Austin InSight

- Coming up on "Austin InSight," an ICE shooting here in Austin brings protests and calls for transparency as local officials vow to investigate.

Plus, with redrawn districts for Congress, parts of Austin will have new names on their ballot this November.

We'll meet some of the candidates.

"Austin InSight" starts now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin and also from Daniel L. Skret.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Hi there, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

Local officials and many in the community want to know what led up to the shooting of a man in North Austin by a federal immigration agent.

The man was treated at the hospital and released into ICE custody.

Austin immigration attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, says the man is 28-year-old, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez.

She says he has no criminal history.

- He entered on CBP One in 2024.

He's from Venezuela.

So he was inspected and admitted into the country.

He had a work permit.

He was seeking asylum.

He changed his address with the immigration court and a notice of hearing was sent to his old address.

He didn't know he had a hearing.

He didn't go, and so he got a deportation order in absentia.

- [Laura] The Department of Homeland Security said, "Garces Perez entered the country illegally and had a final order of removal from the country."

They did not initially say what led up to the shooting or what justified him being shot.

- [Protesters] Shame on you, shame on you, shame on you, shame on you, shame on you!

(vehicle horn honks) - [Laura] People flooded the scene near 183 and Anderson Square in North Austin Sunday afternoon, chanting and protesting.

Local officials say they intend to conduct their own investigation on top of ICE's internal one.

- Frankly, from my perspective, the credibility of ICE doing some form of investigation just by itself and excluding others would not be appropriate.

- This has happened in the City of Austin.

The City of Austin deserves answers on what occurred.

The mayor's demanding some answers, the city manager wants answers, and we're gonna get all those questions answered.

And we'll be as transparent as we can be.

- [Laura] The shooting in Austin follows a series of high-profile fatal ICE shootings in other areas from Houston to Minnesota and all the way to Maine.

(protesters chanting in foreign language) - Less than a month from now, Texans will be able to head to the polls and vote early in the 2026 midterms.

Many Austinites will pick new representatives in Congress after state lawmakers redrew district lines last year.

In the heart of Austin, the redistricting squeezed out longtime congressman, Lloyd Doggett.

He and Congressman Greg Casar were drawn into the same district and Doggett stepped aside to make way for his younger colleague.

In the newly drawn Congressional District 37, Casar will take on political newcomer, Republican, Lauren Pena.

I sat down with both of them recently to hear how they hope to represent Austin on Capitol Hill.

We'll start with Congressman Casar.

So you are an incumbent, but you are not the incumbent, at least for a large portion of this district.

So the district lines may have changed, but is there anything different about your motivation going into this November?

- Well, I love Austin.

This is my home.

I served as an Austin City Council Member.

Before that, I was organizing Austin construction workers to win better pay and safer conditions on Austin construction sites.

And so I love my home.

And I see how the Trump administration is just doing so much damage to people's jobs, they're jacking up prices, they have driven so much corruption.

And I wanna bring some Austin to Washington, DC, where we deeply care about our community, where we take care of one another, and where we actually take care of workers before the ultra rich who are trying to buy our government.

And so I think that this redistricting, this gerrymandering, has been horrible.

I think that it's terrible that they've chopped up parts of our community and redistricted them out literally to Corpus Christi and then other parts out to Midland-Odessa.

And so part of what I've learned from this process is we should not be letting any political party, any president, any governor to gerrymander us this way.

So a top priority for me going into next Congress, of course, lower costs, raise wages, root out corruption, but also get big money out of politics and ban gerrymandering once and for all.

- Now I wanna delve a bit deeper into something you brought up.

There are indeed concerns about the cost of living and higher costs.

That is, unfortunately, nothing new here in Austin.

But specifically, we're also dealing with ever-changing tariffs and high gas prices amid the war with Iran.

What are some specific solutions you hope to continue to pursue to ameliorate this on Capitol Hill?

- We have to make our number-one priority bringing down prices for everyday people and making sure that wages are keeping up.

