Dual Citizens in Texas Critical of Effort to Make Them Choose One Nationality

bySamantha Rubin

Texans with dual citizenship are decrying the potential effects of a  bill introduced by an Ohio senator that would force Americans who hold citizenship in another country to renounce one nationality or risk being treated as if they gave up their U.S. citizenship. 
Legal experts said the proposal is unworkable.  “There really is no good way to police this,” said Elissa Steglich, who teaches the immigration law clinic at the University of Texas law school. “There’s no actual benefit to the nation for people to relinquish citizenship to other countries.” 

Feat or Fortune? How the Texas Grid Withstood This Year’s Winter Storm and Why It Felt Different

byRachel N. Madison

The morning of Sunday, January 24, 2026, looked much like that of January 31, 2023, and February 15, 2021. Snow coated fields. Ice buried streets. People shut their doors. Businesses closed. 
Yet, most Texans noticed one key difference. 
“We had power the entire time,” Northwest Hills resident Holly Eaton said.
This year, the state’s power grid remained intact with no systemwide blackouts, unlike in Winter Storm Uri which left 4.5 million homes without power and resulted in over 200 deaths across the state.

THC Fee Increase in Texas Could Push Patients to the Black Market and Impact Local Businesses

byErika Gonzalez

Thousands of Texans rely on medical cannabis to relieve chronic pain, anxiety, or PTSD. At the end of September 2025, Texas had more than 135,000 registered patients, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates that around 4 million residents used cannabis for therapeutic purposes in the past year.
Access for these patients could change drastically. On Jan. 9, the Texas Department of State Health Services proposed raising licensing fees for the THC hemp industry.

Nurses Rally Against ICE after Slaying of One of Their Own

byNoemi Castanon

Over 100 people, many of them nurses, moved by the death of one of their own, gathered outside Ascension Seton Medical Center for a candlelight vigil to honor Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis nurse killed by federal immigration officers.

Months After ICE Raid, Valley Flea Market Still Largely Deserted

byNatalia Rodriguez

Hallways full of families. Vendors in stalls scrambling to attend to every customer. Dance floors full of laughter and community. For decades, these scenes would play out at the Mercadome Flea Market in the Rio Grande Valley town of Alamo.
Today, those same hallways are empty. Many stalls in the flea market, or “pulga” in Spanish, are closed, and the dance floor is occupied by only a few clinging to maintain the energy that existed before Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided the market last June.
“There’s no one here because everyone is scared,” one vendor said.

Protesters Urge Austin to Not Cooperate with ICE

bySheldon Munroe

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Austin City Hall on Tuesday — one year to the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration for his second term — to denounce ICE deportations and demand that the city stop cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
“It is super important that we come out and use our First Amendment right to protest and petition,” said protest organizer Sophia Mirto. 

For Drag Performers, Court Ruling Brings Fears of Enforcement of Restrictive New Law

byErika González

As Senate Bill 12 takes effect, drag performers and organizers in Austin are adjusting their shows, venues and creative choices amid changes to state law and its implementation.

Students Demand Protection of Ethnic and Gender Studies as UT Weighs Trump Compact and Consolidation

bySamantha Rubin

University of Texas students Monday urged administrators to reject the Trump compact on higher education and to stop a possible consolidation plan of the College of Liberal Arts they say could erase ethnic studies, women’s and gender studies and several language departments. “When I arrived at UT as a freshman, our campus looked completely different,” […]

DACA Helped Them Get Legal Commercial Vehicle Licenses. A New Policy Took Them Away.

byErika González

At 4 a.m., Yeni Renderos’ alarm went off, just like every other day. Half-asleep, she made coffee, woke her 16-year-old daughter and drove her to school before climbing into her truck, “Rosendo,” as she affectionately called it. For 10 years, that routine had defined her life in Houston, driving to construction sites, convinced her life was finally moving forward.
But that Monday was different. Renderos’ boss called to confirm what she feared most: “You can’t keep working, Yeni, she recalled him saying. “The rules for commercial licenses have changed.”

