Shedding a light on ICE and DPS tactics in Austin

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court-appointed special advocates, making a difference for children and foster care.

I'm David Brown, this week a pair of verdicts in what's being described as big text,

big tobacco moment, what this means for Texas' efforts to regulate kids in social media.

Once reliable water wells running dry in a fast-growing central Texas county,

an investigation shedding new light on how traffic stops are being used to pull people into

deportation proceedings in Texas. Plus, the week in politics and a whole lot more,

as the Texas Standard gets underway right after this.

No matter where you are, it's Texas Standard time on this Friday the 27th of March,

a week that we may look back on as a turning point in a long-running conversation about the

mental health of young people and the liability of social media platforms.

I'm David Brown, a pair of back-to-back jury verdicts this week now being called

big text, big tobacco moment. In New Mexico, a jury orders meta to play roughly $375 million

finding the company failed to protect young users. A day later in California,

another jury found both meta and YouTube liable for designing platforms that contributed

to a young woman's mental health struggles, awarding millions more in damages.

What's notable here, not the damages per se, though the sums may sound large to you and me,

they are the proverbial drop in the bucket compared to the billion such companies make.

What's especially notable here, these cases appear to sidestep long-standing legal protections

for tech companies by focusing not so much on content, but on the product design itself.

Features like infinite scroll and auto-play that get kids hooked.

Now as courts begin to redraw the boundaries of liability, attention is shifting to states like

Texas, already pushing some of the toughest laws in the country aimed at regulating

how kids use social media. Madeline Mechelberg has been covering this issue for Bloomberg.

She's based in Austin. Madeline, welcome back.

I David, thanks for having me.

First, let's talk about the court's two cases. New Mexico case brought by the state attorney general.

Court found meta liable for violating state law by failing to safeguard users of its apps

from child predators. California case somewhat different brought by a now 20-year-old woman

who'd accused social media companies of creating products as addictive as cigarettes or digital

casinos her lawyers said. She claimed they led to anxiety and depression.

Tell us a little bit more about why these rulings matter beyond the dollar verdicts.

Right, I think you laid it out perfectly in your introduction. This idea that these cases are

unique and significant because they are really the first time that Big Tech has had to go to court

on claims of harm to users. And that's because of these longstanding federal laws known as section

230 is kind of the big one. And they shield these companies from liability for content posted by

third parties on their platforms. And so for a long time, that has protected these companies from

having to go to court to answer to allegations that the experience for users can create different

forms of harm. But these cases are unique because they're about how these systems were designed

and how they were operated. The New Mexico one focuses a lot more on the threat to children

on a broader scale within the state of New Mexico when it comes to the risk of sexual exploitation

on meta and Facebook specifically. But the one in California is focused on features of these

platforms that are addictive. We're talking about infinite scroll, auto playing of videos,

the notification system. So it's about the nuts and bolts of the platforms and how they function

and not about the content that's posted there. I wonder if this hasn't perhaps set up a road map.

I mean, you mentioned these are these are unique cases and yet there are thousands of plaintiffs

all across the country. And I can't help but think that this is going to lead to more lawsuits

that are crafted along these same or similar lines. That's right. The one in California in particular,

that is what's called a bell weather case. So there are thousands of people who filed lawsuits on

their own behalf or on behalf of a family member. There are quite a few tragic cases of parents

filing lawsuits on behalf of children who have taken their own lives and they blame that on the harm

they experienced on social media. But there are three of thousands of cases that are set to go to

trial this year that are essentially a test of the legal theories at play across all of these cases.

So it was really important for all the parties to see how a jury would respond to some of these

allegations and whether they would be willing to rule against big tech. And so this does provide a

legal framework for the lawyers, but also kind of a framework moving forward for a bigger discussion

about how we can kind of hold these mammoth companies accountable for activities.

It's interesting because we're talking about a shift from free speech to a focus on the platform

itself as being harmful by design. But I'm wondering though, how much this approach that the

platforms themselves are harmful? How much that aligns with how Texas and many other states have

been trying to frame their laws? I know in Texas it's mostly been around demanding age verification.

Do these verdicts strengthen or complicate that effort? That's a really good question. So this

verdict in particular is about one woman and whether or not these companies owe her money.

