Killing of Texas Girl Becomes a New Immigration Flashpoint
The killing of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston has become the latest crime seized on by Republicans to attack President Biden over his immigration policies.
By J. David Goodman
I cover Texas, a broad mandate that involves lots of driving. I try to focus on the political and cultural debates that impact the direction of the state and, often, the rest of the country. I am interested in understanding, and helping readers understand, what Texas is like today, and the ways that such a fast-growing, larger-than-life place has been changing — and not changing — on a variety of fronts, from partisan affiliation to energy infrastructure to law enforcement. And I like good stories out of West Texas.
I have been a reporter for The Times since 2010. Before moving to Texas, I spent time in the state writing on the impact of the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. As a reporter in New York, I covered money in Albany politics, the downfall of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York Police Department. I graduated from Williams College and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. My first job in journalism was as a clerk at The International Herald Tribune in Paris, a job I landed by chance after giving guitar lessons to an editor there. I was born and raised in New York City, but my dad is from Dallas. I live in Houston.
All Times journalists are committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook. What that means to me is that I make sure my work is fair to the people involved and an accurate reflection of what’s going on, representing issues from multiple angles. I fight to protect my sources and don’t accept gifts from anyone who might figure into my reporting. I don’t make political donations or participate in political activities.
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