prioritize for deportation.

The “Latino vote” is the Holy Grail of politics, and locking it down is more difficult than people seem to have anticipated. A breakdown of why viewing Latino voters as a monolith is a mistake.

Latinos made up about one in 10 of the votes cast during the 2022 midterm elections, according to a study conducted by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Roughly 35 million Latinos were eligible to vote, representing 14 percent of the electorate.

GOP donors spent millions to unseat Hidalgo, a Democrat who leads the state’s most populous county, and take back a seat they lost four years ago. Republican Alexandra del Moral Mealer conceded the race Wednesday morning.

Latinos were running for top offices across 44 states, with political observers predicting a “historic” rise in Latino representation. Some elections have yet to be called, but even still, Latinos have made clear gains throughout the government.

Tuesday’s midterm elections will likely see a “historic” rise in Latino representation in Congress, statewide offices, and state legislatures, according to a study conducted by NALEO. Latinos are running for top offices in 44 states.

On Monday, after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States, a group of Venezuelan and Honduran migrants was forced back by U.S. Border Patrol agents firing what a spokesman called “crowd control projectiles.”

Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX) cried foul Wednesday after getting rejected from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the most influential Latino group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, whose bylaws explicitly block Republicans from joining due to major policy differences between members in the past.

When reports of a shooting at Jefferson High School in San Antonio sent the school into lockdown on September 20, fearful parents attempting to enter the school clashed with police officers outside. After Parkland and Uvalde, parents have every right to distrust the police.

One migrant is dead, another is wounded and at least seven others are languishing in detention three weeks after twin brothers allegedly opened fire on them in the Texas desert, claiming they thought they were firing on wild hogs.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol figures show that 110,061 Cubans crossed the border into Texas from October 2021 through September 2022. During that same time period, 109,106 Venezuelans crossed the border.

The Biden administration is also creating a pathway to allow “qualified” Venezuelans into the country. Venezuelans have been fleeing their home country in record numbers, and the number crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has surged.

Former San Antonio police officer James Brennand, 25, has been charged in the shooting of Erik Cantu, 17, in a McDonald’s parking lot on October 2. The charges — two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant— are felonies and could increase if Cantu doesn’t survive his injuries.

On Sunday, a San Antonio Police officer opened fire on a teen who had been eating in his car at a McDonald’s parking lot. Video released by SAPD shows the officer opening the driver-side door and ordering 17-year-old Erik Cantu out of the car without first identifying himself.

The family of a migrant that authorities say was shot to death in Texas by two brothers —including one who was the warden of a detention facility with a history of abuse allegations— are demanding more information this week, as the two men charged in the killing were released from jail.

A Mexican citizen has died at a hospital after he was shot at a U.S. Border Patrol station in Texas, authorities said. The man was in custody at the Ysleta Border Patrol Station in El Paso on Tuesday when he was shot, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.

The mysterious woman who allegedly lured dozens of migrants on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ flights to Martha’s Vineyard from San Antonio has been identified by several media outlets as Perla H. Huerta, a former combat medic and U.S. Army counterintelligence agent living in Tampa.

Forty-five House Democrats sent a letter Friday to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting the Justice Department look into a “political stunt” by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), after DeSantis took credit for sending 48 Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last week.

With gun violence becoming a top political issue for Latinx voters, and Latinx people in the U.S. dying from gun violence at a faster rate than their white peers, we need more Latinx faces organizing to end gun violence.