But some of the other cases, they're actually seeking more systemic changes to be implemented

at the company level and less so from the regulatory side. But it's hard to keep those conversations

out of the legal space. Mark Zuckerberg actually testified during this case in LA and he was asked

repeatedly about age verification at meta and he was acknowledged like this is a struggle and

that's something that these companies have been trying to work with government leaders and leaders

at platforms like Apple and Samsung to try to get them to deal with age verification.

Nobody really knows how they want to handle that and so this at least can kind of spur conversations

I think is what a lot of people are hoping for. But if addictive design becomes a legal liability,

I can't help but wonder how much this threatens the very model of a lot of social media platforms

that's in engagement driven. We've been talking about this for some time and now it seems that

what the courts are saying is that there's something about the way that these platforms operate.

What sort of changes might these platforms be forced to make or could some of them be driven out

of business? That's a really interesting point and that was definitely something that came up

during the arguments was this is kind of about some of the fundamental features of these platforms

and that's something we heard lawyers for Google and YouTube stress especially they were trying

to say there are a lot of positive things about social media you know she was making the woman

in the suit was making videos expressing her creativity watching videos so that she could go to

sleep at night so they were trying to stress that some of the things that issue here are the

fundamental building blocks of the platform and another element of this that we haven't really

talked about is that they say that they have the safety features already that are designed to help

individuals curb their use of the platform limit their time on the platform if that's what you

want and one quote that is memorable to me from from the lawyer from YouTube he kept saying

the only effective tool is a tool that you use and so I think a lot of their focus has been on

highlighting tools and features that already exist and trying to encourage users to engage with those

on a more serious level than they have been and you'll be interesting to see how quickly all

of this will translate into real changes for family and kids Madeline Mechelberg is tracking it

for Bloomberg she's based in Austin will link to her reporting at texestandard.org Madeline thanks

so much. Thanks for having me. For a week now travelers flying out of Bush Intercontinental

Airport in Houston have battled brutal security lines at a times looped across three floors and

stretched over four hours the New York Times called out those lines as among the worst in the

country as some TSA agents refused to work without pay amid the partial government shutdown whether

that will change with the president's announcement to pay TSA workers remains to be seen but Houston

public media's Bianca Seward spent the week talking with passengers about their experiences.

In a normal week Bush Intercontinental can screen nearly a million passengers swiftly through

its sprawling seven terminals but those operations have ground to a near halt roughly 40% of TSA

agents are calling out of work each day many refusing to work without pay during the third

government shutdown in just six months. Jim Sezniak director of operations at the airport says of

the 37 security lanes set up at Bush the airport is only currently able to staff at best half of

them and at worst just a third combined with the surge in tourism this month the Houston rodeo

to NCAA suite 16 games the annual energy conference Sarah week and spring break travel tens of

thousands of visitors have flown into the city it's created a perfect storm no passenger should

have to navigate on his way back from a mission trip in Guatemala Duke Jones connected in Houston

where he was held up for hours in TSA Sunday night. Mr flights and so we had to rebook spend

a night in a hotel on Monday Jones wasn't taking any chances with his rebooked flight to Kansas City

our flight leads at eight o'clock tonight and so that's why we came this early to have an eight-hour

window he wasn't the only passenger back for round two on Monday I got here three hours early

thinking that'd be enough time I just missed my flight by two minutes they closed the gate tell

me and they told me try again for tomorrow that's Ariana Basuelto she tried to fly home to Charleston

South Carolina on Sunday on Monday she thought she came better prepared yeah I got here five hours

early thinking it was gonna look like what it did yes she looks way worse than what it did yes

today she made it to the gate but with just moments to spare similar scenes played out at bush

airport all week while the government shutdown has affected airports across the country some have

been hit worse than others in a press conference Tuesday leaders with the union representing TSA

explained in major metro areas with higher costs of living like New Orleans New York and here in

