María Méndez
Border & Business Reporter, LaredoMaría Méndez reports for Texas Public Radio from the city of Laredo where she covers business and border issues from an area that is now the nation’s top trade hub. Her position is made possible by Report For America — a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Before joining TPR, she reported on Texas' diverse communities and tumultuous politics through internships at the Austin American-Statesman, The Texas Tribune and, most recently, The Dallas Morning News. She also participated in NPR’s Next Generation Radio program while studying at the University of Texas at Austin.
At UT, she wrote for The Daily Texan and helped launch diversity initiatives, including two collaborative series on undocumented and first-generation college students. One of her stories for these series won an award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She is a native of Guanajuato, Mexico but grew up in Central Texas.
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After nearly a year’s worth of legislative sessions, several issues are poised to dominate Texas politics this year. Here’s a look at how things ended on several fronts last year — and where they’re headed next. -
The Biden administration plans to use military bases in San Antonio and El Paso to house a growing number of unaccompanied migrant children in federal custody. It has also considered using Bexar County buildings. -
Through Sul Ross State University and the Rio Grande College, the Texas State University System has been providing higher education to the Middle Rio Grande area of the Texas border. But community members and state lawmakers are unsatisfied and want the opportunity to grow under a new university system. -
Border activists and attorneys against border wall construction say President Joe Biden has broken his campaign promise of “not another foot” of wall by taking the land of a Rio Grande Valley family in court. -
Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans blame President Joe Biden for the arrival of migrant minors at the border and have raised alarm over the conditions they face in federal custody. Two teens who recently made their way through the border and an emergency shelter in San Antonio paint a different picture. -
Bexar County Precinct One Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, who has volunteered at the Freeman Emergency Intake Site, toured the facility with Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday after he raised concerns about the safety of migrant children sheltered there. TPR News’s Maria Mendez spoke with her on Thursday about the tour. -
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott claims child abuse is occurring in an emergency care facility at Freeman Coliseum. Local and state Democrats are criticizing Abbott for announcing these allegations before conducting an investigation. -
Less than 25,000 families and unaccompanied children have crossed the border in recent months, compared to millions of essential travelers. But frustrations over pandemic restrictions for nonessential travelers and migrants are growing. -
Congressman Joaquin Castro led a Democratic delegation on a tour of a temporary shelter for migrant children in Carrizo Springs Friday. It is one of the many facilities the Biden administration opened to house a large number of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border. Castro spoke with TPR's Maria Mendez after the tour. -
The Texas-Mexico border remains closed to many migrants and foreign travelers, but it will be bustling on Friday as various officials and political groups visit the area.
