Our worst fears are being manifest on the Mexican border and this will lead to direct impact on the streets, in the hospitals and schools of Austin. There are two ways this will occur and make very critical the numbers, selection and training of the Austin Police and to some extent EMS.

One is that the 52,000 children that have crossed the border into Texas since October 2013 cannot stay in towns like McAllen. Their resources are overwhelmed. I believe under current law as those apprehended are minors and not from Mexico, they must be processed through a court hearing. Apparently Federal agencies are flying or busing these persons, mainly children and some women, to other areas of the United States including nearby San Antonio and to other states including Arizona and California to hold until a court hearing and determination is made. As an example 1300 were transferred to Ft. Sill next to Lawton, Oklahoma where HHS has custody and refused to permit a U.S. Member of the House of Representative from Oklahoma to enter the facility. To the degree that these are unaccompanied minors they should be turned over to Protective Services in each state for placement in Foster Care. States not the Federal government have the trained personnel to arrange and supervise Foster Care. It is not a perfect system, Texas has fewer than 33,000 foster care placements and the death of two foster care children in Williamson County over the 4th weekend is an illustration of problems in selecting and supervising those who provide foster care. How then can Texas expand foster care to handle some significant fraction of the 52,000 much less the fraction of 150,000 more children coming in the next 12 months that Homeland Security Chair Representative Michael McCaul advised at a hearing in McAllen on Thursday, July 7 in McAllen, Texas?

These children will require some place to live, education, clothing, medical care and transportation. How will Texas be able to secure these resources and how will Texas pay for these resources? Foster care payments per child per day are about 23 dollars to the caregiver and there are probably 10 more dollars per child per day to pay for other associated costs. If 52,000 children remain in Texas and have comparable costs to Texas children, the annual budget ($626,000,000) will be half as an example of what the state spends on the Texas Department of Public Safety. If these children or some portion are simply on the streets in cities like ours, how will public safety agencies like the Austin Police cope?

The second is that the presence of thousands of children and the fact the children have been told and are seeking out Border Patrol officers is removing those Federal officers from the critical function of thwarting drug and human trafficking mainly led by Cartels. Friends in law enforcement in McAllen and Laredo have told me as late as this weekend that the immigrant children will climb fences to enter Border Patrol offices to surrender to those officers. This means that state and municipal law enforcement will face a larger burden not just in border towns like McAllen or Laredo but in cities like ours. Human trafficking and illegal drug activity will increase on the streets of Austin as a result of this refugee disaster overwhelming Border Patrol officers and offices from their role in interdicting this criminal activity. To a significant extent the debate of the last three years of whether we can have fewer officers that 2 per thousand citizens is a bit out of touch with what is developing on the ground. We are as we have brought to the attention of the City Council behind in that hiring and facing far greater potential demands.

The Federal government in my opinion has been asleep at the wheel in terms of forethought and preparation. Some have compared this to FEMA’s failures when Hurricane Katrina struck. The difference is that this situation is a quantum level greater than Katrina. Honduras, Guatemala and to a lesser extent, El Salvador and Mexico are failed states. Honduras is the most dangerous nation in the world in terms of violent deaths. Guatemala is slightly better. There are 160 million people in those countries. They do not provide for the essentials of life and have the potential to send tens of thousands to refugee camps in the United States and unlike Katrina with little prospect to return home.