And so, for example, with gas prices, just right over here on my ride over, I saw $4.20 gas.

- It's painful.

(laughs) - It's painful.

We need to end the war in Iran that Donald Trump says he's won like four or five times now, but then keeps on starting back up.

I actually, on Capitol Hill, chair the Congressional Progressive Caucus where we have brought up vote after vote after vote to end the Iran war.

And we've passed those votes, but Donald Trump continues the war anyway.

If we win back a House majority, we have to force an end to this needless war.

- Now, meanwhile, during all of this, you've been extremely vocal about your opposition to immigration enforcement activity, which has ramped up here in Austin.

What impacts have you seen in the communities you represent?

And what has your office been doing to try to address that?

- We've been doing everything we can to make sure we protect the civil rights of everybody in this community, no matter who it is you are, where it is you come from.

Donald Trump lied when he said he was gonna go after the worst of the worst, arrest the criminals.

But we just had a five-year-old boy and his dad arrested just north of where you and I are sitting on the way to that kid's soccer game.

I mean, tell me how a five-year-old is a public safety threat.

Tell me why we're using federal law enforcement resources to go and handcuff him.

Or I'll give you another example.

Luis Fernando Cabrera, a high school senior over here at Northeast High, was literally just a couple weeks away from graduating when he was driving home from his shift working at Popeyes and he got pulled over for basically nothing, sent to a detention center.

And my office worked really hard, first to make sure he could take his final exams from the detention center.

I went and visited him and told him we'd do everything we could to make sure he graduated.

And thankfully, with the help of his lawyers and because the community spoke up, ICE was pressured, gave him some due process, let him out, and he just crossed the graduation stage and is gonna be coming here to ACC starting next week.

And so for me, we need to highlight these sorts of stories, make sure that everyday people know that Donald Trump isn't going after dangerous criminals and drug traffickers.

In fact, Donald Trump pardoned the ex-president of Honduras who was federally convicted for narco-trafficking.

So while he's pardoning January 6 rioters and convicted narco-traffickers, they're going and arresting kids in Austin?

I mean, give me a break.

And so I'm focused on helping those families and all families that have faced discrimination or civil rights issues.

And then also we've gotta pass immigration reform so that the millions of people living all across the country, including many here in Austin, that want to apply for legal status have a chance to actually do things the right way instead of having to suffer from these kinds of horrors.

- What is your outlook on what Democrats will feasibly be able to achieve this November?

- If we win the midterms, and I expect that Democrats will win the midterms in a big blue wave if people come out and vote, we have to do accountability and affordability as a party.

We have to hold Trump and corporations accountable for their massive corruption schemes.

But we cannot just be the anti-Trump party.

Certainly, we have to stand up against corruption and those horrors, but we also have to have a positive agenda, and that should be an affordability agenda.

I believe we need to drastically raise the minimum wage that's still at $7.25 right now.

We need to take on the corporations that are gouging you every step of the way, price gouging people.

I've got a bill to ban what is known as surveillance pricing.

These corporations are using AI and algorithms to know who it is you are, how much money it is you have to spend, and change the price just for you.

And we also have to get rid of Trump's tariffs, the tariff taxes that he has just indiscriminately spread throughout the economy because that's what's jacking up a lot of people's grocery prices right now.

Donald Trump is waiving tariffs for his billionaire buddies and his friends while everybody else is just paying out the nose for just the basic things they need at the store.

So Democrats need to advance an agenda of raising your wages, cracking down on corruption, lowering prices, while also holding the Trump administration accountable.

- Well, Congressman Casar, thank you so much for sharing this with us.

And best of luck to you in November.

- Thanks so much.

- Next, we'll hear from his challenger, Republican, Lauren Pena.

So Ms.

Pena, you are new to politics.

Your campaign focuses on lived experience rather than political experience.

Can you tell us a little about your background and how that's influenced your run for Congress?

