News & Commentary

For the third time in ten years, reports of alleged sexual assault by staff on detained youth at state secure juvenile facilities have surfaced. It was inexcusable the first time, and it is inexcusable now.

Two short months ago, our city suffered one of the most devastating natural disasters in its 180-year history. But the calamities Hurricane Harvey rained down upon us are the same as those homeless Houstonians face every single day. And they are no less deserving of our empathy, creativity and resources than are the victims of Harvey's floods.

The Trump and Abbott administrations continue to target Texas’s immigrant communities for profiling and discrimination. But if the population of undocumented immigrants declines, so will Texas’ economy.

Civilian review panels need power, independence, transparency and funding to hold police accountable for misconduct.

In South Texas, Rosa Maria and Jane Doe face the cruel realities of the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

At this very moment, the Office of Refugee Resettlement is detaining Rosa Maria Hernandez, a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who recently underwent gallbladder surgery, and is refusing to release her into the care of her family, despite her doctor’s advice. How exactly did this child with developmental delays become the Trump administration’s target for deportation? It’s an egregious case of government overreach, and now the subject of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit.

After Jane Doe, a 17-year-old immigrant from Central America, found out she was pregnant last month, she decided to have an abortion. But the Office of Refugee Resettlement — the federal government agency charged with caring for unaccompanied immigrant minors once they enter the country — is prohibiting her from getting one.

The fight to kill SB4, Texas’ unconstitutional anti-immigrant law, is not over yet.

With SB4 blocked and DACA rescinded, Texas’s immigrant communities face a future of fear and uncertainty.