Houston the financial burden of continuing to work without pay is heavier for those agents

here's Aaron Barker with the union take your fees the cost of gas and things are different for you

in different parts of the country that will be the major factor and why you would see more

officers calling out in in different areas most TSA agents make around $35,000 a year

missing even one paycheck can be devastating agents have been choosing to call out of work and

opt for other jobs that pay immediately at bush intercontinental leaders have scrambled to adjust

operations and keep passengers moving as quickly as possible here's Jim Sezniac director of operations

we've reassigned hundreds of employees from across our organization from finance to IT to

maintenance and more to help manage lines and assist travelers he adds conditions will only get

worse if the government shutdown continues Bailey white was on a cruise with her family when they

heard about the major delays in TSA at the airport they threw their original travel plans out the

window flight plans had to change I had to change plans at home for boarding the pads I mean it's

an inconvenience for sure others were more optimistic about the situation it's pretty crazy

something happens you know we can tell our kids about this that's Cauchyf Bandali he and his

friends booked a vacation to Detroit weeks ago oh we thought okay it's $200 cheaper to fly out of

Houston let's just rent a car come over here and do that and that turned out not to be the move

the group spent nearly three hours in line but made the flight when gay agents were making last call

on behalf of the sewer in Houston

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information at wise.com terms and conditions apply it's the Texas Standard I'm David Brown

an upstart in the energy business just be one of the biggest companies in the world

in a fight over billions of dollars in American natural gas at the center of it venture global

a fast-growing LNG exporter with a large Houston footprint and a dispute with London based

shell over long-term contracts for LNG that stands for liquefied natural gas and it's a

fuel that's reshaping global energy markets now earlier this month the New York judge

handed venture global a major legal victory a decision it could ripple through the energy

industry the fact prices overseas certainly underscore texas's role in the world energy stage

and to help us make sense of it all we're joined by Michael Toth he's a research director

at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin Michael welcome

David it's so great to be with you thank you for having me on I want you to explain

for those who may sort of be getting glossy eyes over the idea of talking about contracts

and and you know in the energy industry you felt this was important enough to do a really

interesting article for real clear markets.com and I want to ask what what is it about this legal

contract that stood out to you why did you want to sound the the bell about this it's a major

contract in an industry which is front and center and world news I mean everyone is obviously

following the news from the Middle East with the hike and gas prices and this is a major dispute

between two big-time players one and upstart the other one a global super major shell and we're

talking about billions of dollars on the line here. Yeah I was interested to read in your piece

that of course we used to be a major importer now we've become in the span of a decade really

less than that a huge exporter how did that happen the number one exporter in the world and

venture global which is at the heart of these cases is on pace to being the country the company

that produces and exports the most amount of liquefied natural gas of any country in the world

it happened through technology and innovation so the gas is liquefied and then shipped out to the

world and then it's turned back into gas when it reaches Asia and Europe which are hungry for

energy as we know and then in heat homes it it provides electricity to this global surge and energy

demand. Well so explain something to me make the connect the dots here we've been seeing fuel prices

rising at the pump now we're exporting LNG which of course we can't pump into our vehicles for

the most part I mean I think some some vehicles do use LNG but for the most part so what's the

connection there why does this matter to say every day Texans oh I think it matters in a number

of different ways you know first and foremost you know LNG is about electricity you think about AI

you think about businesses you think about heating and cooling right you know you mentioned the price

at the pump you know that's sort of the movement of things in cars right but LNG and gas really gets

to powering prosperity power and innovation and really allowing society to run and so there's a

global demand for this for a very good reason and I think why it matters particularly to Texans is

because you know the gas that's liquefied in many many cases significant quantities is coming from

Texas so Texas is sort of where it starts and around the world when people turn their lights on

is where it ends um and this sort of has ripple effects too when it comes to our leverage on the

global stage beyond energy say more about that oh gosh 100% David I mean I'll just give you one

statistic in is recently is 2021 Germany was importing more than 50% of its gas from where from

Russia right that all changed in March of 2022 obviously uh with the Russian invasion of the

