With the election of Donald Trump as the next president his promise of mass deportations is coming into focus.
Trump has said he will use the U.S. military to seal the southern border and to round up and then expel anyone who is in the country illegally. What "illegal" means appears to be broadly interpreted to also include people who are legally pursing asylum claims or have been granted immigration probation or those who have TPS, Temporary Protected Status.
The potential number of deportations could include about 20 million people. Some predict that once the practical costs, difficulties and negative impacts on the economy of such an operation come to light, the urgency of this policy will diminish.
Polling shows the majority of Americans do in fact support mass deportations—because they believe that illegal immigrants are lawbreakers and a threat to public safety.
However, we should also point out that there are many people who welcome the migrants and have been helping them. One of those organizations is the San Antonio-based Interfaith Welcome Coalition.
For the last ten years they have been providing assistance to the refugees after they have been processed by the Border Patrol and then released.
The volunteers have come forward to help these displaced people with their travel and relocation needs.
And now the Interfaith Welcome Coalition has compiled a book of the volunteers’ experiences called Traveling Mercies: Encounters with Asylum Seekers
It was edited by Mary Grace Ketner.
Commentary
To add a little more context to the efforts of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition and their efforts to support those who seek asylum, we offer something from our Texas Matters archives. Texas Public Radio editor Yvette Benavides shares a commentary about her experience back in November 2018 when a surge of migrants arrived in San Antonio.
Death Row Updates
There are two big developments in death penalty cases we have been following on "Texas Matters."
On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion that Robert Roberson’s execution can proceed, and the subpoena issued for Roberson by the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence violates the state constitution’s separation of powers.
That subpoena managed to prevent Roberson from being executed on October 17, 2024, and was issued when serious questions of his actual innocence came to light.
Roberson was convicted of the shaken baby death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki. New evidence reveals she likely died from pneumonia and not child abuse.
The Texas Supreme Court’s ruling does not consider Roberson’s guilt or innocence.
To proceed with Roberson’s execution, a new death warrant will need to be granted—and that could happen almost immediately, or it could take years. There is a 90-day waiting period after the death warrant is issued for appeals.
We have also been following the death row case of Melisa Lucio. There are some similarities between her case and Roberson’s.
Lucio was found guilty and sentenced to death for the 2007 murder of her daughter, Mariah. Lucio insisted the toddler died from falling down a flight of stairs and not from child abuse.
After public outcry, in April 2022 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution just two days before Lucio was to be put to death.
On Thursday the judge who presided over the Lucio trial, Arturo Nelson, signed a Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law that deemed Lucio “is actually innocent; she did not kill her daughter.”
The case now goes to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a final decision.
I spoke with one of Lucio’s attorneys Vanessa Potkin, Director of Special Litigation at the Innocence Project.
