Scattered Thoughts: Looking At Immigration Retainer Reports for Texas Counties, MMB Unofficial "Cliff Notes" for Constitutional Amendments

A Brownsville Herald story by Mark Reagan published October 20, 2013 quickly followed a Texas Tribune article of October 15, 2013 with a similar theme.  Both articles used figures based on the Immigration Retainer Reports mandated by Texas law since October 2011, to demonstrate the enormous cost to Texas counties to detain, house and process undocumented immigrants charged with local or state crimes.

In the Brownsville Herald article Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio lamented the average monthly $272,451 shortfall in caring for undocumented prisoners: "The federal government, they ask counties to do a lot of things . . . . . . . .but do they give you the money to do it? No."

Actually, the whole point of the Immigration Retainer Reports is to demonstrate to the federal government how much caring for these prisoners is costing Texas counties.  While the Texas Tribune, a conservative website, uses these figures to call attention their contention that immigration policies need tightening, Sheriffs like Lucio just want to be reimbursed appropriately.  The link: http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/15/texas-jails-spend-millions-undocumented-immigrants/visualization/

Jaime Rodriguez

Jaime Rodriquez, a Democratic Party operative from Washington D.C., who managed the unsuccessful Congressional campaigns of Anthony Troiani and Denise Blanchard, told me a couple of years ago that as long as there was a tremendous wage discrepancy on opposite sides of the Rio Grande, there would inevitably be illegal immigration.  No wall or even policy could prevent people seeking a better life for themselves and their families.   His argument seemed almost like a sociological version of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, where an enclosed "hot" area must lose energy to an adjacent cold one.

While acknowledging that the reports show a tremendous outlay of funds to house undocumented prisoners, they also semi-scientifically document the pattern of migration from Mexico into Texas. Notice the counties and subsequently larger cities that took the biggest financial hit:

Click here to download the reports.

County Jail	Inmates	Days Housed	Cost
HARRIS(Houston)	30,306.00	661,885.00	$49,641,375.00
TRAVIS(Austin)	11,746.00	210,429.00	$22,128,714.00
DALLAS(Dallas)	12,717.00	272,488.00	$15,238,818.00
BEXAR(San Antonio)	7,620.00	149,883.00	$6,894,618.00
CAMERON(Brownsville)	6,245.00	139,056.00	$6,481,400.00

If incarcerated immigrants are found in similar proportions in the counties above, its obvious that H-Town is the numero uno destination in Texas for immigrants from the south, followed surprisingly by the Austin area, then Dallas.  5 times as many immigrants are incarcerated in Harris County as in Cameron.

From the editor:  The ballot for the November 5, 2013 election has no candidates for Brownsville, only 9 amendments for approval to the Texas State Constitution.  Below is our synopsis of the essence of each proposed amendment:

MMB "Cliff Notes" for the Constitutional Amendments

Amendment 1: This amendment gives the surviving spouse of someone in the U.S. military killed in action an exemption on all or part of their property tax as long as they do not remarry. The amount of that original exemption can be transferred to a new homestead(personal) property as long as the spouse doesn't remarry. This amendment, if passed, would apply starting 1/1/2014. This is little opposition to this amendment although some are concerned that if the list of those receiving property tax exemptions grows, eventually the general tax rate may have to be raised.

Amendment 2: This amendment does away with the State Medical Education Board and the funds authorized back in 1952 to lure doctors into rural areas. The program failed and has been replace by more effective concepts. Almost no one seems to oppose this.

Amendment 3: This amendment allows a city, county or school district to extend the exemption of aircraft parts beyond 730 days. Aircraft is taxable, just not the parts for the first two years. Supposedly, the current law discourages those in the aircraft business from locating in Texas.

Amendment 4: This amendment allows a full or partial exemption on the tax of a disabled veteran or the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran on homestead property. The surviving spouse retains the exemption as long as he or she does not remarry.

Amendment 5: This amendment allows a so-called reverse mortgage on a homestead property also giving the issuer of the reverse mortgage protection if the property is no longer occupied as a principal residence. The amendment mandates counseling for the borrower and spouse before entering into a reverse mortgage. The monies from a reverse mortgage may be used to purchase another homestead in a single transaction saving closing costs for borrowers 62 and over. Language in this amendment requires borrowers to be carefully informed of their options and obligations to prevent foreclosure.

Amendment 6: This amendment creates a State Water Implementation Fund outside the general fund, authorizing the transfer of state monies into that fund. The initial contribution to the fund is $2 billion from the economic stabilization fund. Opponents cite two water funds already in place and prefer water needs be handled at the local level.

Amendment 7: Currently, the constitution calls for an election within 120 days if a vacancy occurs in a city office with at least a 2 and not more than 4 year term regardless of how many months are left in the term. This amendment allows for a city to fill a vacancy of 12 months or less by appointment in harmony with their charter.

Amendment 8: This amendment would allow Hidalgo County to raise the current limit of 10 cents per $100 evaluation of property tax to create a hospital district.

Amendment 9: This amendment allows the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, following formal proceedings, to extend the reprimands for judicial misconduct to include public censure, removal and/or forced retirement or requiring a judge to obtain additional training in addition to current sanctions. This amendment encourages open as opposed to closed hearings.