Ukraine right and Germany said we need to find another supplier right the U.S. is

increasingly sort of stepping into that position with Europe with Asia now it's it's a contested

marketplace for sure that's why cases like the venture global cases so interesting but it's a

contested marketplace and I think the U.S. policy makers you know over the last 10 years have

really realized that energy can be a tool energy diplomacy is something real what was this dispute

about I mean it's not every day that uh decision in a courtroom in New York City you know has

the kind of impact that that this one did and what was it the heart of this it really gets down to

liquefied natural gas contracts um and it really gets down to kind of innovation and what venture

global brought to the table which is different um so I'm happy to just maybe take a step back and

just kind of unpack for sure how does venture global do it and and the reason is innovation liquid

venture global came up with a faster way to get liquefied natural gas to the market the liquefcation

process happens at facilities that prior to venture global would take a long time to put together

years because basically the companies that were liquefied natural gas before venture global came

on the scene would wait until the entire facility was done could take a decade and then they

would start producing they would build the facility on site as I point out in the real clear markets

piece venture global uh has a you know Lego leg model where they're piecing together the

facility in a factory off site and they're assembling it this Lego leg modular approach allows

venture global to start producing much earlier maybe not at the at the same quantity of a

facility that's fully done but they can start producing sooner and getting energy onto the market

so that construct that innovation really allowed venture global to start producing and to get gas

sooner um now you're probably wondering what does this have to do with the contract dispute

with Shell and other global super majors when uh venture global went to the market with this new

strategy they have venture global was very clear and this is before the Russian invasion of

Ukraine when gas prices went way up venture global is very clear that until the facility was

completely operational right and again they're going to produce earlier but the facilities not

going to be fully done until all the pieces are together right they could sell energy on the spot

market their contract partners Shell and others were fine with this arrangement never complained

and then all of a sudden the Russian tanks rolled into the Ukraine gas prices shot up and now all

the sudden the global super majors had a problem well venture global was supplying the world at a tough

time so the global super majors saw a competitor sort of rising out of nowhere it sounds like

right that's exactly it that was getting gas to the market faster in a time of global need right

the spot prices went up after Russian invaded the Ukraine for the same reason the spot prices have

gone up recently because of the global turmoil and people need gas in times of global turmoil and

it's better to have more supply from places like Texas at a time of global turmoil you think about

though the externalities sort of this the social benefits of this and I think a lot of people talk

about well this will get this will get a handful of people rich at venture global well what's the

impact writ large for the state's economy if if there is a way to quantify that or maybe even

define that in some way I think about it in terms of the consumers and the desire among individuals

across the developing world for you know for more food for more jobs for more innovation for more

factories right all of that takes energy and the more affordable that energy is the more the world

can continue to prosper and develop right so there's clearly a major impact in terms of the

local economy Michael Toth's very interesting piece on all this appears at realclear markets.com

we'll link to it at texasstandard.org we encourage you to check it out he's research director at

the Syphotos Institute here at University of Texas at Austin Michael thanks so much for stopping by

it's my pleasure David thank you for having me hey what's cooking make sure to join us as we

check in with texas's top taco journalists to hear about the latest innovation stories

and the people behind many of texas favorite go-to it's Mondo Rio with the Tacos of Texas

next Thursday on the Texas Standard support for Tacos of Texas comes from HEV

from the Texas Newsroom I'm Matt Harrah governor Greg Abbott is expected to speak today at the

annual conservative political action conference in grapevine Abbott will share the stage with

Republican Senator Brian Hughes the Texas Newsroom's plays Gainey reports Texas attorney general Ken

Paxton is also part of the lineup the late edition of the Texas governor to the schedule makes him

the third Republican seeking a statewide office in Texas this year that'll be featured

at the influential event Abbott is seeking a fourth term as governor he'll take the stage with

Hughes for a session titled welcome to Texas Ken Paxton is expected to speak at a ticketed

dinner event Friday night CPAC says they invited his U.S. Senate runoff opponent and come at

Senator John Corden but he declined saying he would need to stay in DC to help pass the safe

