On this episode of Texas Matters, we look at:
- Deporting veterans
- Forgiving student debts (07:13)
- The history of Pearl beer (18:53)
Deporting Veterans
Defense Secretary James Mattis said Thursday that undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children who are currently serving in the military or received an honorable discharge will not face deportation despite the ongoing immigration debate in Washington.
While negotiations over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program have raised concerns among the hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants who would lose protection from deportation if the program is not continued, Mattis told reporters that recipients who were in the U.S. military are not at risk.
However, a report released on Thursday by the Texas Civil Rights Project tells a different story. It documents cases of U.S. veterans without citizenship who have been deported or face deportation.
The report is called “Land of the Free; No Home to the Brave: a Report on the Social, Economic and Moral Cost of Deporting Veterans.” The author is Emma Hilbert.
Forgiving Student Debts
Republican lawmakers in Washington D.C. are pushing a higher education bill that could make earning a college degree more expensive for lower income students.
If the House bill called "The PROSPER Act" — which stands for Promoting Real Opportunity, Success and Prosperity through Education Reform — becomes law, it would scrap federal supports that many university students depend on.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, college students would lose $15 billion in federal student aid over the next decade. Also low income students would no longer be able to avoid paying the interest on their student loans while in school and limiting their repayment options once they graduate. The legislation would eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
Roughly one million student loan borrowers went into default last year, which some say is a red flag. But reform Republican lawmakers are recommending has some scratching their heads.
A report by the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College projects what would happen if there was a zeroing out of all student loans and how that would impact the overall U.S. economy.
We talk to Stephanie Kelton, professor of economics and public police at Stony Brook University and one of the authors of the report called “The Macroeconomic effects of student Debt Cancellation.”
History of Pear Beer
Adolph Hofner and his Pearl Wranglers are a Texas country swing band based in San Antonio, sponsored by the local beer Pearl. The rise and decline of Pearl Beer is a reflection of the rise, development and industrialization of Texas. It’s a story told in a new book by beer historian Jeremy Banas entitled “Pearl: a History of San Antonio’s Iconic Beer.”
David Martin Davies can be reached at dmdavies@tpr.org or on Twitter @DavidMartinDavi
