Local Immigration Advocacy Groups Aim to Blunt Right-Wing Proposals at the Lege

In recent weeks, the powerful Texas Sen­ate Committee on Finance has focused much of its conversation on "border security." The anti-immigrant rhetoric has meant some Austin-based organizations are gearing up to play defense and push a handful of bills they see as useful to solving a humanitarian issue this session. Senators on the right are pressing Department of Public Safety and Texas Military Depart­ment officials on how they can empty out the treasure chest for efforts like Operation Lone Star, a border wall, and continued busing of migrants to sanctuary cities. "Moving people out of the state, while it's been expensive, it's better than just ignoring it," said Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, during a hearing. "I probably get more questions from people about, 'Why don't we build a wall?' And it is heartening to know that, by golly, we are going to build a wall."

The costs of the various initiatives are high. Sarah Hicks, senior advisor and budget director in Abbott's office, told the committee that the state had spent $163 million on the border wall initiative as of Feb. 3, with contracts to spend over $900 million on it. Operation Lone Star, which has beefed up state border security to arrest migrants for crimes like trespassing, has been costing the state over $90 million per month, the Texas Military Depart­ment's Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer told the committee.

Republicans seem determined to continue the spending spree. "We look at that as saying: pretty expensive. If you look at some of the agencies that have just come before us today, and you start to look at their per month cost [that puts] it into perspective," Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said during a hearing, noting Speaker Dade Phelan's claim "that finally, there's going to be a day when the federal government needs to reimburse Texas citizens, the Texas taxpayers for every penny of our extra effort." Abbott also spent a chunk of his State of the State address on the topic, touting House and Senate plans to spend another $4.6 billion on border security. But Austin-based groups are pushing back.

Alexis Bay, the Texas Civil Rights Proj­ect's Beyond Borders legislative coordinator, said ensuring Operation Lone Star does not get codified is at the top of the group's priorities for the legislative session. "The border is overmilitarized," they said. "A lot of the initiatives federally and by the state to address the situation at the border are ineffective [and] are basically political schemes."

Bay, who has lived near the border their whole life, added that the militarization causes anxiety in the Rio Grande Valley, as many households have mixed status. Some legislators have echoed that sentiment. "My only concern would be when DPS shows up in some of the colonias," Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, told DPS Director Steve McCraw during a hearing. "As you well know, many people, many families [that] live in the colonias are undocumented, and they've been here in the United States for 10, 15, 20 years. And all the sudden they see DPS cars, and they don't take the kids to school, to go see the doctor. They don't go do shopping. They don't go to work."

In addition to fighting off bills that would pour billions into Operation Lone Star, Bay said TCRP is monitoring several other bills, including House Bill 209, to fund the construction of a wall. "We know, especially here at the border, that a border wall or fence doesn't work," they said. "It does infringe upon people's private property rights. It tears up our land and some really vulnerable ecosystems that we have down here. And ultimately, it's just a huge symbol of exclusion and separating communities."

Bay and other advocates are also keeping a close eye on how legislators look to expand a state's right to enforce immigration law. More than a decade ago, the Supreme Court ruled that enforcing immigration laws falls under the purview of the federal government. But during a Senate hearing last year, First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster laid out the state's hopes for this legislative session. "We welcome laws that might allow us to have a new case that we could go up on to readdress this issue because the makeup of the Supreme Court has changed," he said.

While Luis Figueroa, chief of legislative affairs at Every Texan, opposes the border security initiatives, he said there are some bills that could actually help the federal immigration system. He pointed to an effort to expand Medicaid to some immigrants, and HB 1869 that would let undocumented folks get driver's permits. And TCRP is supporting legislation that would create more transparency in Operation Lone Star and allow the governor to allocate federal and state grants to nonprofits for humanitarian assistance. But both organizations are aware this session will require a lot of defense. "We have a lot of work to do on changing the images and changing the narrative around Texas, but that's a long-term project," Figueroa said. "In the short term, we're trying to do our best to make sure things don't get worse." He added that finding allies in the Christian, business, and law enforcement communities can often help garner support to kill bills.

Barbara Hines, the now-retired founder of UT-Austin's Immigration Clinic, began work in immigration law in the mid-1970s and has noticed a shift in how politicians talk about immigration. "We have this 'secure the border' language, and President Biden said it in his State of the Union. And it's like, no one has actually said what that means," she said. "Does that mean that not a single person crosses the border ever? Does that mean that we would be happy with X number of people crossing? Does it mean that the border has to be fortified? It's just been this catchphrase that no one is willing to define but that we are willing to spend billions of dollars on."