Shedding a light on ICE and DPS tactics in Austin

0:00Support comes from Wise, an app for international people using money around the globe, allowing users to send, spend, and receive, and up to 40 currencies with a few simple tabs. Information at Wise.com, terms and conditions apply. Texas Standard is a production of KUT Austin, K-E-R-A North Texas, Houston Public Media, and Texas Public Radio in San Antonio, with support from CASA, 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

1:03deportation 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.

2:03What'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.

3:04Tell 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

4:05on 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

5:10trial 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

6:10verdict 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

7:11that'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

8:15want 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

9:19that 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

10:24where 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

11:28Houston 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

12:33window 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 support for Texas Standard comes from Texas Mutual Insurance Company a workers compensation provider committed to helping Texas communities and emphasizing safety more at texasmutual.com slash Texans get it support comes from wise an app for international people using money around the globe

13:47allowing 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 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

14:49for 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

15:51venture 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

16:52you 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

17:55Ukraine 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

18:58process 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

20:01with 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

21:01the 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

22:03local 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

23:06Republican 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

24:11director 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

25:12parcel 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

26:17major 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

27:17dried 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

28:18a 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

29:22so 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

30:23and 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

31:29crisis 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

32:34now 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

33:34occupants 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

34:45asked 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

35:50the 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

36:56traffic 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

38:00agent'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

39:01Austinites 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

40:06include 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 support for Texas standard comes from h e b and the my h e b app which is available for download and shopping fresh departments like seafood produce bakery and deli and scheduling curbside pickup or home delivery more at h e b dot com

41:11support 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 taps information at wise dot com terms and conditions apply 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

42:11fingertips 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

43:14priorities 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

44:17was 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

45:19make 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

46:25well 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

47:32it 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

48:33entirely 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

49:38many 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 casey and scotto hair the winklet family foundation lindopson and greg walteridge adrien kill him and the george huntington family would your company or organization might be a sponsor as well contact your local station for opportunities within your community for state wide sponsorships use it texas public media network dot com you've been listening to the texas standard texas standard and k ut public radio are members of the npr network it's an independent coalition of public media podcasters you can find a lot more great content and shows like the texas standard and the npr network available wherever you listen

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