WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.519 Hello, and welcome to the Texas Tribune trip Cast for 2 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.080 April twenty first, twenty twenty six. My name is Matthew Watkins, 3 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:18.239 editor in chief of the Texas Tribune, and my co 4 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:22.399 host Eleanor is on assignment taking a nap. I'm not 5 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:26.039 entirely sure by some hotel room. Yeah, just lounging. No, 6 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:28.160 she's an assignment in North Texas and she'll be back 7 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:30.839 next week. So this week I am joined by our 8 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:34.840 politics reporter al Hunter Serrano. Hello, Aleandro, And I'm joined 9 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:38.520 by Houston Chronicle City hall reporter Abby Church. Hi, Abby, 10 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:39.399 thanks for joining us. 11 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:40.840 Thank you so much for having me. 12 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.840 Happy to see you guys, Yeah, great to have you. Today. 13 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:47.039 We're talking about the latest iteration of Greg Abbot versus 14 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:51.880 Texas Citi's, you know, a common fight in Texas, and 15 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:55.679 this time the fight is over police department's cooperation with ICE. 16 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.280 Last week, Abbot threatened to hold two hundred million dollars 17 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:03.479 in state fund for Austin, Dallas, and Houston back from 18 00:01:03.479 --> 00:01:06.439 those cities over his allegations that were breaking state law 19 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:10.959 by not cooperating with ICE. The cities are having varied responses. 20 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:14.159 It seems like maybe today Abby, we will hear from 21 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:17.359 Houston about whether it's going to change its policies, but 22 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:19.680 we're going to sort of just break this down a 23 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.400 little bit and talk about what's happening. Abby. I want 24 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:25.959 to start with you. Could you just like explain for 25 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:30.879 us what the policy is right now in Houston in 26 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:33.280 terms of working with ice and how if it all 27 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:36.239 has that sort of shifted over the last you know, 28 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:37.319 few weeks. 29 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:40.040 All right, so about it was a couple of weeks 30 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:44.000 ago now, But the Whitmyer administration, Mary John Whitmyer, he's 31 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:46.200 our mayor. He used to be a senator for the 32 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:51.120 last like fifty years. But he introduced this policy that 33 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:56.760 would require ice. Goodness, sorry, my brain. It would require 34 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.319 Houston police officers to wait on scene for thirty minus 35 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:03.879 for immigration officials to come to the scene when there's 36 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:08.080 an administrative hit through the NCIC system when cops are 37 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:12.479 pulling someone over. And that policy was quickly undone by 38 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:15.159 a proposal that was brought forward by a trio of 39 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:18.520 council members under Proposition A. As you two, you probably know, 40 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:21.560 Houston has a strong mayor system, but voters passed a 41 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:25.199 charter amendment in twenty twenty three that allows council members 42 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:27.280 a little bit more power in putting policy on the 43 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:30.759 agenda and getting that passed. So effectively, what that policy 44 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:33.560 did when the council members passed it was eliminate that 45 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:38.080 thirty minute requirement and basically reinstated all of the Fourth 46 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:41.639 Amendment requirements by federal law essentially. 47 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:45.360 Okay, And this decision by Whitmyer to impose this policy, 48 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:48.560 this thirty minute policy, what did he say about that 49 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:49.080 at the time? 50 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:53.039 Uh, you know, he Oh goodness, I can't remember off 51 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:55.560 the top of my head. I was not the one 52 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:57.759 at that presser. It was my colleague Matt to grud 53 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:00.879 But I mean they had basically an introduce set policy 54 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:04.000 at a time after the Houston Chronicle had reported that 55 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:10.360 two people were handed over to ice officials by police officers, 56 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:13.680 which is obviously a shock to everybody. And I mean 57 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.159 the way that they approached it, it was basically something 58 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:19.120 that needed to happen, is what they said at the time. 59 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:21.879 Gotcha. And the pushback I assume is, you know, there 60 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.719 is a lot of you know, Texas's big cities lean 61 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:26.680 a little bit more blue than the rest of the state. 62 00:03:26.759 --> 00:03:30.199 There's a lot of concern among voters, people you know, 63 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:33.400 in the Democratic Party on the left side of the 64 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:36.639 political spectrum about you know, what Ice is doing out there. 