Jason Buch

(10) We are continuing to report on ICE conditions, deaths and medical care. Please reach out to me and Colleen DeGuzman (contact info below.)

We take your confidentiality seriously. @texastribune.org

www.texastribune.org/2026/02/19/i...

RCFP urges federal district court in Pennsylvania to lift restrictions on accessing immigration records A federal court is unlawfully prohibiting journalists from copying immigration records at the courthouse. The practice must stop.

Covering immigration is hard — and a federal court’s restriction on accessing immigration records doesn’t help.

@rcfp.org is urging the court to immediately address the problem so the press and public can more easily monitor the government’s actions.

What you need to know about Texas ICE detention deaths Last year was the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Nearly a quarter of those deaths occurred in Texas.

Thirty-two people died in ICE custody nationwide last year, surpassing the previous high of 20 in 2005, according to federal data.

Nearly a quarter of last year’s deaths occurred in Texas.

How Trump's ICE Is Locking Up Longtime Texans with Paths to Legal Status The case of one Houston man, nearly deported to India after a quarter-century here, shows what happens when prosecutorial discretion is abandoned.

New from @jlbuch.bsky.social: “That facility is, like, terrible, horrible. There’s a lot of people in there. A lot. Each room has like 45 capacity. And they’re putting like 60 people in each room. The restroom is a mess. Dirty. People are sleeping on the floor, people are sleeping in the restroom.”

RCFP's Gabe Rottman: “It’s obviously concerning any time journalists are arrested in connection with their reporting. To our knowledge, it’s unprecedented for the Justice Department to deploy the federal laws it has previously cited in this case against journalistic activity. Historically, the limited number of cases that have been brought against a journalist documenting a protest on private property have been handled as trespass cases at the state level. Those charges are almost always dropped, or if the cases go to trial, the journalists typically prevail.”

@rcfp.org's statement on the arrest of independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, who were charged with violating federal law while covering a protest inside a Minnesota church.

🔗 Read more: www.rcfp.org/lemon-fort-a...

How Texas’ War on Drug Users Fueled an Austin Overdose Disaster A mass casualty event last spring lays bare the state’s backward approach to the ongoing crisis spurred by fentanyl and other super-potent substances.

#BestOf2025 from @jlbuch.bsky.social: The first deaths passed largely unnoticed by anyone other than the families and friends of those who consumed the tainted substances. A clearer picture wouldn’t emerge until 911 calls began flooding in the following morning.

Castle Hills Settles 'Retaliatory Arrest' Case for $500,000 in Win for Free Speech Advocates Along with the monetary settlement, city officials agreed to send its employees to training that the Texas Municipal League will develop about Sylvia Gonzalez’s case.

New from @jlbuch.bsky.social: Earlier this month, the San Antonio-area enclave of Castle Hills agreed to pay $500,000 to former city council member Sylvia Gonzalez, who had alleged that political opponents in the local government orchestrated criminal charges to silence her.

In Juárez, a Militarized Border Makes Drug Use More Deadly Growing security deployments pose unique challenges for harm reduction groups.

New from @jlbuch.bsky.social: Research suggests a harm reduction approach helps drug users stay healthier and enter recovery. But doing this work on the border has become more dangerous and difficult as troop presence increases.

Just Beyond the Texas Border, Chihuahua Is Launching a Burgeoning State Surveillance System The 20-story Torre Centinela looming over Juárez is part of a much larger AI-powered network that won’t stop at the U.S.-Mexico divide.

Across the border from El Paso, Chihuahua is setting up a massive surveillance network. In the past, intel collected by Mexican law enforcement (or provided by the U.S.) has gone straight to the cartels. Now Texas wants to participate.

www.texasobserver.org/texas-chihua...

DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family. Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U...

ICYMI: The real-life consequences of DOGE.

How DOGE Left Mohammad Halimi’s Life in Tatters

Texas Lawmakers Push ‘Massive Secrecy Grab’ to Shield Police Files As public attention has shifted away from policing reform, legislators attempt to shove information into the dark.

Our top story, from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Advocates for police transparency say a new bill would supercharge cops' ability to shield misconduct from the public. www.texasobserver.org/secrecy-g-fi...

In redistricting clash, Texas GOP flexes power to shut down Democrats' last tool of resistance Since Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay Republicans’ new map, state leaders have challenged the limits of traditional democratic norms to break the impasse.

Since Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay Republicans’ new map, state leaders have challenged the limits of traditional democratic norms to break the impasse.

Database reveals which Texas cities, counties got Greg Abbott's border grants Explore our database to see which Texas cities and counties received $177 million in grant funds under Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.

He also made a searchable database of the more than $177 million in spending the state has authorized so far. So you can see every budget item for every governmental body (except for the $900,000 in expenditures the governor's office redacted, of course): www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...

A $177M Texas border spending spree, mapped on a gameboard Explore our interactive gameboard to see which Texas cities and counties received Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star grants and how they used the money.

Matt made a very cool interactive visualizes how the money is being spent. Counties far from the border are cashing in, as long as they're willing to declare an emergency. Want to know how much they're spending on personnel? Vehicles? Software? Check it out
www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...

4 major takeaways on how Greg Abbott’s Texas border crackdown dollars were spent The Express-News and the Houston Chronicle pieced together the most detailed picture to date of spending under Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star. Here are four major takeaways from the...

It turned out that @houstonchronicle.com's @benwermund.bsky.social and Matt Zdun were looking into the same thing. So we pooled our resources and found that local governments have become reliant on the easily accessible money they use to buy vehicles, fund capital improvement and augment payroll.

Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star was a bonanza for Texas cities, counties Lone Star grants paid for pickups, office furniture, workout rooms and other items with little connection to border security. 'There it is,' we'll take it,' one county judge said of the state money.

Unauthorized immigration is at a record low and former Pres. Biden, who TX Gov. Greg Abbott claimed opened the border, is out of office, yet the Texas lege just renewed a controversial border security grant for local governments. So for @expressnews.com I investigated how that money is being spent.

Texas DPS director’s son is still active trooper weeks after injuring bystander State trooper Freeman H. Martin was driving 101 mph in a 45 mph zone when he blew through a red light and hit another car during a police chase.

Texas DPS director’s son is still an active trooper weeks after injuring bystander in 101 mph crash www.statesman.com/politics/tex...

Went to Seguin for some interviews on a feature I’m working on spec. Picked up these classics

Under Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott has distributed $177 million in border security grants to 115 Texas counties and cities.

Explore our interactive gameboard to see which cities and counties received Abbott's grants and how they used the money. bit.ly/4ljnbCf

I thought I was old enough to never make another social media account

Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star was a bonanza for Texas cities, counties Lone Star grants paid for pickups, office furniture, workout rooms and other items with little connection to border security. 'There it is,' we'll take it,' one county judge said of the state money.

Lone Star grants paid for pickups, office furniture, workout rooms and other items with little connection to border security. 'There it is,' we'll take it,' one county judge said of the state money.