America act on blaze Gainey in grapevine the carst canyon preserve in haze county will open

today as a protected nature preserve the 175 acre area was previously set for residential

development KUT's Lee Walden has the details in place of what could have been hundreds of homes the

carst canyon preserve will offer more than two miles of trails and wilderness caroflock is a

director of the haze county parks department he says the preserve is more than just a place for

recreation the site sits above an array of caves and other underground features including the

counties aquifers what we're doing is we're protecting that underground world while at the same time

creating a direct pathway or conduit for water to get from the surface underground and ultimately

into our aquifers where we desperately need it besides safeguarding the aquifer the site will

also protect several endangered species including the golden-cheeked worbler and the Fernbank

from haze county i'm Lee Walden the u.s postal service wants to temporarily raise prices on

some services our steve short has those details the postal service filed and noticed this week

with the postal regulatory commission or PRC regarding a time-limited price change due to rising

transportation costs the planned price change is an 8 percent increase that would affect base

postage prices on services like priority mail express priority mail usps ground advantage and

parcel select and both Texas teams in the NCAA men's basketball tournament have been eliminated the

University of Texas and the University of Houston both made it to the sweet 16 but could not advance

further meanwhile on the women's bracket TCU and the University of Texas are the only Texas teams

still competing they will take to the court tomorrow i'm mad here in the Texas newsroom

you're listening to statewide news from public radio stations across Texas this coverage is

only possible because of support from listeners like you you can help sustain and grow Texas

news coverage by donating to your local public radio station today 33 minutes past the hour

Texas standard time i'm Laura Rice as we've been following the growing water crisis in Corpus

Christie other parts of the state are facing their own issues with water insecurity and central

Texas's Hayes County ongoing drought has depleted aquifer levels to historic lows threatening a

major source of drinking water alongside now familiar water restrictions KUT's Lee Walden reports

some Hayes County residents are having new or more severe issues with their once reliable

wells radiance is a small rural community in northwestern Hayes it's got small town charm

a neighborhood where you can reliably enlist help to find a lost dog or count on a wave while

you're driving Madeline Brock has lived there for decades everybody is interested in community living

and so we pretty much know all of our neighbors radiance like most of Hayes County has been living

with drought restrictions on and off for years but their well was steady and reliable that was of

course until early last year then it just started we had less and less water coming from that well

and finally at the end of January 2025 it it just it was not pumping anymore after the well

dried up residents had to use an old well it had been out of commission for years because of

contamination that made it unsafe to drink that retired well was the neighborhood's only source of

water they had to boil the water before drinking it they lived like that from February to September

of last year it was a long haul for everybody yeah the health of wells isn't just a concern for

radiance all over Hayes County wells are struggling to provide water as aquifer levels get lower

that's been keeping well drillers and servicers busy not only doing routine well care but also

solving problems that have been exacerbated by the drought well maintenance is time consuming

delicate work around 20 miles southeast of radiance in Buda Matthew Taylor and Vanna Welch

stand near the tailgate of their truck it's decked out with all the equipment needed to service

tools that look like giant metal rabbits ears wrenches so big they come up to a grown man's waste

a huge spool of electrical wire growing out of the back of the truck is a 40-foot tall arm

that draws the pieces of the well up section by section today Taylor and Welch are working on a

pump replacement this well is in good shape the men work together to bring up the old pump

replace the old electrical line lower a new pump and reattach each piece of the pipe leading down

the well Jared Thompson owns the well doctor the company working on this well he's been in the

water game so long that he can guesstimate what the water level in this area used to be

a used to probably be around a hundred feet that is the water was about a hundred feet below the

ground and so then they could have the pump set at 200 feet and have plenty of water the pump would

be a hundred feet below the water level but the water level has dropped what you say the water level

was 190 190 and so then there would be sucking air at momentarily while they were running water

so at that point if they knew that then we could just simply lower it down an extra 100 feet

Thompson says beauty wells by and large are pretty healthy right now but wells near dripping

springs aren't doing so hot that's where we really see the water level drop consistently

Thompson and his crew are replacing or lowering more and more wells throughout the county the last

major drought that hit Hayes from 2008 to 2014 kept Thompson's company busy they were lowering pumps

almost every day and some wells needed to be dug even deeper now he says some of those deeper

wells are going dry these days and re drilling costs a lot it could be around 75,000 to get a

re drilled and all new equipment into it so it's quite expensive a lot of owning and maintaining a

well is expensive even the pump replacement Taylor and Welch are doing in Buda is a $7500 or

deal most home insurance doesn't cover wells the ratings neighborhood had to take out a loan for