65 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:40.159 This was essentially like a pushback by those members from 66 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:43.159 you know, feeling as though, you know, a city like 67 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:47.039 Houston should not be participating. Do I have that right, Yeah? 68 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:48.800 I mean I think some of it is that. I mean, 69 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.599 naturally you have that with the blue cities versus the 70 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.319 red state leadership. But I like, I think what a 71 00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:57.240 lot of this comes down to too. I mean a 72 00:03:57.240 --> 00:03:59.719 lot of it's really confusing, right because you have other 73 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:02.759 city across the state, other large cities that have passed 74 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:05.560 similar policies, but just did it in a slightly different 75 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:08.879 way than Houston did. So when you're looking at Austin 76 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:11.439 and Dallas, what they did was not necessarily take this 77 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:13.719 to the public and have the council members vote on 78 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:17.199 it in public. They did general orders through their police department, 79 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.480 so it was a little bit more under the radar. 80 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:23.199 So the way that Houston handled this was a little 81 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:25.399 bit more public, a little bit more out there, and 82 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.800 I think that is what caused a little bit more 83 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.360 attention on Houston and why the hammer fell on Houston 84 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:33.759 a little bit sooner than it did other cities that 85 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:36.199 had past policies that were that went a little bit 86 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.600 farther than Houston's. 87 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:43.279 Oh Hunter, Governor Abbot argues that this violates sbfore the 88 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:46.879 twenty seventeen version of SB four tell us a little 89 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:47.800 bit about that law. 90 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:52.279 We have two very controversial immigration related s before. Yeah, 91 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:54.560 I mean this is before it was called the sanctuary 92 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:58.480 city ban. And it's interesting that we're at this point now. 93 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:02.360 We consider the federal politics as well, because Senator Charles 94 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.720 Perry had tried to pass this ban going back twenty 95 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.079 eleven and it had repeatedly failed, and he pretty much 96 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:11.079 didn't want locals, whether it's a city council or police 97 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.680 department or campus police department, to tell officers, hey, don't 98 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:16.800 work with ice. And it was kind of like in 99 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:19.959 a stude observation on the Senator because it obviously became 100 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.279 a big tool for locales around the country when President 101 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:27.839 Trump was first elected, and it kind of was local 102 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:31.199 governments kind of became the source of the resistance quote unquote. Well, 103 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:33.800 in twenty seventeen, this law passes and it says that 104 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:38.199 locals can't limit cooperation with ICE, and it's kind of 105 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:41.439 goes through a legal battle, and ultimately the understanding is 106 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:44.639 that you can't tell officers, hey, you're not allowed to 107 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:47.000 ask people about immigration status, which is kind of like 108 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.519 the bare minimum, you know. You also they can't you know, 109 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:54.879 they can't add bureaucracy, they can't limit the actual cooperation 110 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:56.959 with ICE, you know, whether it's detainers or what have you, 111 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:02.279 and it kind of goes untested. Was this big legal challenge, 112 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:05.600 as I mentioned, resolved eventually and then there's never really 113 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:09.319 any hoopla until now. And it was kind of like 114 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:11.480 one of the big questions. I remember when the president 115 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:14.720 was first elected. We did a story the Immigration Reporter 116 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:16.920 and I about kind of like, well, how our local 117 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:20.439 government's gonna respond, And no one really wanted to draw 118 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:22.720 the wrath of either Austin or the White House. But 119 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:23.680 here we are. 120 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:26.399 Now, right, Yeah, I want to talk about that sort 121 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:28.079 of political dynamic here in a little bit. But let's 122 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:30.079 talk a little bit about just the impact of pulling 123 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:33.079 these funds. First, Abbot has made the threat against Houston. 124 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:35.480 I believe it's around one hundred and ten million dollars 125 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:36.720 in grants, one hundred. 126 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:39.240 And fourteen million dollars. Actually Land sold it a little bit, 127 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:40.040 Yeah you. 128 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:43.199 Thank you, Austin a much smaller amount. I think around 129 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:46.000 like two point five million Dallas thirty two million dollars 130 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.079 in grants plus public safety funding for the World Cup, 131 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:51.480 which is of course happening in the DFW area soon. 132 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:54.920 That amount is fifty five million for the World Cup funding. 