The Trump administration has ushered in a time of unprecedented uncertainty for immigrants in Texas and across the United States. Join us in San Antonio on Friday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 18 (or watch online) for a symposium on immigration, where Texas Tribune reporters will interview lawmakers, advocates and immigrants on what the past several months have brought — and what we can expect next.
What questions do you have on state and federal immigration policy? For our panelists? Tweet them to us with #AskTrib. Meanwhile, here’s a brief guide to some of the key issues we’ll be discussing.
9 a.m.: Immigration and the Legislature
At issue: a controversial state law many have described as a “show me your papers” regulation. Senate Bill 4, passed this year, attempts to outlaw “sanctuary cities” by allowing police to inquire about the immigration status of individuals they lawfully detain, and requiring local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The law — which drew widespread protest across the state before it became law in May — has already generated a contentious legal battle, with many of the state’s biggest cities lined up against it in court. Key parts of the law were blocked before it would have gone into effect Sept. 1. But others provisions, including the detainer measure, stand. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the case last week.
10:15 a.m.: Immigration and the Trump Administration
Trump has yet to deliver on one of his loudest campaign promises, but the federal government has rolled out eight prototypes for a wall to be built on the border between the United States and Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will run a series of tests on those prototypes over the next two months. While many critics remain skeptical that the wall, with a projected price tag of $20 billion, will ever get built, some Texas lawmakers have taken steps to get it started.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced this fall that he would reverse the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children to apply for renewable, two-year work permits and avoid deportation proceedings. But that course was thrown into confusion when Trump gave Congress “six months to legalize DACA” (some assert that DACA is illegal because Obama implemented it by executive order). The president then promised “no action” would be taken during the six-month period, telling DACA recipients, “you have nothing to worry about.” Hundreds of thousands of Dreamers in the country — some 120,000 of them in Texas — hang in the balance. Check out where the 38 members of Texas’ congressional delegation fall on the issue.
Negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement are set to begin Nov. 17. Trump has threatened to withdraw from NAFTA if he can’t renegotiate it to the United States’ advantage, but some of his proposed changes have drawn criticism from business groups. Workers’ rights groups have argued that NAFTA disadvantages blue-collar laborers.
11:30 a.m.: The Human Cost of Immigration
Issues surrounding immigrant labor have only become more pressing in the weeks since Hurricane Harvey, as rebuilding efforts are likely to rely heavily on undocumented immigrants. The Pew Research Center estimated last year that 28 percent of Texas’s construction workforce is undocumented; other studies have put that number even higher. But federal immigration crackdowns have made some undocumented workers afraid to accept under-the-table work.
The question of immigrant education in Texas has long been a difficult one. A 2001 law allows undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at Texas public universities, but this year, state lawmakers again debated repealing that provision. Opponents of the 2001 law made little headway this year.
1 p.m.: Screening of “Beyond the Wall”
Source: Texas Tribune Blue News
