TX - Trump's plans for border wall to come up in legislative session budget talks

Posted: Jan 11, 2017 4:34 PM PST
Updated: Jan 11, 2017 6:41 PM PST
By Jane Caffrey

CORPUS CHRISTI -
Donald Trump promised to build a wall on the Texas-Mexico border, and that proposal is coming up in spending talks among Texas lawmakers.

Immigration is a topic of priority at the state capitol in Austin during this legislative session. Some lawmakers think Trump's proposal to build a wall could save Texas money.

The Department of Public Safety wants to allocate more than a billion dollars from the state budget to border security. It is a big request at a time when the legislature is already working with a general spending budget that is $8 billion dollars less than two years ago.

However, some lawmakers argue Trump's promise to build a wall along the border, and crack down on anyone who enters the country illegally, could help Texas cut back on its border security spending.

For State Representative Abel Herrero, the priority is collaborating with the federal government to handle public safety.

"We look forward to working with our counterparts in the federal government to make sure that we're going to do what we're supposed to do," Rep. Herrero said. "Texas has always made safety a priority, and so we will continue to do so this next legislative session."

Other immigration topics are expected to come up during this legislative session. Those include sanctuary cities, and police officers' ability to enforce federal immigration laws, as well as a 2001 law that offers in-state tuition at public universities to some students that entered the United States illegally.

http://www.kristv.com/story/34240383...n-budget-talks