ROMO: PRESCOTT SHOULD START
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TEXAS BORDER
PRISONS
Men off to prison for massacre
Trump plans to change Texas
By Jason Buch SA N A NT ONI O E XPRE SS-NEWS
Authorities in the Mexican state of Coahuila have secured significant prison sentences for two men they say were involved in a 2011 massacre carried out near the Texas border by corrupt police and members of the Zetas drug cartel. Details of what’s been called the Allende Massacre, named after a town near the Rio Grande, have trickled out in U.S. court cases, including the trial last summer in San Antonio of a Zetas middle manager. By some counts, hundreds of people were forcibly taken and murdered, and their bodies were destroyed as the Zetas wiped out anyone connected to a group of traffickers who were cooperating with the U.S. government. On Saturday, José Ángel Herrera, the assistant attorney general for disappeared persons, announced that a judge had ordered Germán “El Canelo” Zaragoza Sánchez to spend 80 years in prison and Fernando “El Panone” Hernández Reyes to spend 75 years in prison on charges of aggravated kidnapping. In a report earlier this year, the state said it had identified 23 people who were kidnapped and killed over two days in March 2011 in Allende and that authorities had detained nine suspects. Investigators have identified 14 people responsible, seven of them municipal police officers and the other seven members of the Zetas, Herrera said Saturday. Sánchez and Hernández are the first suspects to be punished in Mexico for their part in the massacre. The state “is committed to guaranteeing peace and tranquillity,” Herrera said in his statement. The announcement was an effort by the administration of Gov. Rubén Moreira to show Massacre continues on A11
Deporting immigrant convicts may help taxpayers By Mike Ward HOUSTON CHRONICLE
AUSTIN — Donald Trump’s plan to start deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records would cover more than 6,700 convicts in Texas prisons, more than in any other state, a move that could save taxpayers millions of dollars a year. The path for Trump to do so, however, is complicated by opposition to releasing convicts before they finish their sentences, especially if they are deported only to return to com-
mit new crimes, officials said Monday. “I’ll put a bow on them if he’ll come get them, but we’ve been trying to get them sent home for more than a decade without much success,” said Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. “About half of them are eligible for parole, and sending them home would not compromise public safety one iota,” the Houston Democrat said. “So, let’s do it. It’s nuts that we spend millions of dollars hous-
Rose Baca / The Dallas Morning News/AP file
An inmate works outdoors outside a Texas prison unit in Huntsville in this 2015 file photo. About half of the 6,761 deportable convicts in Texas are already eligible for parole.
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U.S. CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
TEXAS CARDINAL NAMED TOP CATHOLIC LEADER Mexicanborn archbishop also elected By Rachel Zoll ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Patrick Semansky / AP
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, the newly elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, speaks at a news conference at the USCCB's annual fall meeting in Baltimore, Tuesday.
BALTIMORE — U.S. Roman Catholic bishops chose a Texas cardinal and the Mexican-born archbishop of Los Angeles as their top leaders Tuesday, as they look toward building ties with the Trump administration. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, was elected president, and Archbishop Jose Gomez was elected vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Gomez is the first Latino to hold the post. The vice president customarily Catholic continues on A11
85TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Zaffirini pre-files 42 legislative bills S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S
Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, pre-filed Monday the first 41 Senate bills and the first Senate Joint Resolution of the 85th Texas Legislative Session that will convene Jan. 10. “My staff and I have been working diligently to craft a legislative agenda that reflects the priorities of families in our district and throughout our great state,” Senator Zaffirini said. “These include ensuring families have the option of enrolling their children in highquality pre-k programs, ensuring college students can afford tuition and promoting health, public safety and a clean environment.” Of the 42 bills filed Monday by Senator Zaffirini, six relate
to higher education; two, public education; and four, health and human services. Her bills include the following: Zaffirini 1 SB 31, which would prohibit texting while driving. 1 SB 32, which would establish a successor to the B-On-Time Loan Program to provide low interest loans to high-achieving, low-income college students. 1 SB 33, which would reform the TEXAS Grant financial aid program to incentivize timely graduation and maximize limited funding. 1 SB 34, which would expand the use of outcomes-based funding in higher education to promote timely graduation and
degree completion. 1 SB 35, which would create universal pre-k for all four-year olds and expand half-day pre-k to qualifying at-risk three-year olds. 1 SB 36-41, which would continue reforms to Texas’ guardianship system begun during the 2015 legislative session. 1 SB 42, which would implement the Texas Judicial Council’s recommendations to improve security at Texas’ courthouses and courtrooms. 1 SB 48, which would established two annual, ten-day tax-free periods during which eligible low-income students would be able to purchase or rent textbooks tax-free. 1 SB 50, which would strengthen state laws against hazing. 1 SB 56, which would strength-
en state agencies’ cybersecurity plans. 1 SB 65, which would authorize state enforcement action against a cemetery that is discriminating on the basis of race. 1 SB 66, which would exempt vehicles purchased by activeduty service members deployed overseas from sales tax. 1 SB 68, which would require an elected official convicted of a felony crime to forfeit their pension. 1 SB 69, which would prohibit leaving a pet in a hot car and authorize a person to free a pet or a vulnerable person (baby) trapped in a hot car. 1 SB 70, which would clarify the requirement that employers provide earning statements to employees. 1 SB 71, which would help the
City of San Marcos better manage restoration and environmental protection of the San Marcos River. Bills are numbered chronologically as they are filed, though 1-30 were reserved for the priorities of Lt. GovernorElect Dan Patrick. Because hers were the first Senate bills filed for 2017, Zaffirini’s are numbered 31-71 and SJR 6. “The bills we filed (Monday) are a great beginning, but we are just getting started,” Zaffirini said. “We will file additional legislation, especially as we finalize interim reports developed by the committees on which I serve.”
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