In March 2023, we became two of the first women to sue Texas over its abortion bans. While pregnant with twins, we’d each learned that one of our twins had severe complications that were threatening the lives of the other — and our own. Yet, we were denied potentially live-saving abortions. So we asked the […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Texas County Pursues Death Penalty ‘Almost Exclusively’ Against People of Color, Report Shows. We Have an Opportunity to Change That.
My brother was wrongfully convicted. My wife is a police officer. My sister is the former city attorney for Austin, Texas. I have worked to free innocent people who were wrongfully convicted in Tarrant County and in the state more broadly. I was not shocked — but still incredibly disappointed — when I heard about […]
Posted inOpinion
There Was Yet Another ‘Ugly Fight’ in Houston Over Immigration Enforcement. But the City Already Knows What’s Right.
Editor’s note: The views and opinions presented by guest contributors to The Barbed Wire do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the company, the newsroom, its staff, advisers, or advertisers. Emmanuel Gonzalez, a 15-year-old who has a serious intellectual disability, walked away from his mom’s fruit stand in Houston in October. His mother […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t Call It ‘Self-Deportation.’ Moving Back to Mexico Felt Like Reclaiming My Life.
A breeze swept over me as I looked over Laguna del Carpintero in Tampico, Tamaulipas. Nearby, my three-year-old son Lucas and a local boy about the same age took turns rolling their miniature monster trucks down a blue playground slide. Lucas’ Hot Wheels rattled down first, then the other boy’s lime green truck. Off in […]
Posted inOpinion
What Can I Teach? Will Martin Luther King’s Work Be Censored Next?
This week starts a new semester at Texas A&M San Antonio. While preparing for it to begin, I have been asking myself questions that I have never asked in my 17 years as a college professor. Questions like, can I still teach Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”? As we celebrate the national […]
Posted inOpinion
A 5-Year-Old Disappeared in Austin. A Mom Shot Dead in Minneapolis. How Much More Violence Will It Take to ‘Abolish ICE’?
In a viral post on Instagram, 5-year-old Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos smiles brightly in front of iconic Austin street art. She’s wearing purple sneakers with pink laces. In big yellow lettering, the post reads: “URGENT: 5-YEAR-OLD US CITIZEN DISAPPEARED BY ICE.” Before dawn on Jan. 5, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Génesis and […]
Posted inOpinion
We Asked About Your New Year’s Resolutions. Y’all Are Trying Your Best.
Every year around this time, people make New Year’s resolutions with the same confidence you hear right before someone says, “No, it’s fine, I know exactly where I’m going” and then immediately misses their exit To get a sense of what we actually resolve to do (and never quite pull off) I asked people to […]
Posted inCulture
Yes, Everything’s on Fire. But People Are Still Helping Each Other.
If you’re reading this, congratulations!!!! You survived 2025. Truly, an achievement on par with running a marathon, passing calculus, or navigating I-35 through Waco without crying. The world right now feels like a group project where half the participants insist that gravity is a hoax, another quarter is trying to monetize gravity with crypto, and […]
Posted inEditor's Letter
Gutsy, Fearless Journalism Isn’t Dead. Don’t Let Bari Weiss Convince You It Is.
Look, I’m a crier. I get misty-eyed at adorable babies and beautiful brides, so you can imagine what a nightmare it is to sit near me when I report on tragedies. Still, I was gobsmacked when I began to write my year-in-review piece — a simple assignment! I’ve done dozens of them over my career! […]
Posted inCulture
Dear Santa, Can You Give Texas a Break? We’ve Tried Nothing and We’re All Out of Ideas
Dear Santa, Howdy from Texas, big man. Hope things are well up at the North Pole, where I assume the ice hasn’t melted, the power grid works, and y’all haven’t deported any elves. I’m writing because I have a few tiny Christmas wishes for next year. Nothing huge. Just small, achievable miracles on par with, […]