$40,000 to restore water to their community there's another five to $10,000 for testing

and monitoring on top of that all split between the 40 or so homes you know everybody's going to

see that burden a little bit financially our tour of Rivera lives in radiance and he says that

this is a stressful expense for some of the neighborhood in order to basically provide water

in this state of the drought we had to spend a lot of money to feel secure in our water source

it doesn't look like the situation is getting better anytime soon the Hayes Trinity

Groundwater Conservation District says aquifer and river conditions have not been this bad

in the more than 20 year history of the district including the 2011 drought every one of the

districts monitored wells are below historic levels it would take 34 inches of rain in the

next six months to pull the region out of drought the conservation district estimates there's

less than a 1% chance of that happening meanwhile Hayes County has launched a countywide study to

plan for future water needs this will give local governments updated water data and information

for the first time since 2011 but for now in neighborhoods like radiance the impacts of the water

crisis are already deeply felt and not resolved it's just going to be a bit of a steep hill of the

climate and it's not like it's going to be solved today or tomorrow but we have to plan for the

future from Hayes County I'm Lee Walden

Support comes from Wise an app for international people using money around the globe

allowing users to send spend and receive an up to 40 currencies with a few simple tabs

information at wise.com terms and conditions apply it's the Texas standard I'm Laura Rice

Texas State Police and ICE agents conducted an immigration sweep in East Austin last summer

that resulted in the detention of five workers near a construction site the arrests sparked

anger from immigration rights groups and raised questions about due process and police tactics

now the Texas newsroom has obtained police dash and body cam video of the incident and they

shed some light on how police and federal agents use traffic stops to pull people into deportation

proceedings the videos also reveal DPS agents breaking state policy on wearing face masks

the TTN's Mohs Bouchel has more as part of Texas standards monthly investigative series The Drill Down

I'm sorry I'm on your ears because we've got to go early in the morning of July 31st

state trooper Ricky Cotto was watching traffic on Pleasant Valley Road in East Austin when he spotted

Gaurier Martinez Segura driving a white Chevy van to a drywall job Cotto later said the van's

front license plate looked out of place driver can you hear me can you pull forward we're kind of

blocking the road within about 11 minutes of being stopped Martinez Segura and the four other

occupants of the van were in handcuffs and turned over to ICE during the time in between the

videos show Cotto treating the encounter like a normal traffic stop with Martinez Segura well back

in his police car I need somebody at my location right away I got a van with four to five

he was requesting backup and planning how to detain the men over his radio

so the right side of the vehicle is accessible to the fence that leads into the work site so when

we come up we got to block it when more officers arrive some wearing ski masks or other face coverings

their vests bear the markings of state DPS agents ICE and ATF after the men from the van are taken

away the recordings show officers dealing with paperwork like the traffic citation I need a

physical copy for ICE and I did give ICE copy all you did won't get you this copy too

congratulating each other on the operation at one point Cotto calls it a jackpot and explains

how he pulled the men over and interacting with the public at the very end construction worker

asked Cotto if he was the one who reported the men to ICE you call ICE yes to which the

trooper replies highway patrol don't stop anybody except for traffic violations I got nothing to do

with the other stuff but a statement provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety contradicts

that it says that Cotto was working with a homeland security strike team when he pulled the men

over and that quote during the stop the trooper was unable to verify the identity of the driver

through DPS databases so they contacted HSI HSI is Homeland Security Investigations a division of ICE

what is so interesting about this particular video is the exact same types of collaboration that

we used to see along the border has now moved to the interior Kristen Eder is policy director for the

Texas immigration law counsel one of the experts we asked to review the videos she says they highlight

the speed and relative quietness of these operations in states like Texas where local and state police

partner with ICE agents so one out of every four immigration apprehensions in the country is

happening in Texas so while we might not have the big kind of occupations that we see in Minneapolis

Chicago LA we are doing that type of disappearance at a much larger scale in a very quiet way

Ian Adams a former police officer and professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina

said the video show an almost textbook example of cross agency partnerships including the close

communication between agencies the speedy arrival of backup the preoccupation with paperwork and

even the officers celebratory tone after the arrests what comes to mind is for example

fugitive task forces both Adams and Eder said some of the police tactics on display might surprise

the general public but are actually pretty standard practice from the use of what's called pretextual

traffic stops pretextual stops just means I'm going to stop somebody for a violation I've

actually observed and maybe I'll also keep my eyes out for you know other suspicious or possibly

criminal activities to an officer allowing a suspect to believe the stop was about one thing

when it's really about something else all law enforcement including state and federal

law enforcement officers are allowed to use trickery lies and deceit to gain cooperation confessions

admissions in response to emailed questions Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson

