KXAN crowdsourcing initiative results in Texas immigration stories, interviews and understanding

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The first tip KXAN received after launching our crowdsourcing initiative was from a woman worried about her friend waiting at home with her autistic son, unsure of her next move after federal agents detained her husband just that morning.

“A state trooper pulled (him) over, said he didn't stop,” the tip claimed. “Within five minutes, ICE showed up and took him… He has never been arrested before. He's been here for 12 years, and (their) son was born here.”

We didn’t know what to expect when we launched this project following a wave of deportations in Texas and the new Trump administration’s renewed focus on immigration enforcement. Detainment centers were popping up in communities across the state, but learning details from official sources – and even those potentially affected – was difficult.

In January, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had ordered the Department of Public Safety to aid federal immigration agents with arrests, although the woman concerned for her friend did not respond to our request for more specifics so we could verify the claims with the state agency. But that tip was just the beginning in our month-long effort; we continued to receive responses.

Another woman described a scene of “around 20 workers in the Abilene area working on new construction” who were detained when “ICE showed up at the work site demanding to see their paperwork.”

“Half of them have their families still here in the U.S. trying to make ends meet one way or the other,” she wrote. “The rest of the families gave up and went back (to Mexico) to be with the husbands just hoping to be able to work somewhere.”

Our Nexstar affiliate in Abilene has reported on recent federal immigration activity there, including a detainee transport hub at the local airport. Again, this tipster did not reply to our follow-up inquiries for more information. But stories like this were possible glimpses into the lives of people impacted directly by the government’s moves – access we hadn’t had at that point. Through crowdsourcing online, we hoped to gain more insight.

We used a secure web form – written in both English and Spanish – explaining our goal for the project and intent to honor confidentiality. People could leave anonymous tips there or click through to an encrypted contact platform for additional security. We discreetly cross-referenced tips about specific locations or incidents with other sources to ensure anything we might report was accurate and reflective of reality.

We knew our efforts could present challenges, particularly concerning privacy and safety. People providing tips might fear repercussions, especially since distrust in law enforcement was apparent in several of the tips. We worked to navigate those concerns carefully, protecting the identities of senders and anyone they mentioned.

“My sweet relatives are scared out of their mind,” one tip detailed about a Mexican couple with two young children living legally in the Austin area. “They are living a restricted life afraid to go anywhere together, afraid to be apart, afraid to work or drive, afraid all the time.”

These firsthand accounts would provide valuable context and depth to our coverage, along with a more comprehensive picture of the situation. And some tips did lead to impactful stories and interviews we might not have been able to obtain otherwise.

“I am born American, and my daughter is born Canadian,” one woman wrote. “We have been waiting over a year for a status. She has a passport and partial paperwork. Nobody has communicated with us in two months. I am concerned with deportation.”

After we replied to that tipster, she agreed to an audio interview, which is featured in a podcast episode we produced for this project. Some people who reached out had no specific information but wanted to voice their opinions on the topic.

“I am extremely disappointed at how little people are being deported,” one man wrote. “We need to deport way more … I hope DPS and ICE can step up their game here. Thank you for reporting on this issue.”

Our outreach included a social media campaign in English and Spanish, along with promotion in our newscasts. In the end, it resulted in about a dozen tips – a smaller number than we anticipated but still found valuable, as our collaborative approach ultimately helped illuminate the complex realities surrounding immigration in Texas.

KXAN Graphic Artist Wendy Gonzalez, Digital Special Projects Developer Robert Sims, Digital Director Kate Winkle and Digital Producer/Anchor Esmeralda Zamora contributed to this report.