Latest / Austin Signal / Texas GOP reexamines ICE messaging amid crackdown controversies

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Texas GOP reexamines ICE messaging amid crackdown controversies · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Texas Governor Greg Abbott has said
• 0:10
  immigration and customs enforcement
• 0:11
  needs to, quote, recalibrate
• 0:14
  its tactics.
• 0:15
  And he isn't the only member of the
• 0:16
  Texas GOP to comment on the
• 0:18
  operations and the rhetoric around
• 0:20
  it. The messaging comes a few weeks
• 0:22
  before early voting begins in the
• 0:23
  Texas primaries ahead of the
• 0:25
  midterms. We're gonna have more
• 0:26
  about that.
• 0:28
  And a former Austin police chief
• 0:29
  says ICE agents are deploying
• 0:30
  tactics that show they're either
• 0:32
  insufficiently trained or poorly
• 0:34
  supervised. He says when trust
• 0:36
  collapses, criminals win.
• 0:38
  Come hear more from that
• 0:39
  conversation coming up on today's
• 0:41
  show.
• 0:41
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:43
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:45
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:46
  And the Austin City Council has
• 0:48
  postponed a vote on a contract for
• 0:49
  AI-powered surveillance cameras,
• 0:52
  why the vote was pushed back, and
• 0:53
  what happens now.
• 0:54
  It's coming up next on Austin
• 0:56
  Signal.
• 1:06
  Howdy, thank you for tuning in to
• 1:07
  Austin Signal.
• 1:08
  I am your host, Jerry Kikano.
• 1:10
  It is Wednesday, February 4th,
• 1:13
  and we're glad you're spending part
• 1:14
  of your day here with us.
• 1:15
  We've got a lot to share with you
• 1:17
  today, so let's jump right in.
• 1:19
  Buda police officers arrested a
• 1:20
  45-year-old man following a fight
• 1:22
  Monday with student protesters near
• 1:24
  Johnson High School.
• 1:25
  Chad Michael Watts of Kyle was
• 1:27
  charged Tuesday with two counts
• 1:28
  of assault causing bodily injury.
• 1:30
  The incident was captured in a now
• 1:32
  viral video.
• 1:33
  A man and a student protester are
• 1:35
  seen getting into a verbal argument
• 1:36
  that quickly turns physical.
• 1:38
  The man throws a girl to the ground
• 1:40
  and strikes her repeatedly until
• 1:41
  other students intervene and pull
• 1:43
  him away. We have more about this
• 1:44
  story over at KUT.org
• 1:47
  and we'll include a link in
• 1:49
  our show notes for today as
• 1:51
  well. There's been a flood of news
• 1:53
  this week out of Minnesota related
• 1:54
  to the federal government's ongoing
• 1:56
  immigration crackdown there, but
• 1:58
  here in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott
• 2:00
  made headlines for saying the White
• 2:01
  House needed to quote recalibrate
• 2:03
  U.S. Immigration and Customs
• 2:05
  Enforcement's tactics.
• 2:07
  The governor's comments came just
• 2:08
  days after demonstrator Alex Pretti
• 2:10
  was shot and killed by federal
• 2:11
  agents in Minneapolis.
• 2:13
  And Abbott isn't the only Texas
• 2:15
  Republican who has expressed concern
• 2:17
  or skepticism about ICE's recent
• 2:19
  activity and the rhetoric around
• 2:20
  it. Though, as the Texas newsroom's
• 2:23
  Blaise Ganey reports, this change in
• 2:25
  tone likely has more to do with
• 2:27
  the midterm elections than a true
• 2:28
  change in thinking.
• 2:31
  The November elections are steadily
• 2:32
  approaching, and Republicans were
• 2:34
  already anticipating a fierce battle
• 2:36
  to keep control of the U.S.
• 2:38
  House and Senate.
• 2:39
  But recent events around immigration
• 2:41
  enforcement in Minnesota, like the
• 2:43
  deaths of two U.
• 2:44
  S. Citizens, have intensified the
• 2:45
  situation.
• 2:46
  So had the detention of a
• 2:48
  five-year-old boy from Minneapolis
• 2:50
  at an ICE facility in
• 2:51
  Texas.