Sheridan Nolan wrote that the operation last year was part of a state and federal partnership

that is making our state safer though Kristen Eder notes none of the men arrested were charged

with criminal offenses the DPS declined an interview request with state trooper Ricky Cotto Cotto

did not wear a mask during the operation but some state police agents did when emailed about the

agent's face masks Nolan replied that it is not DPS practice to conceal identities and the use of

face concealing mass by criminal investigations divisions special agents as shown in the video

is specifically prohibited he wrote that each agent will be counseled and their chain of command

will be making it clear face coverings should not be worn on duty unless for reasons outlined in

policy again Ian Adams when the police start believing the policing needs to be hidden that sort of

attacked the trust the community can have I think professionally a lot of officers themselves

have concerns about it because it reads as uncorragious the operation documented in these videos

did not involve the city of Austin police department but the videos are coming out as Austin

announces new policies over how to manage city officers interactions with ice and Austin City Council

considers new rules banning all law enforcement from using face coverings while in the city for

Austinites and other Texans in cities that oppose the ice surge these videos are a reminder that

regardless of local policy state police have been in power to enforce immigration law anywhere in

Texas in fact in the months since these arrests they've been given greater powers to make immigration

apprehensions again Kristen etter it's safe to assume that anytime law enforcement is involved there

is a risk of immigration detention one unanswered question is what happened to the men detained

that day where nationality was included in the arrest records the men were listed as being from

Mexico ice did not respond to repeated requests for information Austin immigrant advocacy groups

and the Mexican Consulate in Austin said they had no information but there is some indication the

men may have been removed from the country federal records made available by the deportation data

project show that five men with Mexican citizenship were booked into an ice holding room in Austin

at 10 a.m. on the same morning that the east Austin operation took place while the records do not

include names they indicate that all five of them were ultimately deported for the Texas newsroom

i'm mosebushel that story was part of our drill down series a monthly reporting project highlighting

the investigative journalism coming out of the Texas newsroom is there something you think we

should cover send us an email to tips at k ut dot org you can read more about this story and find

our past drill down segments at texas standard dot org we're coming up on 49 minutes past the

hour the week in Texas politics and the talk of Texas is up next on the Texas standard stay with us

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hi my name is likoal foots i'm with the typewriter rodeo and we type poems on the spot on vintage

typewriters crunch i could hear it my knees made its presence known i couldn't ignore the

crunch as i took a step into the unknown i tried to hide the chagrin why we approach new horizons

with embarrassment how i could possibly behold a new site and not be appreciative of my discerning

eye the view itself got caught in my chest i'd been here before a time way back when

perhaps that's the greatest youthful lament to never truly understand the beauty at our

fingertips until like the sands of time we fill it slip be gentle then indulge my friend

you didn't know what you didn't know this is the oldest and wisest you've ever been

and you'll never be this young again this is likoal foots and you're listening to the Texas standard

typewriter rodeos part of our friday lineup here on the Texas standard but any old day of the

week you can reach out with your suggestions and ideas texas standard dot o rg that's where you do it

friday's also the day we break down the week in texas politics and a story getting the lion's

share of attention this week texas house speaker Dustin burrows revealed his priorities for the next

legislative session joining us as he does most friday's jasper share a politics editor for the

texas tribune jasper welcome back thanks for having me there's a fancy name for this they call it

interim charges how important is it that Dustin burrows the speaker the house comes out with these

priorities do his priorities take precedence over everything else yeah i mean i think the answer is

yes you know that he's in charge of one of the two chambers in the legislature with

dan patrick lieutenant governor overseeing the senate you know that being the other chamber

it's kind of our first peak behind the the curtain about like what these two important leaders are

you know they're kind of setting the tone setting the agenda for what we should expect for the 20

