Research Library

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a controversial "sanctuary cities" measure that allows police officers to ask people during routine stops if they are in the U.S. legally. Research analyst Pamela Cruz describes the legal fight to prevent the law's enforcement.

Aside from the massive cost of constructing a physical barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, factors such as private and tribal land ownership and the impact on the environment must be taken into account.

Mexico is gradually laying the foundation for an oil and gas sector where private—along with some state-owned—international companies are taking central stage. However, authorities should not ignore the necessity of developing a domestic oil and gas sector, writes Adrian Duhalt in a post for the Baker Institute blog.

James A. Baker, III, and George P. Shultz — both former secretaries of state and Treasury secretaries — offer "A Conservative Answer to Climate Change" in a commentary for The Wall Street Journal.

Media reports that Pemex, Mexico's state-owned petroleum company, is looking for buyers for its fertilizer subsidiary may indicate that it is seeking to scale down operations by selling assets and, perhaps more importantly, to withdraw from an economic activity seen as strategic in reducing Mexico´s dependency on imports of basic staples such as corn.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s two main methodologies for measuring border wait times have been found to be “unreliable and of limited usefulness” to users crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. However, cross-border residents are utilizing social media to share pictures, videos and real-time information on wait times to address this gap.

This blog post examines four factors of globalization that make Texas a “ground zero” for new infectious tropical diseases and outlines steps the state must take to better mitigate global health threats.