• 2:52
  Normally these midterms
• 2:54
  are like a political earthquake,
• 2:56
  but this is an earthquake that
• 2:58
  spawned a tsunami." Brandon
• 2:59
  Rottinghouse is a political
• 3:00
  scientist at the University of
• 3:02
  Houston. These images and
• 3:04
  the actions, although awful in
• 3:06
  so many ways, are problematic
• 3:08
  for Republicans and give Democrats
• 3:11
  a chance to show why they
• 3:12
  have been in opposition to this from
• 3:14
  the start.
• 3:14
  Republicans don't need that,
• 3:16
  especially not with Democrats
• 3:17
  promising to impeach President
• 3:19
  Donald Trump if they're able to gain
• 3:21
  control of Congress.
• 3:23
  It's also become a focus for
• 3:24
  Republicans here in Texas,
• 3:26
  a state that's long been one of
• 3:27
  Trump's most enthusiastic partners
• 3:29
  on immigration.
• 3:31
  So some were caught off guard when
• 3:32
  Governor Abbott told conservative
• 3:33
  radio talk show host Mark Davis
• 3:35
  that the administration's current
• 3:37
  approach on immigration was making
• 3:39
  the public lose respect for law
• 3:41
  enforcement.
• 3:41
  They being the White House need to
• 3:43
  recalibrate on what needs to be done
• 3:45
  to make sure that
• 3:47
  that respect is going to be
• 3:48
  reinstilled.
• 3:49
  Abbott said that recalibration
• 3:51
  should also mean ICE refocusing
• 3:53
  on the removal of dangerous
• 3:54
  undocumented immigrants.
• 3:56
  Without causing all the kinds of
• 3:58
  problems and fighting in communities
• 4:00
  that they are experiencing right
• 4:01
  now.
• 4:02
  Both of Texas U.S.
• 4:03
  Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz
• 4:05
  made similar comments.
• 4:06
  I think it's a good idea to
• 4:08
  de-escalate.
• 4:09
  Escalating the rhetoric doesn't
• 4:11
  help and it actually loses
• 4:13
  credibility and so I would
• 4:15
  encourage the administration to
• 4:17
  be more measured.
• 4:18
  And Senator Cruz was joined by Texas
• 4:20
  Congressman Michael McCaul in
• 4:21
  calling for investigations into the
• 4:23
  shooting death of Alex Preti.
• 4:25
  So does this signal a shift in tone
• 4:27
  for Texas Republicans?
• 4:29
  Not according to Sergio Garcia Rios.
• 4:31
  It's not necessarily a shift, it's
• 4:33
  an adjustment.
• 4:34
  Garcia Rio is a professor at UT
• 4:37
  Austin's LBJ School of Public
• 4:38
  Affairs.
• 4:39
  If you listen to more of those
• 4:40
  interviews, you can hear his point.
• 4:42
  Most messaging around protests in
• 4:44
  Minnesota still cast blame on
• 4:45
  Democrats and even on the victims.
• 4:48
  Here's Senator Cruz talking about
• 4:50
  Pretti on his podcast.
• 4:51
  He could have chosen to go there
• 4:53
  and not bring a
• 4:55
  firearm.
• 4:56
  And Cornyn did the same on the Mark
• 4:57
  Davis show.
• 4:58
  The First Amendment is important,
• 5:00
  the right to peacefully demonstrate,
• 5:04
  but we've seen some of these
• 5:05
  protesters in Minneapolis and
• 5:07
  elsewhere cross a line
• 5:09
  they should not cross, which is
• 5:10
  interfering with law enforcement
• 5:13
  activity.
• 5:13
  So why the shift in some of
• 5:15
  this messaging?
• 5:17
  Garcia Rios thinks the talk of
• 5:18
  de-escalation is a sign that these
• 5:20
  issues have reached another level,
• 5:22
  when Texas Republicans feel the need
• 5:24
  to address this election year while
• 5:26
  still being tough on immigration and
• 5:28
  de-emigration.
• 5:28
  It's always been politicized
• 5:30
  for many years but it's now
• 5:32
  becoming electoral and I think
• 5:33
  that's where the adjustment is
• 5:35
  happening
• 5:35
  or as University of Houston
• 5:37
  political scientist Brennan Rodd...