133 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:57.920 What is this money supposed to do? And how does 134 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:01.040 Abbot have the ability to pull it back or does he? 135 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:01.720 Yeah? 136 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:04.040 I think Abby, you might also understand, like the weeds 137 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:07.120 a little more. But in particular with Houston, the Governor's 138 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:09.959 office has a sub office called the Public Safety Office, 139 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.839 and they administer a bunch of grants to government's up 140 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:18.600 and down the state, and they fund all sorts of 141 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:23.600 things for local police departments. And in this case, Mayor 142 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:26.279 wit Meyer is saying it's going to affect FIFA planning 143 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:28.560 and safety. But Abby, I don't know if you know 144 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:30.120 a little more details. 145 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.800 Yeah, yeah, I do. So Basically, we're kind of in 146 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.120 the same situation as Dallas with that FIFA money, but 147 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.959 the city was awarded around sixty five million dollars to 148 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:44.720 cover FIFA security and basically what that's going toward in Houston, 149 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:47.439 we have a really big problem with overtime over at 150 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.639 the police Department and the fire department and solid waste. 151 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:54.240 But when you're looking about at World Cup and how 152 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:57.000 that's going to impact the police department when you already 153 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:00.000 have a problem with overtime, this sixty five million dollars 154 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:03.160 in particular was going to be very instrumental to helping 155 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.319 the city not further itself into the budget hole that 156 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:10.199 it's already kind of found itself in. But yeah, I mean, 157 00:08:10.279 --> 00:08:13.680 like officials over here are kind of the inquitment impossible 158 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:17.759 situation if I'm being honest, Like you have people being 159 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.040 asked like, Okay, are you going to stick with this 160 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:23.959 policy or are we going to risk losing one hundred 161 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:27.040 and fourteen million dollars when the city doesn't have that 162 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:31.000 financial wherewithal to even replace it if they did lose it. 163 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:32.600 You know. So there's so many things that are going 164 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:37.000 to go unfunded, and that includes things like protection for 165 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:42.240 people who are victims of domestic violence. That includes things 166 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:46.679 for like street gang grants. So they have a couple 167 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:48.279 of different things, but it's a lot of things that 168 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:50.559 are like really out in the committee community that are 169 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:53.000 going to affect people who are also victims of crime. 170 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:57.480 So what is Witmeyer saying? Now, how did he respond 171 00:08:57.480 --> 00:08:58.919 to this threat? 172 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:02.799 So basically it's been a little bit of a back 173 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.440 and forth. But as soon as this threat came out, 174 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.960 he talked to a couple of reporters and he was 175 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:11.159 of the opinion that the policy needed to be corrected. 176 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.159 He turned it back on the council members who put 177 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.639 forward the proposal, and he basically said that he had 178 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:19.799 warmed them of the ramifications that the state could get involved. 179 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:23.559 And since then it has just been a back and 180 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.360 forth of Okay, what exactly are we going to do. 181 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:28.440 But all of this has been a little confounding to 182 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:33.159 some people because what Myer initially voted to support the proposal, 183 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:35.840 right because he said that it made a statement that 184 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:38.480 they were listening to the community and following through on 185 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:39.480 their concerns. 186 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:42.440 I'll just note here, Abby, you don't have to comment 187 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.360 on this if you don't want to, but of course 188 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:46.840 you mentioned said to a couple of reporters, worth noting 189 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:50.240 that mayor Withitmeyra refusing to talk to the biggest newspaper 190 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:55.399 in the city. Disappointing decision by the mayor there. 191 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:57.519 Yeah, it's been some time, right, Abby. 192 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:02.039 Yeah, yeah, so his has not talked to us since 193 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:06.480 August twenty twenty five. But I know he'll answer questions 194 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:10.159 sometimes just on the fly, like if there how am 195 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:13.919 I going to say this? He'll sometimes answer questions on 196 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:17.120 the fly from the chronicle if it's kind of just 197 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:19.600 like on the spot. And that was basically the situation 198 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:22.639 that one of our reporters was in when he was 199 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:24.960 able to get that quote from the mayor about how 200 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.399 the only legal opinion that mattered was the governor's. I 201 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:29.879 know that quote in and of itself drove