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Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
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Hays County Judge calls for humane immigration practices amid rising detentions
HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – The Hays County Commissioners Court will consider adopting a resolution Tuesday calling for due process and humane treatment of immigrants. Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said he's bringing forward the resolution because of recent federal immigration activity that has caused disorder across the county. 'The resolution I'm presenting on Tuesday is about us being Americans, being respectful, respecting the rule of law,' Becerra said. 'What I want to do is help support peace, unity, and harmony throughout our county.' Becerra said there has been an increase in federal immigration officers detaining people in Hays County since the Trump Administration took office. According to a KXAN special project, over 12,000 undocumented immigrants living in Texas were detained from January to March, the most of any other state. 'I'm not looking for anything except to treat people like humans, be respectful, follow the rule of law, and let's move in an orderly manner without causing havoc and destruction,' Becerra said. Texas immigration attorney Adrian Resendez said immigrant detainments have steadily risen in the last several months. 'There are only certain amounts of ICE agents available, and only a certain amount of resources that the government allocated. Now what we're seeing is a larger allocation of resources, we are seeing a ramping up across the board,' Resendez said. Fox News reported in May that the Trump Administration raised its ICE arrest target to 3,000 undocumented immigrants per day. Resendez said he has clients who were following the proper procedures but were still arrested and detained. 'The controversy is now that they are detaining people who technically followed all the rules that were asked of them,' he said. 'We are seeing some people being detained who have been here [several years] – they're permanent residents.' Resendez said that due process in an immigration context could involve someone arriving in the U.S. to flee danger in their home country. If that claim is deemed credible, they would be given a court date to make their case. 'That court date, that's the due process that they get,' Resendez said. 'In my opinion, I am seeing a lack of due process.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Following federal announcement, Gary Job Corps to close after 60 years
SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – A large no-cost education and career technical training program in San Marcos will close after 60 years. Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra posted to Facebook on May 30 that Gary Job Corps, which opened in 1965, would cease operations by the end of June. The program offered free education and vocational training to hundreds of Central Texans. 'In a major development, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced that it will halt operations at several Job Corps centers nationwide, including the Gary Job Corps campus just outside San Marcos—long known as the largest of its kind in the country,' said Becerra in his post. The decision to suspend the program drew bipartisan pushback, according to our media partners at The Hill. The U.S. Department of Labor announced it would be pausing Job Corps centers after an 'internal review of the program's outcome and structure.' 'Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training, and community,' said DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a May 29 press statement. 'However, a startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve. We remain committed to ensuring all participants are supported through this transition and connected with the resources they need to succeed as we evaluate the program's possibilities.' The statement from the department said that the program has faced financial challenges. This decision follows an April analysis of the Job Corps program. A summary of the analysis is a follows: Average Graduation Rate (WIOA Definition): 38.6% Average Cost Per Student Per Year: $80,284.65 Average Total Cost Per Graduate (WIOA Definition): $155,600.74 Post separation, participants earn $16,695 annually on average. The total number of Serious Incident Reports for program year 2023: 14,913 infractions. Inappropriate Sexual Behavior and Sexual Assaults Reported: 372 Acts of Violence Reported: 1,764 Breaches of Safety or Security: 1,167 Reported Drug Use: 2,702 Total Hospital Visits: 1,808 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hays County says AI data center is likely to go forward despite community outcry
HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – Concerned residents packed the Hays County Commissioners Court Tuesday to decry plans to build an Artificial Intelligence data center in a rural part of Hays and Guadalupe County. After hearing public comments from around two dozen residents and a presentation from CloudBurst Data Centers – the company behind the project – Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra told the crowd the project would likely go forward as the court has limited power when it comes to development on private property. Hays County is currently reviewing CloudBurst's flood hazard permit application. 'If it meets our requirements, we have an administrative authority to approve the permit,' said Marcus Pacheco, the director of Development Services at Hays County. CloudBurst Data Centers announced plans to build the AI data center in February. Families in a rural part of Hays County quickly learned it would be built in their neighborhood and have been fighting it ever since. 'We're just absolutely destroyed by the prospect of having a data center literally across the road,' said Abigail Lindsey, whose family has owned property near the site for years. 'We're in stage three drought instructions… Also, the noise, the light pollution, and the disturbance of wildlife,' she continued. 'There are oak trees, pecan trees – there's cattle grazing out there right now, and they're just gonna pave over it and it's gonna be concrete and servers.' Lindsey was among those decrying the project on Tuesday. Many others echoed her sentiment, with water being a top concern, both in terms of water use and pollution into San Marcos' waterways. Water is used to cool down equipment within data centers. A large data center can use over 500,000 gallons of water a day, the equivalent of over 4,000 people's daily water use, according to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. CloudBurst said it will recycle its water and attempted to dispel concerns about tainted water leaking into streams. CloudBust said it has not yet determined how much water the center will use. 'I have not seen any studies that show us that there are massive leaks. And even if there is a leak, it leaks into the data center, it doesn't leak out into the field,' said Cynthia Thompson, an executive chairperson with CloudBurst. Thompson attempted to address public concerns in her presentation to the commissioners court. According to the CloudBurst presentation backup documents, the company would attempt to use solar panels, low-level lighting and minimal water. The company said it would not build in a floodplain and would keep noise to a minimum. Thompson said the company is committed to preserving wildlife. 'We have 20 to 30 acres around the creek that'll be in a natural state. We'll add improvements to help wildlife exist there, and then hopefully have a park if the county is willing,' Thompson said. A key part of Thompson's presentation was education on the need for more data centers. 'When you Google someone, when you take a picture, all that goes in the cloud, and so you need more data center space to hold that,' Thompson said. 'We're fulfilling a need in a community.' 'I don't think there's ever a perfect place when you're building a data center,' she continued. 'Never will you have 100% of the people happy.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hays County files temporary restraining order against housing group over tax loophole
HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – Hays County has filed temporary restraining orders against two out-of-county housing finance corporations, or HFCs, over acquiring large residential developments, which the officials allege will strip Hays County of valuable tax revenue. Hays County announced Tuesday the restraining order against Pecos Housing Finance Corporation and Pleasanton Housing Finance Corporation for acquiring developments in San Marcos and Kyle. Officials said that the HFCs acquired several large properties with the intent to remove around $230 million in taxable value from the county's tax base. The county said this would likely lead to a $500,000 loss in tax revenue. 'These organizations are operating without our input, our support, or our authorization,' County Judge Ruben Becerra said in a press release. 'They are pulling hundreds of millions of dollars in property off our tax rolls—money we depend on to fund public safety, health, and other essential services.' State lawmakers have filed a couple of bills this legislative session aiming to close 'loopholes' that have allowed HFCs to do this. 'While most HFCs are doing the important work of ensuring our communities have access to affordable housing, several 'traveling' HFCs have taken advantage of a loophole in state law allowing them to operate outside of the city or county that sponsored them,' read Texas Rep. Cecil Bell Jr.'s (R-Magnolia) H.B. 1585 Bill Analysis. In March, Williamson County sued the Cameron County Housing Finance Corporation for two future developments that they say will be tax-exempt 'Williamson County has zero need for the Cameron County Housing Finance Corporation in Williamson County. We did not ask for your help,' Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said at the time. 'What you're really doing is you're robbing from our children's educational future by creating these tax schemes that take away tax to pay for teachers in the local classroom. It is wrong,' he continued. Williamson County said this case remains pending. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
