AUSTIN (Nexstar) – The Texas Senate’s Committee on Border Security heard testimony from state and local officials regarding their border enforcement efforts Tuesday morning, part of the upper chamber’s work to monitor the implementation of new laws before the next legislative session begins in January.

Among key questions on current priorities and the efficacy of recent laws, senators probed the sustainability of Operation Lone Star – Texas’ unilateral efforts to patrol the border, fortify barriers, and station state troops in what they describe as negligence from the Biden administration. The operation has cost more than $11 billion.

“If we maintain current funding and the administration in Washington does not change, Director, how long can we do this,” State Sen. Brian Birdwell, the chair of the Senate Border Security Committee, asked Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw.

“We’ll do it as long as we’re instructed to do, plain and simple,” McCraw responded.

McCraw told Nexstar after his testimony that his department will need to hire more troopers in order to keep up with the combined demand of Operation Lone Star and typical public safety needs elsewhere in the state.

“The bottom line is, everywhere you put a trooper, it’s safer. And everywhere you take a trooper from is going to be less safe… it’s Law Enforcement Physics 101,” he said. “With an ever-growing state… 287,000 miles of area to cover and 313,000 miles of roadway, we need more troopers. We need more special agents and we need more Texas Rangers.”

“A lot of it has to do with money,” Birdwell said. He alluded to the possibility of a reduction in the state budget, at which point “the legislature will have some very difficult decisions” as it relates to Operation Lone Star. The implication: inevitably, lawmakers will either need to scale back the operation or find the money from other areas.

Jessie Fuentes, an Eagle Pass native who sued Governor Greg Abbott last year over the state’s buoy barriers in the Rio Grande, testified against the state’s actions.

“It’s a failed policy. And at what cost? We don’t have access to our park. Now, there’s an 80-acre military base there,” Fuentes told Nexstar. “There’s millions of dollars being invested, but I’d rather have it spent on infrastructure. I’d rather spend on health care, on education, on learning institutions, instead of housing soldiers.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tasked the committee of three Republicans and two Democrats with three broad interim charges:

• “Securing the Texas-Mexico Border”: Reviewing state and local agencies’ participation in border security, examining the impact of organized crime, and making recommendations to “combat criminal enterprises.”
• “Support for Border Security Personnel”: Examining how Operation Lone Star has impacted the wellbeing of DPS troopers and National Guard members stationed on the border.
• Monitor specific legislation passed in the 88th legislature last year, including the establishment of a border operations training program for local police and an initiative to compensate property owners for damage caused by criminal activity relating to the border.

The committee will meet again to review the implementation of more legislation and consider recommendations for the next session, which will begin in January.

Allred calls for bipartisan approach to border security

Border policy is also a key issue for Texas Democrats in the upcoming election. The state party held its convention earlier this month in El Paso. Congressman Colin Allred gave the keynote address. When we spoke with him afterwards, and he emphasized the need for a bipartisan approach to addressing border security.

The Dallas Democrat is challenging Senator Ted Cruz in the upcoming U.S. Senate election. Allred says he believes a key step to ensure border security is to revisit the Senate Border Security Bill, which previously failed in the Senate and was opposed by Cruz.

“I hope we can come back to that because for Texas, we can’t just kick this can down the road,” Allred said. “We have to have a secure border now.”

Allred points to benefits for Texas in the bill, such as more Customs and Border Patrol personnel, more immigration judges and more administrative workers to handle the increase in migrants.

“No state would benefit more than Texas,” Allred said.

A key part of a potential solution, in Allred’s mind, is to hire more immigration judges to adjudicate asylum claims more quickly. He believes that most people currently trying to claim asylum would be rejected, and processing those claims faster would send a message.

“If you want to come here for a better life, for economic opportunity, the asylum system is not the process for that. That’s the legal immigration system, and we have methods for you to try and come in that way,” Allred said. “I want to see us funnel folks into legal pathways. Instead of trying to come here using an asylum system that really was not set up for these numbers or for the reasons a lot of these folks are coming.”