- Yeah, so again, my name is Lauren B. Pena.

I'm the 2026 nominee for United States Congress.

I'm actually a survivor of human trafficking.

I was able to get out in 2020 by moving into public housing in East Austin.

At that time, I had about a ninth-grade education level, so I started getting my education and I started realizing that mine and my community's civil rights were being violated and that you, the taxpayer, are paying for it.

So I started reaching out to all my elected officials on a state, federal, and local level to try to get assistance with these civil rights violations and really try to help improve the programs from within.

And it was my experience that they didn't care what I had to say, so I decided to throw my name into the hat, and here I am, the nominee.

- Wow.

So this is really deeply personal to you.

Your campaign calls for specific legislation targeting human traffickers.

What, as you see it, would the bills you're proposing do?

- Yeah, so right now, since my story's come out, I've actually had a lot of constituents in the district reach out with their stories of human trafficking.

And what I've noticed is there's so many different aspects that are even different from mine.

My SAFE NIGHTS Act that I've already started working on, what that's gonna do is close the loophole from traffickers to be able to lock women into establishments that might be underage or are being forced to be in situations for days and weeks at a time and it's really hidden from public view.

So it's setting up the, instead of being an independent contractor, you can be a W-2 employee, so you have to provide your social security or ID to verify you're old enough to be in this place.

And it can watch the hours to ensure that you're not being forced to be stuck in establishments for weeks at a time.

- Mm.

As a survivor, I can't even imagine all that you've been through, and it is so important to support survivors of this in our community.

Now, I do wanna segue to something else that the community is talking about right now.

Just over the weekend, major news, we had an ICE agent shoot a man here in Austin.

He survived and remains in ICE custody.

Do you have any concerns about how ICE enforcement under the Trump administration has affected a number of communities but particularly here in Austin?

- Well, it's always been a crime to run from the police if they're trying to detain you.

And I think that when the police are trying to detain you, you should comply.

But I would like to say, where is the outrage from our elected officials for the people in my community that have children walking over needles to walk to school in the morning?

Where's the outrage from the elected officials where families that are living in poverty are being wait-listed to use some of these driver apps and people that are illegal immigrants are able to do that?

I mean, where is the outrage when our public taxpayer funds are being used to assist other families that aren't necessarily from here when we have real families in poverty, in welfare, in the community that actually need that assistance?

And lastly, where is the outrage for the working-class families that are being pushed out of Austin because they can't afford their tax increases?

And we have several nonprofits here in Austin that are using our taxpayer funds to help families that aren't even from here.

And we do need to be good neighbors.

We do need to assist our neighbors.

But if we don't have our own house in order and we have people that are here legally that are American citizens that are suffering, we really have to address that broken system first because bringing in a mass amount of people in a system that's already broken doesn't help anybody.

And so that's where I really come in.

If we're gonna fix this system, we need someone who has lived in the system to fix it with that firsthand knowledge.

- There are also concerns going into this midterm about the cost of living.

We're dealing with ever-changing tariffs and high gas prices amid the war with Iran.

What solutions are you hoping to bring to Capitol Hill to bring down costs for Central Texans?

- Absolutely.

One of the things that I'm seeing, it also has to do with like affordable housing.

So these providers of affordable housing, they are the millionaires and billionaires that are getting these tax cuts.

They're not having to pay property taxes.

And so when we look at the tax deficit that the City of Austin has, which they're needing to raise working-class taxes on, we could force those properties to pay their fair share in taxes and that will divert the funds from being used from the working-class citizens.

And so I think that's a really great place that we need to start because those tax breaks aren't helping anyone.

- Now you won this Republican nomination in this district with five or 6,000 votes.

Greg Casar won the Democratic nomination with 105,000 votes in a district that has been historically blue.

What gives you hope of being able to compete in this race?

- Well, Austin is my home.

It's the city that I love.

My family has been here for generations since before it was Mexico.

All my children were born here.

We're gonna continue to live here.