27 session agenda setting yeah i like that uh that's nicely put okay well let's pull back then what

seems to be his agenda and i guess uh with this could we say that this reflects texas republicans

agenda in the upcoming session is that fair i think so yeah there is it was kind of all over

the place as these things tend to be um but you know there were there were some familiar faces on

here like property tax relief you know that's been a hot topic for several sessions now and burrows

was instructing the the tax cutting committee to continue looking at ways to do that so that'll be

a huge issue next session um another issue that he uh mentioned was data centers and he

wanted a couple different committees to look at um ways of cutting regulations to speed up like

getting along with that yeah exactly but also looking at um the water guzzling usage that they've

uh that they've right there have been a few there were a few other you know kind of red meat like

hot bun social issues um he wanted the the house judiciary committee to look at um sharia law

and just making sure that that's not you know spreading across the land which has been a

a hot bun issue in republican politics but i kind of ask about something else that i heard about

he has a proposal to absorb a few of new mexico's counties into texas is this like a trump move

make canada 51st date or something i mean is it because it echoes yeah i should have mentioned

that one off the jump that that was kind of the most eye popping item on on the list but

basically burrows is telling this uh one of the committees to look at the implications of adding

one or more contiguous counties out of new mexico and the context here is that uh the new mexico

legislature had a bill to allow counties to band together um you know on the eastern side of

new exico and join texas if they wanted that bill went nowhere but it's it's fun to speculate so

we'll see if that actually goes anywhere yeah it's interesting to see how serious that might turn out

to be jasper share or politics editor for the texas tribune will link to these stories and more

texas standard dot o r g jasper thanks so much have a great weekend you two david thanks for having

me and you are listening to the texas standard

we ask what you think about ice agents stepping in at airports alongside the tsa and your responses

well they tell the story all by themselves i'm well done bar with the texas standard

Ian smith starts us off with a kind of pragmatic take i don't think anyone has seriously accused

the tsa of doing a job that's unlearnable he says i welcome anything that assists the traveling

public and getting to their destinations but not everyone sees efficiency some see the opposite

john b sanford writes the images i see on the news show them all hanging out together and shooting

the breeze they don't seem like they have much to do what a waste of tax payers dollars

then there's the frustration over who's working and who's getting paid it's worth taking a step

back here for a second the whole reason this is happening it's because the white house won't

accept a bill that funds homeland security without funding for ice democrats want some restrictions

on the agency before they agreed to funding but offered to fund the rest of homeland security

including tsa but that agreement it doesn't work for congressional republicans in thrall to trump

it makes for a pretty wild dynamic at the nation's airports as robin rickshaw says i feel sorry

for tsa agents having to work for no pay with ice agents standing around and being paid

lissa hattersley takes that idea one step further writing ice doesn't appear to be doing much

anything it just seems away for trump to have them deployed it poles for the elections and we've

heard that sentiment from several folks for many of them this isn't just about airports it's about

power and normalizing folks to the presence of ice k k rogers puts it bluntly pointing to the fact

that this idea originated out of the white house k rights trump wants to federalize everything he

wants total control and others are looking down the road imagining what else this could lead to

john neelson writes a normalization of ice appearing at travel hubs could be a precursor to anything

like the establishment of highway identity checkpoints rebekah segalof questions the premise

entirely ice isn't being trained to do their actual job efficiently or safely she writes why would

anyone else believe they're trying to do the tsa's job they're just there to intimidate

and then there's this from robin this is all part of a plan to get people used to a military

or police presence everywhere next it could be voting areas scaring people away from the polls

so from welcome help to wasted money from short term fixes to long term fears a lot of you aren't

just reacting to what's happening in airports right now you're asking what it means for everything

that comes next and then there's Dennis Novak landing the plane here with a bit of dry humor

don't the airlines stock the iceer i'm well done bar and this is the talk of texas

we've uh we're out of time for the big broadcast holy smokes uh yeah uh but uh we're going to be

talking about a very big story that's on a lot of folks minds on the next edition of the standard

many folks not realizing the full extent of the fuel shortages that may be coming soon according

to Matt Smith our go-to energy expert we're going to be back here on monday we hope you'll have a

wonderful weekend in the meantime talk to them filanthropic support for texas standard comes from

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