Check out The Washington Post’s Post Next 50, a selection of the brightest minds and talents we think will have a big impact on our society in the coming year. Happy to have profiled UT’s Strauss Center Stephanie Leutert and her work on asylum at the border. washingtonpost.com/post-next/inte…

Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation vs six Mexican drug cartels would land WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19TH, according to official Govt document cited by Ildefonso Ortiz 👇

Congratulations to #StraussCAMPI Director Stephanie Leutert for her recognition as one of Washington Post's Next 50 for her essential work in migration policy on our southern border. Learn more about the honor here: wapo.st/41i1wTS 📸: Cathlin McCullough

Aboard the 2 flights that deported 190 people to Caracas last week were 2 who had deserted #Venezuela’s military. The Trump admin just handed them to the dictatorship. The feared Interior Minister says, “They are being given the appropriate treatment.” efectococuyo.com/politica/dos-m…

On Wednesday, U.S. officials began flying hundreds of people - including families with small children - to Panama. On the flight, children cried & a woman fainted. Now on the ground, Panamanian authorities says it will hold them in a camp in the Darien: nytimes.com/2025/02/18/wor…

The migrants being held in Guantánamo were flown to Honduras and then boarded onto planes back to Venezuela today. DHS described them as the "worst of the worst," though records and relatives for several detainees cast doubt on that claim. Silvia Foster-Frau washingtonpost.com/immigration/20…

4/8 Military aircraft did not augment capacity, it simply replaced traditional existing capacity, at a much higher cost. Fewer people per plane, longer routes, and higher cost per hour to operate based on some very good reporting.

5/8 There were 18 flights to Guantanamo, 17 on military planes from Biggs in El Paso. All the passengers from the first 13 planes (177) were ultimately removed on 2 traditional ICE Air charters and delivered to 1 Venezuelan plane for a return. 15 US flights – only 1 Venezuelan

Thousands run from cartels in Mexico to claim asylum in the US, but their success rate is very low - 16.6% last years compared to 88 % success for Afghanis. Yet to be seen if designating cartels as terrorists will make judges more sympathetic to those who claim to run from them.

This will be in tomorrow's Border Update but deserves its own separate post: Profiles of 15 young Venezuelan men shipped off to El Salvador's prisons last Saturday. None of them seem to be gang members—not at all. Post is here, with links to sources: adamisacson.com/who-did-the-tr…

Great work to this year's "Clandestine Migration Along the U.S. Mexico Border" policy research project teams on on their research presentations this week. We look forward to reading your findings! #StraussCAMPI @theLBJSchool @SLeutert

Much has been written over the past few weeks re: the impact of Trump’s #immigration raids on ag businesses. But in April, Caitlyn Yates & I wrote, “Expanding the #H2A visa program is the most sensible path forward to ensuring America’s food security.” riograndeguardian.com/garza-yates-tr…

The May 2025 Strauss Center Asylum Processing report with Stephanie Leutert is out. This is the 7th major enforcement and asylum policy change at the U.S. southern border since 2018 and the second phase where asylum processing has been almost exclusively closed at the border.

Breaking News: A judge ruled that President Trump can’t categorically deny asylum, rejecting his claim that extraordinary powers were needed at the border. nyti.ms/4nsIt2i