And like I said, I really have the deep community knowledge and the lived experience to understand what our needs are.

And regardless of the letter in front of my name, it should be everybody's hope that we can fix these broken systems and make affordability for everyone regardless of political ideology.

And what I have found is even with all of these experiences that I have, like I said, the Democrat-elected officials aren't listening to me.

They're not responding when I have elderly in wheelchairs being carried up and down by the Austin Fire Department because our elevator's not working in public housing.

And we shouldn't have to use city resources for basic ADA federal law.

And so when our officials don't care about that, what do they really care about?

And so I would ask that the public look past the letter in front of my name, especially for the fact that the Republican Party didn't want me.

I wanted the Republican Party because I felt like that was the only way to assist my community.

And so I'm not like any other elected official that's come before me on either side of the aisle.

But at the end of the day, I answer to the taxpayers, I answer to the constituents, and I'm not backed by big donors like my opponent.

- Well, Lauren Pena, Republican running for Texas' 37th Congressional District, thanks so much for your time today and best of luck in November.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- And for our voters, remember, Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd, with early voting starting October 19th.

(upbeat music) Central Health, Travis County's taxpayer-funded health district, is making a big investment in mental health services for the community.

The district and Travis County commissioners finalized next year's budget at a meeting last week.

It includes $54 million in new funding, the bulk of which would build capacity for inpatient emergency psychiatric care and a new mental health crisis center.

After the vote, leaders with the district talked about what this investment will do for Central Texans.

- For our patients, we want asking for help to mean getting help and getting help to lead to lasting recovery.

That's the commitment behind the investments in the budget the Travis County Commissioners Court approved today.

We are ready to get to work.

- The next step is turning these investments into services people can use and depend on.

That will take continued work among the county, the city, Integral Care, and our other partners to bring together the funding and expertise needed to open these doors and keep them open.

- Now, there is a tax increase associated with making these services happen.

For the average homeowner, it'll be an estimated increase of $36 next year or about $3 a month.

(drum beating) (solemn music) Meanwhile, a few dozen new Austin police officers are out on the streets this week.

38 of them walked across the stage last week, graduating from APD's Cadet Academy.

Assistant Chief Lee Rogers gave the new officers some words of wisdom before they hit the streets.

- But your learning doesn't end here.

It's just beginning.

Continue to lean on each other.

You have built relationships during your time at the academy that will become an important source for your support throughout your careers.

Look out for one another, celebrate each other's successes, and be there for each other when the job gets difficult.

- [Laura] The department has been running more than 300 officers short of authorized staffing levels for years.

With this new class, that number is down to 296 vacancies among sworn staff.

- [Graduates] As a police officer of the City of Austin.

(upbeat music) - [Laura] Texas is home to some of the most iconic landscapes and wildlife in the country, but running through it all is one thing that makes life possible, water.

- [Narrator] Rivers are the arteries of Texas that breathe life (birds chirping) into our most cherished landscapes and have blessed humanity for millennia.

- The new documentary, "Deep in the Heart 2," hits theaters this weekend.

It takes audiences across the Lone Star State to experience Texas rivers and waterways along with the wildlife that call them home.

It's the work of director, Ben Masters, who focuses on wildlife and conservation.

Well, Ben, you've done it again.

Thanks so much for being here and congratulations.

- Thanks.

Honored to be here.

Hello.

- Well, you brought us "Deep in the Heart," the first one, several years ago, focusing on the diverse wildlife across the state.

What made you want to run it back and now hone in on our beautiful rivers?

- Oh, I mean, so "Deep in the Heart" was a movie that focused on our relationship with wildlife and the good, the bad, the ugly.

A lot of focus on the good.

And then we released it in 2022.

And all of us were pretty shocked by people loved that movie.

And there was like three times more people that went and saw it in theaters than we anticipated.

And we finished it, and I just thought, wow, we should definitely do that again- - (laughs) Yeah.