• 5:38
  House describes it.
• 5:52
  The kind of liabilities that could
• 5:54
  alienate voters, either making them
• 5:56
  vote for Democrats in November or
• 5:58
  not vote at all.
• 6:00
  Like for instance, Latino voters in
• 6:02
  the Rio Grande Valley who backed
• 6:03
  President Trump in 2024.
• 6:06
  Garcia Rio says it's a hard line to
• 6:08
  walk for Republicans.
• 6:09
  They want strong borders,
• 6:11
  they want secure communities, they
• 6:12
  want safety, but they don't
• 6:15
  want their friends and families
• 6:17
  being deported.
• 6:18
  More broadly, both Garcia Rios
• 6:19
  and Roddinghaus believe any change
• 6:21
  in tone right now likely isn't
• 6:24
  the result of a change of heart,
• 6:25
  but rather the realization that
• 6:27
  the immigration issue isn't going
• 6:29
  away.
• 6:30
  I'm Blaise Ganey in Austin.
• 6:32
  Continuing on that immigration
• 6:34
  coverage, we wanted to share with
• 6:35
  you an excerpt of a conversation
• 6:37
  between former Austin Police
• 6:38
  Chief Arts Acevedo and Texas
• 6:41
  standards David Brown.
• 6:42
  Acevedos was asked about his opinion
• 6:44
  on ICE tactics, which he wrote
• 6:46
  about in an op-ed published by
• 6:48
  the Austin American Statesman.
• 6:51
  If ICE would go back to
• 6:53
  their tactics that were
• 6:55
  really intelligence-led
• 6:57
  and data-driven like
• 6:59
  they've done in the past, they need
• 7:01
  to go back the border, and we need
• 7:03
  to bring some normalcy back to
• 7:05
  the operations that we've been
• 7:06
  witnessing across the country, and
• 7:08
  get rid of this reported
• 7:11
  3,000 arrests
• 7:13
  a day, which, quite honestly,
• 7:15
  last time check the quotas are
• 7:17
  illegal in terms of law enforcement,
• 7:19
  I should be no different.
• 7:20
  If you had the ear of
• 7:23
  the Minneapolis police chief,
• 7:25
  what would you tell that
• 7:27
  person about how to
• 7:29
  navigate these times?
• 7:31
  Well, you know, I know the chief
• 7:33
  very well. I've known him for many
• 7:34
  years. He's a friend, he's a
• 7:35
  colleague. And I would tell him,
• 7:37
  stay the course. You're doing a
• 7:38
  great job of balancing, you
• 7:40
  know, the needs and the safety of
• 7:42
  your community, your officers.
• 7:44
  And you're helping to
• 7:46
  keep ICE and Border
• 7:48
  Patrol when there's conflict with
• 7:49
  the community. You're done a good
• 7:51
  job of triaging those
• 7:53
  incidents when there's a request for
• 7:55
  assistance. Or requests from your
• 7:57
  own community to respond.
• 7:59
  So he's in a tough spot, I
• 8:01
  feel for him, but I think that
• 8:03
  based on everything that he and his
• 8:05
  men and women have been going
• 8:06
  through, that he has a lot
• 8:08
  to be proud of and we should support
• 8:10
  him and support the men and
• 8:12
  woman of ICE and demand
• 8:14
  that their leadership get back to
• 8:16
  what they know to be appropriate
• 8:18
  tactics and appropriate processes
• 8:20
  and focusing on dangerous criminals
• 8:22
  instead of. Going out and stopping
• 8:24
  everything that moves.
• 8:25
  It has a brown skin or
• 8:27
  might appear to be a person.
• 8:29
  Of color.
• 8:30
  Say more about the tactics that you
• 8:32
  would like to see when it comes to
• 8:34
  immigration officers.
• 8:35
  What specifically would you like to
• 8:37
  see them do differently?
• 8:38
  Like to see is for them to go back
• 8:40
  to the way they've always operated,
• 8:42
  which is to not go
• 8:44
  out and racially profile, not go and
• 8:46
  just stop people without cause.
• 8:48
  And they go back to the days when
• 8:50
  they actually respected the rule of
• 8:51
  law and operated within
• 8:53
  the, you know, requirements
• 8:55
  of the Constitution.