Unaccompanied Minors Face New Hurdles as Trump Administration Levies Unprecedented Fees

byOisakhose Aghomo

  Immigrant children seeking asylum in the United States are facing thousands of dollars in new fees and other hurdles mandated this year by Congress, Texas refugee advocates say. “Policy changes that we’ve seen over the past few months …  all have one thing in common, and that is targeting the rights of migrant children […]

As a New Texas Law Clamps Down on School Libraries, ‘Librotraficantes’ Fight Back

byIsabel Neumann

Just two months after a new Texas law expanded parents’ power to challenge school library books, authors gathered at the Texas Book Festival’s Banned Book Bash to read from titles that have been banned or challenged, or which might face future restrictions. The festival’s Librotraficantes: Banned Book Bash, held Saturday at Cheer Up Charlies, brought […]

‘You’re Living in a War Zone Now’: Four Latina Writers on Life in South Texas

byNoemi Castanon

Four authors featured in the new anthology “¡Somos Tejanas!” told the Texas Book Festival Saturday that they will not be silenced in times like these, when many Latinos feel threatened. “The reason that this book was made is because women are under attack in the United States and Latinos in general are being kidnapped,” said […]

High School Marchers Protest Restrictions on Speech and Academic Freedom: ‘We are Done Being Polite About Our Rights.'”

byA.J. Muonagolu

College and high school students marched to the Texas State Capitol Friday to protest new state laws that they say limit student speech and harm public education.
“To Texas lawmakers, hands off our youth — because we are done being polite about our rights.” high school student Kara Newton yelled through a megaphone to protesters. “We are done being complacent. We want change and we want it now!”

On the Edge of Closure: The Daily Struggle of Rural Hospitals in Texas

byErika González

Hundreds of workers in Texas’ rural hospitals face long shifts but without any certainty that their hospital will still be there next year. 
Texas leads the nation in rural hospital closures, according to the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals. In the past 20 years, 26 rural hospitals have shut their doors.

Paxton Urges Conservatives to ‘Take on the Evil’ of the Left to ‘Save America’

byNatalia Rodriguez

State and federal Republican officials called for conservatives to wage war against leftist ideologies in a Turning Point USA event on the University of Texas campus Monday, stating that it was their “life purpose to destroy them.”

Amid Crisis in Veterans Care, Texas Embarks on a ‘Psychedelic Revolution’

byMichael Karlis

The staggering number of veteran suicides, combined with Texas’ large population of former service members, has led the state to becoming what some experts are calling the center of the “psychedelic revolution.”
A slew of bills in the Texas Legislature have garnered broad, bipartisan support, including House Bill 3137, which would mandate the largest appropriation of public funds for psychedelic research in U.S. history.

Lunches for Texas Students Expected to Suffer After USDA Pulls Plug on Local Food for Schools Program

byMadeline de Figueiredo and Rebecca Butler

The Local Food for Schools initiative was set to distribute $660 million to state agencies in fiscal 2025, aiming to help schools and child care facilities buy locally grown food in 40 states.

At Anti-Trump Rally, Less Chanting and More Organizing

byMichael Karlis

Organizers said more than 1,000 demonstrators descended upon the Texas State Capitol over the weekend to protest against what some experts say is the Trump administration’s increasingly authoritarian rule.  Saturday’s protest, organized by the 50501, Hands Off! and Resist Austin movements — three grassroots campaigns aiming to prevent “plutocrats” from “undermining the rule of law”  […]

‘I Am Gonna Scribe the Beauty of This City I Grew Up In’: Austin’s First Poet Laureate Vows to Tell Hard Truths

byShunya Carroll

  As he was inaugurated as Austin’s first poet laureate, Zell Miller III said last week that he will use the platform to promote literacy and tell the hard truths of the city’s history. “I am gonna scribe the beauty of this city I grew up in,” Miller said during a ceremony at the Austin […]

Hungry Texans Lose Access to Millions of Pounds of Food as USDA Cuts Deliveries to Texas Food Banks

byMadeline de Figueiredo

Recent cuts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have forced the cancellation of 396 food deliveries to Texas food banks, putting at risk nearly 12 million pounds of food valued at $19 million and intended for emergency food assistance.