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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017
@thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Volume 118, Issue 29
TEXAS TRIBUNE FEST End-of-summer festival gives platform for heated debate on pressing issues CAMPUS
STATE
O’Rourke speaks to students at SAC By Chase Karacostas Senior Reporter
juan figueroa| daily texan staff
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz announces that he isn’t quite a “yes” vote on the Senate’s latest attempt to repeal Obamacare on Sunday.
Congressmen clash on DACA, health care By Forrest Milburn and Maria Mendez
Enterprise and News Reporter
The state’s two Republican U.S. senators displayed starkly different takes on where Texas is headed going into the 2018 midterm elections, one day after a Democratic candidate for Senate made his case to voters. At this weekend’s Texas Tribune Festival, U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn sat down Sunday with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith, who asked the two Texas leaders a range of questions, from the president’s recent decision to undo protections for young undocumented immigrants to health
care legislation. Earlier this month, the White House announced it was rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — or DACA — an Obama-era immigration policy that protects nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrants. When asked for his take on the decision, Cornyn said he thinks a deal is possible between both interests in Congress, adding any negotiation would need to beef up border security and enforcement efforts in return for renewed protections.
DACA page 3
juan figueroa| daily texan staff
Julieta Garibay with United We Dream protests U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn outside of Hogg Auditorium.
Democratic Senate challenger Beto O’Rourke told UT students on Friday afternoon about growing up in the “greatest binational community in the world:” El Paso. After several months of planning, Tejas Club brought O’Rourke, the U.S. representative for El Paso, to speak during their weekly lecture series, Tejas Coffee. Hundreds of students crammed into the Student Activity Center auditorium to hear about O’Rourke’s life and to discuss issues such as student debt and immigration. “This is a great opportunity to host one of our state’s — and hopefully one of our country’s — leaders,” said Jackson Clifford, Tejas vice president and accounting graduate student. “I consider myself more of a moderate … I really align well with people who have the best interests of Americans in mind, and I do think that Congressman O’Rourke is for American people.” O’Rourke started by talking about his home, praising El Paso’s low crime rates and its diversity built off of immigration. He said after leaving his home to attend school in New York, he came back to realize how much he’d taken many of his people’s “amazing stories” as immigrants for granted. “There was so much amazing music and art and culture that was coming out of El Paso, Texas, unlike anything, anywhere else in the world,” O’Rourke said. O’Rourke then compared his own political career to
O’ROURKE page 2 UNIVERSITY
STATE
Politicians debate SB 4, Panel discusses impact of Title IX amendments on UT ride sharing controversies By Wesley Story Senior Reporter
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ recent amendments to Title IX sexual assault guidelines left one Texas Tribune Festival panel with a lot to consider. The Saturday panel — made up of lawmakers, a reporter, a UT System official and a sexual assault survivor — discussed how recent federal level policy shifts may impact how colleges approach sexual assault cases and how Texas can learn from Baylor University’s sexual assault scandal. ESPN reporter Paula Lavigne covered the Baylor scandal and has reported on
issues of sexual assault at other colleges. Lavigne, a panelist, said concerns over the Title IX changes are valid, but that students and the public will continue to hold universities accountable. “What happened at Baylor was so unprecedented … that universities were put on notice,” Lavigne said. “Despite what the policies are, the pressure from the public and the pressure from the students is not going away.” DeVos reversed an Obama-era Title IX guideline on Friday that required colleges and universities to use the lowest evidentiary standard, “more likely than not,” when evaluating sexual
6267/UT Athletics; Process color
assault cases. Under the new guidelines, schools are able to use the “clear and convincing” evidence standard in deciding whether a student is responsible for sexual assault. DeVos also removed a deadline for completing sexual assault investigations within 60 days. In response to these changes, a number of universities have publicly committed to uphold the standards introduced in the 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter and under Obama’s 2014 guidance. Baylor University junior Sierra Smith, a sexual assault survivor, said the new
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By Maria Mendez & London Gibson News and Senior Reporter
Politicians rehashed the sanctuary cities and Uber controversies, reopening the debate about city and state control at this weekend’s Texas Tribune Festival. The divide between state politicians and Austin lawmakers became evident at two Saturday panels about local liberty and sanctuary cities policies, which have pushed to protect undocumented immigrants. Heated discussion about Senate Bill 4, the anti-sanctuary cities bill, brought up the question of how law enforcement handles federal immigration in Texas. State Rep. Matt Schaefer,
R-Tyler, one of the key sponsors of SB 4, said states should create policies that ensure local law enforcement cooperate with federal U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents. Confident that SB 4 will be upheld as constitutional by courts, Schaefer critiqued local officials in cities like Austin. “The movement for sanctuary cities is growing and growing, and we will say, ‘No more,’” Schaefer said. “(Travis County Sheriff) Sally Hernandez supports protecting illegal criminals.” State Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, said SB 4 gave local law enforcement “another tool” to protect communities. Charles Wilkinson, a law
enforcement lobbyist, said SB 4 places too much responsibility on local police departments, which can be sued for holding immigrants in their jail cells for too long until federal immigration enforcement arrives. State Rep. Ana Hernandez, D-Houston, added that a Dallas county jail currently faces a lawsuit for violating the due process rights of immigrants held in its jail cells who never got picked up by ICE. Though panelists admitted various cities in Texas voiced opposition to SB 4, Schaefer and Buckingham continued defending the law. At the festival’s Local Liberty panel, the issue of local
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