• 8:58
  So they know how to do the job.
• 9:00
  And I think with Tom Holman,
• 9:02
  who is a career ice
• 9:04
  agent and a leader in that
• 9:06
  organization.
• 9:07
  At the helm, I am hopeful that
• 9:09
  he'll go back to the methods
• 9:11
  that are appropriate, the methods
• 9:13
  that respect due process, and
• 9:15
  the methods to respect the rule of
• 9:16
  law. And most importantly,
• 9:18
  methods that targeted, are
• 9:20
  deliberative, and are not going
• 9:22
  out and just, you know,
• 9:24
  stopping people based on racial
• 9:26
  profiling and, quite honestly,
• 9:28
  with limited cause, probable cause,
• 9:31
  or reasonable suspicion.
• 9:31
  Themselves. Let's see what happens,
• 9:33
  but I think with Tom in charge, I'm
• 9:35
  really hopeful we're going to see a
• 9:36
  change, not just in Minneapolis, but
• 9:38
  across the country, where we're
• 9:39
  gonna be doing things.
• 9:40
  They'll be doing things the
• 9:41
  appropriate way and not the
• 9:43
  theatrical way that we've been
• 9:44
  seeing, quite honestly,
• 9:46
  the unconstitutional way
• 9:48
  that is really
• 9:50
  creating a lot of
• 9:52
  angst, I believe, amongst a lot
• 9:54
  the members of ICE and DHS
• 9:56
  and a lot distrust.
• 9:58
  So let's see. I don't know what happens,
• 9:59
  but I'm all for it.
• 10:00
  Ship will be turned around.
• 10:02
  One final thing, you wrote in your
• 10:04
  op-ed that when trust collapses,
• 10:06
  criminals win.
• 10:07
  Could you say more about that
• 10:09
  concern?
• 10:10
  Absolutely.
• 10:11
  Look, our number one commodity
• 10:13
  that we have to build its emotional
• 10:15
  capital and that is trust.
• 10:17
  And when the public
• 10:19
  does not trust law
• 10:21
  enforcement, people,
• 10:23
  whether they're victims or they're
• 10:25
  witnesses, they go back into the
• 10:26
  shadows, they don't cooperate, they
• 10:27
  don't call.
• 10:28
  And so that's a loss for
• 10:30
  public safety, that's the loss for
• 10:32
  all Americans, and that's loss for
• 10:34
  community safety.
• 10:35
  And, so... Let's hope that we
• 10:37
  see a change in the
• 10:38
  tactics, and let's hope that we'll
• 10:40
  see some more return to traditional
• 10:42
  law enforcement methodologies,
• 10:44
  and with that, let's hope that when
• 10:46
  we start seeing the distrust
• 10:48
  that is spreading,
• 10:50
  staff and the wave of rebuilding
• 10:52
  trust start, which is in the best
• 10:54
  interest of all of us here in this
• 10:55
  country.
• 10:58
  That was former Austin Police
• 11:00
  Chief Art Acevedo talking with Texas
• 11:02
  Standards David Brown.
• 11:04
  We'll have a link to that full
• 11:05
  conversation at kut.org
• 11:07
  slash signal and in the podcast
• 11:09
  show notes for today.
• 11:11
  Now as we've been talking about on
• 11:13
  the show the current political
• 11:14
  climate is on virtually everyone's
• 11:16
  minds and it has become a big
• 11:18
  consideration for the folks who make
• 11:19
  the decisions on how cities are
• 11:21
  continuing to operate.
• 11:23
  For the Austin City Council the It
• 11:24
  came up when discussing a potential
• 11:26
  contract to put cameras in parks
• 11:28
  to help with policing.
• 11:30
  These cameras would have AI
• 11:31
  capabilities and questions about how
• 11:33
  this data will be stored and who
• 11:35
  could potentially monitor it had
• 11:37
  city council postponed the vote for
• 11:39
  a second time.
• 11:40
  For more about that, we are speaking
• 11:42
  with KUT city hall reporter, Luz
• 11:43
  Moreno Lozano.
• 11:44
  Luz, welcome back.
• 11:45
  Hey, Jerry.