“I think there there is nothing more important for safety and security in Texas than securing the border,” Senator Cruz told State of Texas host Josh Hinkle in a May interview. He puts blame for recent surges of migrant crossings on Democrats.

“Tragically, Joe Biden and Democrats, including Colin Allred my opponent who’s voted in favor of open borders over and over and over again, they are unwilling to secure the border,” Cruz said. He believes voters in November will elect Donald Trump for President as well as choose Republican majorities in the House and Senate. He believes that will change the situation on the border.

“We will secure the border in January of next year, and it will happen like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “And I can say that with confidence, because we did it before.”

Bitcoin, AI and the Texas grid: Lawmakers consider action

The Senate Committee on Business and Commerce convened Wednesday morning to evaluate the state of the electric grid, examine the impact of last year’s investments into generating power, and hear striking statistics on the energy demands of the Bitcoin and artificial intelligence sectors.

ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas told lawmakers that one graphics processing unit, a core technology for Artificial Intelligence (AI), uses as much power as an average home uses in an entire year. He compared one AI company’s energy demand to bringing half a million homes onto the grid in an instant.

Bitcoin mining facilities — stacked with thousands of computers to generate the cryptocurrency — similarly demand the power equivalent of hundreds of thousands of homes.

The information elicited a telling admonishment of the growing industries from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who alluded to possible regulation and limitations.

“We need to take a close look at those two industries. They produce very few jobs compared to the incredible demands they place on our grid,” he wrote on social media. “Texans will ultimately pay the price. I’m more interested in building the grid to service customers in their homes, apartments, and normal businesses and keeping costs as low as possible for them instead of for very niche industries that have massive power demands and produce few jobs.”

Patrick tasked the committee with analyzing demands on the grid and future supply opportunities, as well as evaluating the implementation of laws passed last year to improve the grid.

Last session, lawmakers approved the “Texas Energy Fund” to incentivize oil and gas producers to build more capacity. By the end of May, the Public Utilities Commission reported 125 projects have applied for a loan, equaling nearly $40 billion that would bring almost 56,000 megawatts onto the grid.

“This is a monumental step forward. And I believe it is the beginning of… new steel in the ground over the next three to four years,” Business and Commerce Chairman Charles Schwertner said.

The committee also plans to study the future of electricity needs and focus on reducing barriers to new power and infrastructure projects. Members will likely explore ways to streamline this process for future legislation and monitor the progress of ongoing projects and how they will affect electricity prices for consumers.  

Interim charges are assignments given to House and Senate committees by the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor when the legislature is not in session. These tasks involve studying specific issues and suggesting solutions for the next session. This period also allows advocates and stakeholders to influence policy decisions with the hope that they will be addressed in upcoming sessions. 

‘The world’s on fire right now,’ Rep. McCaul highlights concerns for foreign aid, defense decisions

Former President Donald Trump returned to Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with House and Senate Republicans. The visit came as lawmakers gear up for elections in the fall. But the former president’s influence could affect key policy decisions on defense and foreign aid.

Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is one of the most vocal champions of providing aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Trump has been critical of that aid. McCaul says it’s important to keep backing Ukraine.

“We have to give them what they need to win this thing, or at least push the Russians back far enough to have a ceasefire and negotiated peace settlement,” McCaul said. “That can’t happen right now, because there’s no leverage on the part of Ukraine.”

McCaul believes that leverage would be helpful to Trump, if he wins the White House in November.

“My advice to him would be to give [Ukraine] everything they need to help them win this thing, and then he can be the guy that comes in and being the deal maker that he sees himself as to negotiate a better peace and security agreement,” McCaul said.

“I gotta tell you, the world’s on fire right now with two hot wars and a hot zone in the Pacific. And it worries me when I look at the situation today,” McCaul added.

Congressman McCaul made an official visit to Taiwan late last month, where he got a first hand look at tensions with China.

“We were greeted by a blockade, a Chinese military blockade of naval ships, aircraft carriers. It’s quite disturbing, really, and it was what a prelude of what they would do in the event of an invasion of Taiwan,” McCaul said.

McCaul said the visit from a U.S. congressional delegation carried special significance.

