Julián Aguilar
reports on politics and border affairs from the Texas-Mexico border. His focuses include immigration reform and enforcement, voter ID, international trade, border security, and the drug trade. His political coverage has included local, legislative and congressional races in Texas, as well as local and national elections in Mexico. Before joining the Tribune, he was a freelance writer for the Fort Worth Weekly; a government and crime reporter for the Laredo Morning Times; and a political writer for the Rio Grande Guardian. A native of El Paso, he has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas and a master's degree in journalism from the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas.
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photo by: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
The Rally for Immigration Reform on Congress Avenue near the Texas Capitol on Feb. 22, 2013.
With the midterm elections behind him, President Obama said he was ready to take executive action to prevent many undocumented immigrants from being deported, which analysts said could benefit Texas' agricultural, construction and service industries.
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Democratic U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, left, was ousted by Republican Will Hurd, right, in the CD-23 contest.
For the third time in as many elections, CD-23 is changing hands, this time going back to the GOP after challenger Will Hurd ousted incumbent Democrat Pete Gallego.
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photo by: Ivan Pierre Aguirre
Construction workers are seen as two women walk along the road on an early October morning in Guadalupe Distrito Bravo.
As officials in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez celebrate a drop in crime in the Mexican border city, residents in nearby Guadalupe, Chihuahua continue fleeing to Texas in droves amid continuing violence and corruption.
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State Rep. Jose Manuel Lozano, R-Kingsville, (l) faces Democrat Kim Gonzalez in HD 43.
In his second race after switching to the GOP, incumbent state Rep. J.M. Lozano thinks HD-43 voters are more comfortable with his party choice. But Democratic challenger Kim Gonzalez isn't going to let it go.
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photo by: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst delivering his concession speech after losing his re-election bid on May 27, 2014.
Months after Texas beefed up its border security presence in the Rio Grande Valley, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst wants to know what it would cost to expand the projects through 2016.
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An international bridge connecting Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
Nine months into a federal pilot program created to reduce wait times at international ports of entry, operators of bridges on the Texas-Mexico border say it appears to be accomplishing that goal.
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photo by: Ivan Pierre Aguirre
Parishoners attend a Friday service at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in El Paso.
Catholicism remains the religion of choice for most people in El Paso, but membership in the church has declined. How the church adapts to modern societal beliefs will be reflected by what happens to its membership there.
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Democratic U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, left, was ousted by Republican Will Hurd, right, in the CD-23 contest.
In the battle to represent Congressional District 23, U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, and Republican Will Hurd have built substantial war chests for the homestretch in what many view as the state’s only toss-up race for Congress.
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Historian Antonio Ramos poses as a Maderista soldier at a marketplace in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Oct. 8, 2014.
Hopes are riding on a new effort in which tour buses will come to Ciudad Juárez regularly from El Paso. Officials want the tours to help shed Juárez's image as a danger zone and showcase the city as a destination for area tourists.
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Border Patrol Agent Robert Dominguez.
The Obama administration deported a record-breaking 438,421 people in 2013, an increase of about 20,000 from 2012. That included about 198,400 immigrants with criminal records.
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If Dos Republicas is able to mine substandard coal in Maverick County, it will be carried by train from the site in rural Maverick County through the center of Eagle Pass, Texas - Saturday, February 4, 2012
For several years, residents in Maverick County have waged a war against a company that wants to mine low-grade coal on 6,300 acres of land in this impoverished borderland. A recent twist in the saga is giving them new hope.
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Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in El Paso.
A multistate effort urging churches and other places of worship to provide sanctuary for undocumented immigrants began this month. The effort could come to Texas, where some leaders say such shelter is already being provided.
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Candidate for Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst addresses the media in the parking lot of an Austin HEB before voting early in the 2014 runoffs, May 19, 2014.
In a speech in Washington, D.C., on Friday, outgoing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst doubled down on claims that Muslim prayer rugs had been found on the Texas-Mexico border.
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The M35 truck is an example of what is available to local, state and federal agencies through the federal government's 1033 program.
A federal program that transfers surplus military equipment to local communities is drawing a mix of responses from border officials whose regions have benefited from the initiative.
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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is interviewed by Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post at the Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 20, 2014.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said on Saturday that he lamented his party’s contribution to what he said was a dysfunctional government, and he criticized the Obama administration's handling of the current crisis over the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
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