- Because there's literally a never-ending amount of Texas wildlife stories that we could tell.

And for our main story, I just landed on rivers because I love rivers.

I grew up on the Canadian, went to school on the Brazos.

I love to go play on the Rio Grande, and on the Pecos, and on the Devils, and on the Neches.

And I just thought it would make sense to have a wildlife film that kind of had a different sequence and a different star in each of the major river basins, and then to also kind of tell our story of water through all of those animals and behaviors.

- And every shot in all of your films is like just this masterpiece painting.

The cinematography is unparalleled.

But we also, on a more somber note, heard about something else happening while you were working on this particular project.

You're doing all this work on our beautiful Texas rivers, and then in the midst of that, the catastrophic flood last summer on the Guadalupe.

Thankfully, your crew was okay, but did that flood change or influence or bring new perspective to the direction you were going with this documentary?

You guys were in place to see some of the worst devastation in Texas recent history.

- Yeah.

The Guadalupe flood was really heavy on our team.

Part of Texas rivers is flood.

- Is the volatility.

- Yeah, that is a thing that is part of our rivers.

And we wanted to film floods.

And whenever we saw that July 4th event kind of taking place, it was calling for large storms in the Hill Country that night, so we kinda had all of our cinematography team ready to go out and film floods.

- Wow.

- And obviously, we didn't imagine that it would be anything like what it was.

But we were there the day after the flood in Kerrville and then the proceeding day.

The heartbreak and devastation of that was something that I hope to never experience again in my life.

- [Laura] Yeah.

- And I certainly have a new appreciation for both the beauty and the devastation that can be caused by Texas rivers after making this film.

- Yeah.

That juxtaposition is really hard to grasp.

It's really hard to imagine that this was the source of such devastation and death for so many.

When people watch this, they loved, as you said, "Deep in the Heart" 1, but when they watch "Deep in the Heart 2," what do you hope sticks with them?

- That's a good question.

And I think whenever... Our country, our state, is so divided right now- - Yeah.

- And it's just such a shame.

And I think that there's one thing that really does kind of unite everybody.

Well, I think there's a lot of things, actually.

But one of them is just a shared love of Texas.

- Yeah.

- And I think that extends to our rivers.

Everybody wants there to be healthy rivers.

Everybody wants there to be water that comes out of springs along with aquifers that are full.

Everybody wants us to have functioning rivers, healthy bays, and a healthy Texas because we kinda rely on that for our future and for our kids and our grandkids.

And I think that's a really good place to start.

And what I really hope that the film does is- - [Narrator] Wildlife.

- Make people fall in love with Texas rivers even more than they already are, but also make people want to take individual, local, regional, and state action to where we can start managing our aquifers, our springs, our creeks, and our rivers in a way where we can make that choice to where we have healthy rivers.

And I think that's what most of us want to do.

And it's just difficult to accomplish because Texas is kind of confined by a lot of water management and policy that's over a century old.

- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

- And a lot of our water infrastructure is over a century old.

So we need new leadership in water.

We need people in government at all different levels, as well as Texas individuals, to really think about our water, how we use it, and how we can set up our rivers to always flow, to always have springs, to always have riparian areas.

So I really hope that the film does good for Texas rivers.

That's what I really hope for.

- I have no doubt that it will.

I know water infrastructure was a discussion point in our last legislative session, and I think your film is going to spark some very important and much-needed, long-overdue conversations.

Well, director, Ben Masters, again, congratulations.

Another incredible work.

And thank you so much for being with us today.

- Well, thank you.

Bye.

- Bye.

(laughs) (Ben laughs) You can catch "Deep in the Heart 2" in theaters across Texas opening September 25th.

(upbeat music) And that's our show.

If you wanna see more "Austin InSight," you can catch all our episodes on the Austin PBS YouTube channel and in the PBS App anytime for free.

Thanks again for watching.

We'll see you next time.

(upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin and also from Daniel L. Skret.

(lighthearted music)