Author

Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune
Uriel J. García is an immigration reporter based in El Paso. Before joining the Tribune, he worked at the Arizona Republic where he covered police violence and immigration enforcement. He started his journalism career at the Santa Fe New Mexican where he focused on covering the city's immigrant community and criminal justice issues. Originally from Mexico, he grew up in Phoenix and graduated from Arizona State University.
Migrants waiting to cross the border say government’s app for asylum-seekers is a mess
By: Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune - May 10, 2023
EL PASO — After spending days in overcrowded shelters, Joseline Decaires Jiménez sat in a charter bus station Monday night, waiting for a bus to take her to Denver — even farther from her family, whom she had to leave behind because of a problem using a phone app. She’d crossed the border legally but […]
Fire at migrant center in Mexico near El Paso kills at least 39
By: Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune - March 29, 2023
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, MEXICO — Katiuska Márquez, her husband Abel Oviedo and their two sons had been released from a migrant detention center in this Mexican border city Monday afternoon — after immigration authorities arrested them and their friend for panhandling at a city intersection. The couple said they were released because they had children with […]
Supreme Court rules to keep Title 42, pandemic-era policy to quickly turn away migrants, for now
By: Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune and Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune - December 27, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to keep in place the emergency health order the federal government has used for more than two years to quickly turn away migrants, including those seeking asylum, at the southwest border. The latest ruling replaces an order issued by Chief Justice John G. Roberts last week that halted the […]
U.S. Supreme Court wrestles over Biden’s immigration enforcement policy
By: Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune - November 30, 2022
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. During the two hours of arguments, the court’s conservative justices sounded skeptical of the Biden administration’s efforts to prioritize undocumented immigrants convicted of felonies rather than ordering agents to […]
Asylum-seekers allowed to enter US after “remain in Mexico” ends
By: Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune - August 29, 2022
EL PASO — Willian woke up before dawn on a recent Tuesday, packed his legal documents into a blue folder and got in a van with other migrants to one of the international bridges that connect El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. At the port of entry, the 46-year-old asylum-seeker from Ecuador was disenrolled from the […]
Millions donated after Uvalde shooting still haven’t reached victims and families
By: Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune - August 19, 2022
UVALDE — Alfred Garza III wakes up around 11 a.m. most days and downs a can of Monster Energy drink. After a shower, he heads to a popular eatery here, El Herradero de Jalisco, and orders a fajita chicken salad. Then, he makes his way to his father’s mechanic shop, where he hangs out until […]
Uvalde parents’ anger and quest for answers persist after committee faults school and police
By: Sneha Dey, Texas Tribune and Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune - July 18, 2022
UVALDE — The loved ones of 21 people killed during Texas’ worst school shooting have spent weeks grieving their losses and begging officials for answers. But even after state officials publicly released the most comprehensive look yet at the Robb Elementary shooting and law enforcement’s painful delay in confronting the gunman, many relatives of the […]
Narratives, and blame, shift again as dysfunction engulfs shooting probe
By: Joshua Fechter, Texas Tribune, Reese Oxner, Texas Tribune and Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune - June 1, 2022
The official response to the mass shooting at an Uvalde elementary school — a response already marred by shifting narratives, finger-pointing and a general lack of timely and accurate information — took a further turn toward dysfunction on Tuesday. The Uvalde school district’s police chief — who made the decision to wait for more resources […]
Her daughters are U.S. citizens. Title 42 won’t let this Guatemalan mother enter the country.
By: Uriel J. García, Texas Tribune - May 19, 2022
Every morning for the past year, Emilsa and her two American-born daughters wake up on a mattress in a storage room inside a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juárez. For breakfast, they usually eat eggs and potatoes or whatever food people donate to the shelter. After eating, the 39-year-old from Guatemala will read to her daughters […]