a lot 202 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:33.279 of the news last week, But yeah, one of our 203 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:36.159 reporters just happened to be in the right place at 204 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:39.240 the right time, and they were doing a press conference 205 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:41.600 ahead of FIFA. I know, we're gonna be hosting around 206 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:44.840 seven World Cup games, but it was about human trafficking, 207 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:47.000 and of course he got the opportunity to ask a 208 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:48.879 couple of questions and we were able to get that. 209 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:52.320 But yeah, that's that's the situation. But yeah, no, it's 210 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:57.480 definitely been hard covering the administration without having the administration 211 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:01.440 be able to comment on things since August's real quick. 212 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:04.159 I mean it's a testament to Jabby's reporting her colleagues. 213 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.120 A proud Houston Chronicle alum, but especially like the police coverage, 214 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:10.679 this issue has been bubbling for months and months before 215 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:13.799 it reached this point, and just slow trickle revelations of 216 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:17.000 how HPD was cooperating, even as the Whitmyer insisted that 217 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:18.120 the department. 218 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:21.639 Wasn't absolutely absolutely. So you mentioned the the sort of 219 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.799 awkward political position that these mayors find that that's one 220 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:27.200 word for it. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it's 221 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:29.720 not lost under me. I've always found it fascinating that 222 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:33.200 these three cities, three of the four five biggest cities 223 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:35.399 in the state, they all have like a little bit 224 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:38.679 something in common, which is they all have former legislators 225 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:44.159 representing them. Uh. And also like kind of were lifted 226 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:48.039 to power despite being Democrats by like, you know, at 227 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:51.559 least with in addition to other support, the support from 228 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:55.279 more people representing the political right, I know, like you 229 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:59.200 talked about Whitmeyer. Eric Johnson has since become a Republican 230 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:03.080 since being elect to mayor of Dallas, Kirk Watson and 231 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:06.279 Austin was a member of the Senate. He has i 232 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.720 think taken great steps to not get into a big 233 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:12.960 fight with the state government, which obviously has a lot 234 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:15.240 of work to do, talk about just like this sort 235 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:17.720 of like it's interesting to me how this has sort 236 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:20.559 of played out where despite all of that, they're really 237 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:22.039 kind of feeling the heat right now. 238 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:25.919 Yeah, And it's interesting because in Dallas, at least my read, 239 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.080 you know, follow following the news, we don't report on this, 240 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:31.399 you know, day and day out. The police department's been 241 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:33.480 really vocal and like the Union two has kind of 242 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:37.799 supported the measures in believing that it's legal. And in Austin, 243 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:42.000 the mayor, in a low key way, disagreed with the governor. 244 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:44.639 He was like, we believe this CISTE and compliance with 245 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:47.600 Senate bill forr and federal law, and we think it's 246 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.720 just offering some clarity, what you know. According to some 247 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:55.320 some legal experts, they agree the way they read these ordinances, 248 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:58.679 they're kind of like very in the weeds about like 249 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:00.759 what you can do and can do. And obviously the 250 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:04.399 response in Houston, you know, another member of the Texas Senate, 251 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.559 between John Whitmyer and Kirk Watson, had a very different response. 252 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:11.000 So I think it just speaks to how there is 253 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:16.080 no no I guess playbook for this for Democrats and 254 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.559 even also like obviously think Republicans are also struggling with 255 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:20.519 this a bit, like how do you talk about immigration 256 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:21.080 right now? 257 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:24.720 Yeah, I feel like these mayors, these city councils have 258 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.679 to sort of make a decision about maybe they do 259 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:29.879 think they're in the right here, but how much do 260 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:32.759 they want to risk that right going to court? Obviously, 261 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:36.080 you know it's a all Republican elected Supreme Court that 262 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:40.000 might be inclined to see things more the Greg Abbott 263 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.200 way than the city's way. It would be a very 264 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:46.879 big risk financially to sort of say we're going to 265 00:13:46.919 --> 00:13:48.840 fight this, We're going to keep doing these policies that 266 00:13:48.919 --> 00:13:50.480 you've targeted. 267 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:53.080 Right, And I was trying to think of like comparable situations. 