Congressman Henry Cuellar has issued the following statement regarding news that Lockheed Martin Services, Inc., has been awarded a $34 million budget ceiling increase by the U.S. Air Force to a previously-awarded contract for the Personnel Services Delivery Transformation (PSDT) at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas   "This $34 million budget ceiling increase will be used… Read more »

Ten months into the U.S.-led war against the Islamic State, Congress still has neither debated it nor voted to authorize it. But on Tuesday, a House committee decided to do something about that: It passed a measure saying Congress should do something about that. Think of it as baby steps. During a House Appropriations Committee hearing, lawmakers added language to the 2016… Read more »

Congressman Will Hurd (R-Helotes) told a group of South Texas businessmen the success of the oil and natural gas industry in the United States is a matter of national security. Hurd made his remarks before a crowd of 200 people attending the Eagle Ford Consortium Conference in San Antonio on Thursday morning. "American energy security isn't just about securing… Read more »

Presidio County, City of Presidio, and Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico officials were in Washington, D.C. last week, advocating on behalf of the Presidio-Ojinaga International Bridge expansion project. The Far West Texas and northern Mexico delegation included Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara, Presidio County Commissioner Jim White, Presidio Mayor John Ferguson, Ojinaga… Read more »

It takes about five hours to drive from Monterrey, Mexico, to San Antonio — that's if there's not much of a line at the border. It's quite a popular route, considering the growing volume of Monterrey émigrés in SA (there's a reason the Stone Oak/Sonterra area is called "Sonterrey" or "Little Monterrey"). So they and others may like the sound of being able to cut that trip down to two… Read more »

Local officials said Thursday they don’t expect last summer’s surge of Central American immigrants into the Rio Grande Valley to repeat this year.   But if it does happen again, they said they’re ready.   “The message is: We’re prepared,” Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia said at a news conference Thursday. However, he added, “I don’t expect us to have what we had last… Read more »

The city of McAllen is getting ready for the possible influx of illegal crossers. The Rio Grande Valley was ground zero during last year’s border surge. Cities, counties and other agencies reacted to the influx. McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said they are prepared to provide resources if they have a repeat of last year’s surge. Illegal crossers traveled through McAllen on their journey… Read more »

Local officials said Thursday they don’t expect last summer’s surge of Central American immigrants into the Rio Grande Valley to repeat this year.   But if it does happen again, they said they’re ready.   “The message is: We’re prepared,” Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia said at a news conference Thursday. However, he added, “I don’t expect us to have what we had last… Read more »

About 450,000 immigration cases in the U.S. are currently backlogged and await a court hearing, according to U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar. In many cases, the children and adults who await their hearings are either held in detention centers, such as the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, or are released on bond. Cuellar said many of them risk not showing up to their court… Read more »

Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX28) last week was successful in adding important language in the Fiscal Year 2016 appropriations bill for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations (T-HUD) that specifies that freight corridors stretch all the way to their land ports of entry at the border. The addition of this language adds land ports to the list of… Read more »