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STATE
IMMIGRATION
Stakes are high for Straus successor
Immigrant child with cerebral palsy detained after surgery
Speaker’s exit poses challenge
Girl faces deportation proceedings upon release By Nomaan Merchant ASSOCIATED PRE SS
By Paul J. Weber A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
AUSTIN — The unexpected retirement of the leading moderate Republican in Texas politics comes as Democrats struggle to find candidates to fill a statewide ballot for 2018 while unwavering conservatives emboldened by President Donald Trump line up big donors and face few party rivals. Republican House Speaker Joe Straus made the surprise departure announcement Wednesday just after his national profile soared because he scuttled a North Carolina-style “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people. Even the ACLU of Texas — usually a combatant with the ruling Texas GOP — tweeted its gratitude as Straus announced his exit. Powerless Texas Democrats came to rely on the pragmatic five-term speaker as a check on some conservative measures, even as Straus allowed Texas to pass others such as immigration crackdowns, anti-abortion measures and voting restrictions that are among the toughest in the U.S. The stakes over his successor are high, because, for Democrats and a weakened class of GOP moderates in Texas, the odds of making gains in other elections next year are long. “Joe Straus saved Texas, and now that he’s gone there are no brakes,” said Andrew White, a Houston investor exploring a run for governor because no credible Democratic candidate has stepped up. “We’re an out of control 18-wheeler. If we don’t do any-
HOUSTON — A 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who entered the United States from Mexico without permission a decade ago is potentially facing deportation after having to cross a Border Patrol checkpoint in South Texas for emergency gallbladder surgery, a family lawyer said Thursday. Immigration advocates are protesting Rosa Maria Her-
nandez’s case and say Border Patrol should show more discretion in the cases of sick children who are in the U.S. illegally but need medical treatment. Leticia Gonzalez, an attorney for the Hernandez family, said Thursday that Rosa Maria was taken with a cousin from the Texas border city of Laredo to a children’s hospital in Corpus Christi, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) away. They had to pass through one
of several Border Patrol checkpoints set up in South Texas, north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Gonzalez said Border Patrol agents allowed the girl and her cousin to pass, but followed the hospital vehicle taking them. At the hospital, agents stood by and refused to let Rosa Maria’s relative close the door to their room so they could keep watch over the girl, Gonzalez said. And after the surgery was complete, agents
stood ready to escort Rosa Maria to a federal facility for unaccompanied minors in the U.S. illegally, located another 140 miles away in San Antonio. Rosa Maria is being held at the facility indefinitely, the attorney said. Even if she is eventually released to a sponsor approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the girl will undergo processing and could be deported. Gonzalez said it Child continues on A8
NATIONAL SECURITY
WALL PROTOTYPES COMPLETED They will be tested for effectiveness By Elliot Spagat ASSOCIATED PRE SS
SAN DIEGO — The U.S. government announced Thursday that prototypes for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico have been completed and will be subjected to punishment to test their mettle — by workers wielding sledgehammers, torches, pickaxes and batteryoperated tools. The testing lasting up to two months could lead to officials concluding that elements of several designs should be merged to create effective walls, said Ronald Vitiello, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s acting deputy commissioner. Wall continues on A8
Straus continues on A8
Elliott Spagat / Associated Press
People look at prototypes of a border wall Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, in San Diego. Contractors have completed eight prototypes of President Donald Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico, triggering a period of rigorous testing to determine if they can repel sledgehammers, torches, pickaxes and battery-operated tools.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Trump frustrated by intelligence community’s JFK secrecy By Zeke Miller A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — It was a showdown 25 years in the making: With the world itching to finally get a look at classified Kennedy assassination files, and the deadline for their release just hours away, intelligence officials were still angling for a way to keep their secrets. President Donald Trump, the
one man able to block the release, did not appreciate their persistence. He did not intend to make this easy. Like much else surrounding investigations of the 1963 killing of President John F. Kennedy, Thursday’s release of 2,800 records from the JFK files was anything but smooth. It came together only at the last minute, with White House lawyers still fielding late-arriving requests
for additional redactions in the morning and an irritated Trump continuing to resist signing off on the request, according to an account by two White House officials. They spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions. The tale of the final hours before the congressionally mandated 25-year release deadline adds a new chapter to the story
of Trump’s troubled relationship with his spy agencies. He again flashed his skepticism and unpredictability in dealing with agencies long accustomed to a level of deference. Intelligence officials, meanwhile, were again left scratching their heads about a president whose impulses they cannot predict. And those officials had their own story tell, some rejecting the notion they were slow to act
on Trump’s expectations for the documents. The CIA began work months ago to get its remaining assassination-related documents ready for release on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the process. The person, who was not authorized to publicly to discuss the process and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the goal was to have all the agency’s Files continues on A8