268 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:55.159 I mean, you might know covering the city, but I 269 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:58.320 mean maybe like Harvey funds, Like I don't know the 270 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:01.039 last time, like cities were like we disagree here and 271 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.559 we're gonna you know, entro ears long drawn out battle 272 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:06.279 with the school. 273 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:09.080 I don't I don't have a good example of the 274 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:12.120 year's long drawn out battle. I know, obviously, everything with 275 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:15.000 the GLO and Harvey funding. I know that was obviously 276 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:18.399 that is still ongoing basically. I mean, we're never going 277 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:21.039 to hear the end of that one. But the most 278 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:25.080 recent thing that I can think of was, I believe 279 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:29.240 it was in October, but the state cracked down pretty 280 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:34.559 heavily on Houston after We've had this rainbow crosswalk. It 281 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:38.080 was painted after there was a kid, a young man 282 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:41.879 who died at the intersection there over by LTMPO and Montrose. 283 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:46.360 But he they painted that crosswalk in honor of him. 284 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:49.600 And it has been painted over and repainted like a 285 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:52.240 whole bunch of different times, just due to road construction. 286 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:55.399 You know, Houston Roads very awful. You got to refill everything. 287 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:59.320 But yeah, so they repainted it, and the governor took 288 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:02.600 notice and and he put out this thing that said, 289 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:05.399 if anyone has political ideologies on their street, we're going 290 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:08.159 to take away tech stop funding. Right, So this is 291 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:12.200 something that Houston has faced, like just in the recent past, 292 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.279 you know what I mean. So, and that was something 293 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:17.200 where Houston also didn't choose to fight back, and they 294 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:20.879 also chose to just pave over that crosswalk, you know. 295 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:24.200 So to this day, there's no more rainbow in that intersection. 296 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:28.080 Yeah. Yeah, And then you look at Austin Watson, like 297 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.600 I said, seems very interested in not getting into a 298 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:32.519 big fight. It's a much smaller amount of money. But 299 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:34.440 you look at his quote after this happened, you know, 300 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.159 he says, talks about the great progress Austin has made 301 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.879 in public safety in recent years. He says, there's great 302 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:41.960 irony that the state would try to punish the city 303 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:45.919 for providing services that keep Austinite safe by threatening grants 304 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:50.120 that keep Austin safe. I mean, you know, that seemed 305 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.080 that read to me like a little bit of like 306 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.200 the most subtle dig possible to say, Like, weren't you 307 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.440 all talking about a few years ago, you know, defunding 308 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.039 the police and how that was the worst possible thing 309 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:02.600 that you could do in these cities. 310 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.879 No, And I think politically it kind of this this 311 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:09.159 must be a win for Democrats in Austin that they're 312 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.919 for once not the punching bag like that. Houston is 313 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:14.000 kind of like, I know, Houston's also often a punching bag, 314 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:16.720 But this could have gone a very different way, being 315 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:18.879 that often is kind of like in the crosshairs of 316 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:20.320 state leaders. 317 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:23.519 Often Abby, How is this playing out politically? On the 318 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.200 ground in Houston, Like, what about the pressure from the 319 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:27.960 other side is when. 320 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:31.240 My feeling that, you know, I think it's like a 321 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:34.279 kind of hard to tell. But he recently said in 322 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:36.919 an interview that, like his opinion is that this is 323 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:40.080 all about politics, right, Like, and if you really sit 324 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:42.120 back and look at it, I mean, I do think 325 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:44.279 there's a merit to what he's saying. You have Abbott 326 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:46.919 running a reelection campaign. You have it John Cornyan running 327 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.720 a reelection campaign against Ken Paxton, and that race is 328 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:53.840 obviously like very close and everything. So I mean, you 329 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:57.919 have all of these people on the Republican side basically 330 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:01.360 diving in trying to like make a difference here and 331 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.600 say like, oh this is wrong, this is right, you know. 332 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.000 So I definitely think that plays into it. But I 333 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:09.319 mean I think only time will tell, Like I mean, 334 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:11.319 they're going to be voting on this tomorrow to see 335 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:13.960 like how exactly this is going to go. I think 336 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:17.279 one thing that is really important here is that the 337 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:21.880 administration is now looking at simply amending that proposal. So 338 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.599 they're currently working on ironing out that language. We don't 339 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:26.519 really know what that is going to say yet, but 340 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.119 we're running right down to the wire here. So yeah, 341 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.200 weol know a little bit more tomorrow, so it stays tuned. 