Biden makes 'urgent' request for extra $6B border dollars
Happy Friday, Texas Take readers! We've got a dynamic duo of border stories leading today's newsletter.
First up: President Joe Biden is asking Congress to approve more than $6 billion in border security funding to hire 1,300 agents, 1,600 asylum officers and install more than 100 inspection machines meant to catch fentanyl at ports of entry as part of a massive spending request the administration rolled out Friday with emergency aid to Israel and Ukraine.
The request was described as "urgent." It includes nearly $1.5 billion aimed at curbing the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., and it comes as Republicans like Gov. Greg Abbott increasingly have focused on the deadly toll of the drug as they have hammered Biden's handling of the border.
More than 100,000 Americans die from drug overdoses a year, a fivefold increase from two decades ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in a border county say they dropped trespassing charges against as many as 150 migrants arrested on an Eagle Pass ranch after the owner said he never authorized troopers working for Abbott's Operation Lone Star to make the arrests.
Who's up, who's down
Up: Texas child care providers.
They could get much-needed relief if voters pass a certain statewide proposition during the November election.
Down: Alex Jones.
The right-wing conspiracy theorist won't be allowed to use his bankruptcy proceedings as a reason to not pay Sandy Hook families the $1.1 billion he owes them for repeatedly claiming the mass murder was a hoax.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
What else is going on in Texas
 Photo by: Yi-Chin Lee/Staff Photographer | | The state's preliminary audit into Harris County's 2022 election identified a variety of discrepancies, but county officials have declined to answer questions about those findings. | |
 Photo by: Brett Coomer, Staff Photographer | | The city approved a plan in 2020 to shut the Fayette Power Project plant with the aim of eliminating carbon emissions. | |
 Photo by: Jason Koerner/Getty Images | | The "Most Wanted" tour will stop for two nights each in Austin, Dallas and Houston despite thousands in attendance at his Alamodome show last year. | |
 Photo by: Matt Young, Houston Chronicle | | Christian Saenz is a 13-year-old Rangers fan from San Antonio and he said he was hoping to distract Astros pitchers during game 4 of the ALCS. | |
 Photo by: Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff Photographer | | At Día del árbol, the San Antonio Parks & Recreation Department will give away hundreds of trees. | |
Pick of the day
Photo by: Michael Wyke/Contributor
John Whitmire, the longest tenured member of the Texas Senate, is now running to be Houston's next mayor. Armed with a $10 million war chest, Whitmire has been campaigning as a bipartisan coalition builder, boasting his reputation for being "tough but smart."
What else I'm reading
ProPublica published this excellent investigation on foster care families that are reluctant to give up the children when their time together ends.
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