Reporting Texas
News and features from UT-Austin's School of Journalism
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.
byOisakhose Aghomo
After a two–year hiatus due to inclement weather, the Martin Luther King Jr. Community March and Festival returned Monday at the Texas Capitol against a backdrop of national political uncertainty — and threats to MLK Day itself
“Our commander in chief is trying to remove this day,” said 61-year-old Austin resident Jackie Sanders. “We’re going to still fight for this day because he (MLK) has earned it and we are here to support and represent.”
byRachel N. Madison
On Thursday morning, 48 hours before a winter storm was forecast to bring dangerously low temperatures, Austin Pets Alive’s shelter was filled with over 100 dogs waiting for homes. By the end of the day, the shelter had fewer than a dozen as animal lovers heeded the shelter’s call for emergency help.
“It was almost an empty shelter last night,” said Luis Sanchez, communications director for Austin Pets Alive. “It could be the least amount of animals we’ve ever had.”
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.