342 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:34.519 It's a leven I see the Clucks eleven fifty am 343 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:36.960 as we recorded this, and that language still has not 344 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:39.880 circulated or been posted officially. 345 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.440 Is there a deadline that these cities need to figure 346 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:43.920 this out by? 347 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:48.960 So Houston has until tomorrow to figure it out or 348 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:51.359 they have to pay back that one hundred and fourteen 349 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:52.279 million dollars. 350 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.079 Okay, okay, very good. 351 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:57.920 They originally had until Monday, but the Governor's office extended 352 00:17:57.920 --> 00:17:58.559 it to Wednesday. 353 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:06.559 Excellent. So, I uh, where does this go from here? 354 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:08.720 Do you think all jundra? I mean we mentioned that 355 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.480 Houston situation. I think Abbott kind of win after the 356 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:13.720 other two cities a little bit later. Are they they 357 00:18:13.720 --> 00:18:15.079 have a little bit more time to figure it out. 358 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:18.200 Are they signaling that they're going to do any changes here? Yeah? 359 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:22.480 I think it's interesting reading the tea lees from from 360 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:24.839 the Attorney General and the governor because it seems like 361 00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:28.680 they're not letting up on immigration and they're running statewide 362 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:33.119 campaigns and it's kind of become this radioactive issue. But 363 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:36.400 I don't see them backing down now. I think I 364 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:38.519 think either cities are going to reverse course or there 365 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:40.960 are going to be maybe like tinier battles. I don't 366 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:42.799 know if it's gonna end up being like a massive battle, 367 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:44.279 because I think I was a part of what's being 368 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:47.440 lost in the conversations, Like the actions these cities have 369 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.480 taken are kind of like lesser than what was happening, 370 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:53.319 you know during Trump one, where where cities were doing 371 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.960 much more drastic things in the name of like protecting 372 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:59.680 their undocumented residents. So I think that it's going to 373 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:02.000 be a man of some cities reversing course and some 374 00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:05.680 maybe entering these tiny battles and trying to find a compromise, 375 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:09.079 similar to like last year, there was this incident out 376 00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:12.400 of people remember kind of flew under the radar really 377 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.319 early in the Trump administration, the Attorney General accuse Dallas 378 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:19.359 of similarly violating this SPFORE and then put in a 379 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.920 bunch of records requests as his office does, and started investigating. 380 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:23.759 And then there was kind of like a quiet resolution 381 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:26.960 and then investigation went away. So I think it's gonna 382 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:27.960 be a mix of those things. 383 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:33.640 It's it's been. It's an interesting political dynamic for Abbott too. 384 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:35.680 I mean, I think he's given us no reason to 385 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.759 believe that he doesn't, since he isn't sincerely angry and 386 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:40.680 frustrated with these cities are doing it. There are a 387 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:43.480 lot of people in his party, probably him included, that 388 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.319 feel very strongly that these police departments should be cooperating 389 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:48.599 with ICE. But it has also, you know, been a 390 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:54.960 very effective strategy for Republicans in recent years to blast 391 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:59.359 Democrats for being soft domed immigration or you know, letting 392 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:02.319 crime run rampant in the streets, or however they might 393 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:05.440 want to frame it. But it's interesting because you know, 394 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:09.200 the political winds have felt like they've shifted a little bit, right. 395 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:11.839 Yeah, No, it's just this morning I was speaking with 396 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:14.759 our immigration editor and it's like, how like, if you're 397 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:15.960 a Republican R and I guess one of the big 398 00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:18.319 questions like, how do you talk about this because you 399 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:20.759 kind of don't know where voters stand after you know, 400 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:24.119 almost two years of the President's immigration cracked down, especially 401 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:26.319