“I gave the president a black Stetson hat, kind of a symbol of the West, and, you know, the rugged strength and independence of the cowboy, and he loved it,” McCaul explained. “I think it was important to for them to see a bipartisan delegation showing that kind of support for Taiwan,”

McCaul believes that support for Taiwan amid tensions with China is an important deterrent that could prevent war. He sees backing Ukraine in a similar light.

“People ask me, what keeps me up at night? It’s I don’t want to experience a world war like my father’s generation did,” he said

Austin man first to be prosecuted under new crosswalk law

It’s hard for Gina Torry to forget her nephew’s words. It’s something she’s carried with her for years.

“When you have a 6-year-old ask you why it is that somebody could kill their mother without any consequences — without any law — that’s a hard thing to respond to,” said Torry.

The aunt didn’t have an answer.

Lisa Torry Smith was struck and killed crossing the street with her son, in a crosswalk, and in a school zone in Fort Bend County in the Houston area in October 2017. Torry said her nephew was severely injured but survived.

Officials tell KXAN investigators the driver who hit and killed Smith was not charged. It’s something Torry said she kept thinking about through her grief.

“That’s one of the reasons why we advocated for a Texas crosswalk law so that no child ever has to ask that question,” she said. 

The Lisa Torry Smith Act became law in September 2021 making it a crime to kill or hurt a pedestrian, cyclist or other vulnerable road user in a crosswalk in Texas.

Recently, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office said it prosecuted its first case under the new law.

In March, Todre Anderson was sentenced to 18 months in state jail. Court records show Anderson was charged after running a red light and hitting and killing a 64-year-old pedestrian with his vehicle at Little Texas Lane and South Congress Avenue in November 2021.

In court documents, police said the pedestrian had the walk sign to cross, but Anderson was looking at his cell phone. Court records obtained by KXAN investigators show Anderson originally pleaded guilty and was given five years of probation, but that was revoked after he failed to report to his supervision officer, and he didn’t pay court and other fees.

KXAN Investigators reached out to Anderson’s attorney Alex Calhoun multiple times by phone and email, but he said he has no comment on the case.

“This sets an important precedent for the rest of Texas and for the implementation of the Lisa Torry Smith Act,” said Torry.

The law requires drivers to stop for a pedestrian or cyclist in a crosswalk. If drivers violate the law and there’s serious injury or death, they could be held criminally responsible. Before the new law drivers were only required to yield.

“Implementation is going very slowly,” Torry said. “Of course, when there is a new law, it takes time for millions of people around the state to understand that there is a new law to know about it and to know how it works.”

It’s why she founded Citizens for Road Safety Texas, a nonprofit that is making sure the law is enforced.

She was in Austin last month and spoke at a Texas Department of Transportation Commission meeting about the need for a grant to raise awareness.

“This would provide staffing on the ground, based in Fort Bend County, to develop training materials on the new Texas crosswalk law, and to go out and give those trainings not just to Fort Bend County, but across Texas, to law enforcement, to community groups, to lawyers, so that we are helping to raise awareness of this new law, how it gets implemented and how drivers can follow it,” she said.

The organization applied for funding previously twice but was denied. Torry is hoping they can team up with TxDOT this year. A spokesperson with the agency said educating the public on safety issues throughout the state is extremely important and TxDOT is working with the organization to understand its funding needs.

Torry explained her organization is hearing from families impacted across Texas who need guidance about the law.

“The sad fact is that this crosswalk law is not well known yet and its implementation. There hasn’t been enough legal precedent. And so we are trying to assist people who come to us to connect the dots,” she added.

Torry said the Anderson case out of Austin will be an example of how the law is implemented for other counties.

A records request to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office showed two other cases have been filed under the offense of collision involving pedestrian — road user in a crosswalk. According to the records, police have issued an arrest warrant for a man in a hit-and-run involving two pedestrians.

“Our office takes any death or injury resulting from reckless driving as seriously as any other act of violence. Drivers need to be well-informed about new laws that protect pedestrians and cyclists to ensure everyone’s safety on the streets,” the Travis County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.