• 11:46
  So give us a little bit of
• 11:47
  background, what was the proposal
• 11:49
  here?
• 11:49
  So it was a $2 million contract.
• 11:51
  It was, I believe, four years.
• 11:54
  But it would install essentially
• 11:56
  these mobile AI-enabled
• 11:58
  cameras in parking
• 12:00
  lots of some of the city's most
• 12:02
  popular parks.
• 12:04
  If for anyone who lives here and who
• 12:05
  goes hiking, car break-ins are
• 12:08
  sometimes a thing at these parks.
• 12:10
  And what the city is trying to do is
• 12:12
  kind of crack down on some of
• 12:14
  these car break ins and some other
• 12:15
  crimes to vandalism and those kinds
• 12:17
  of things that also happen at parks.
• 12:19
  So what has been the concern among
• 12:21
  citizens here in Austin about these
• 12:23
  cameras?
• 12:23
  Yeah. I think one of the biggest
• 12:25
  things is how these cameras
• 12:27
  store and share data.
• 12:29
  These AI-enabled cameras can do all
• 12:31
  kinds of things, facial recognition,
• 12:33
  voice, audible commands.
• 12:36
  There's lots of things that these
• 12:38
  things can do.
• 12:39
  But the biggest concern was facial
• 12:41
  recognition.
• 12:42
  And if someone is caught on
• 12:43
  camera, is that being
• 12:45
  shared with some of these outside
• 12:47
  agencies like ice and some of these
• 12:49
  other.
• 12:50
  Arresting agencies, we're putting
• 12:51
  some of these vulnerable communities
• 12:53
  in a tough spot.
• 12:55
  Yeah, and for the people who argue
• 12:56
  that these cameras are necessary,
• 12:58
  what's the reason they say?
• 12:59
  Yeah, the city's
• 13:01
  parks department was saying that
• 13:02
  these cameras have helped deter
• 13:04
  crime.
• 13:05
  We saw some numbers from the
• 13:07
  city that was saying like at Mount
• 13:09
  Bonnell, for example, they had
• 13:11
  373 car break-ins
• 13:13
  in 2022.
• 13:14
  After these cameras were installed,
• 13:16
  in 2025, we saw just
• 13:18
  88 of those kinds
• 13:20
  of crimes.
• 13:20
  So they are helping in a way to
• 13:22
  kind of, one, deter crime,
• 13:24
  two, we heard from APD say that
• 13:26
  these cameras do help kind of
• 13:28
  give.
• 13:29
  Yeah, some identity
• 13:31
  to people who are breaking into
• 13:33
  cars.
• 13:33
  Okay, so this contract was
• 13:35
  supposed to come up for a vote
• 13:36
  yesterday, I believe?
• 13:37
  What happened?
• 13:38
  So, yeah, so the city council had a
• 13:40
  work session yesterday where they
• 13:41
  were just kind of discussing what
• 13:42
  was at the table, what was the
• 13:43
  contract doing, does it include
• 13:45
  facial recognition, what can we
• 13:47
  change to make sure we're balancing
• 13:48
  this need to keep parks safe,
• 13:50
  but also respect
• 13:52
  the identity and privacy of people
• 13:54
  who go to parks. Um,
• 13:56
  and so with this ice, um,
• 13:58
  climate that we're seeing, um the
• 14:00
  council decided that this just
• 14:02
  wasn't gonna move forward.
• 14:03
  So they were supposed to vote on the
• 14:04
  contract on Thursday, but they
• 14:06
  pulled the agenda item after hearing
• 14:08
  from the community and from council
• 14:09
  members about some of these
• 14:10
  concerns.
• 14:11
  Okay, we have about 20 seconds left
• 14:13
  here. Is there a possibility that
• 14:14
  this contract, this item, might come
• 14:16
  up before council again?
• 14:17
  It is possible.
• 14:18
  This is the second time we've seen
• 14:19
  this contract.
• 14:20
  I think after hearing what
• 14:22
  we heard yesterday,
• 14:24
  it could come back.
• 14:26
  I talked to some council members
• 14:27
  this morning that basically was
• 14:28
  like, it's an indefinite pause on
• 14:29
  the contract.
• 14:31
  So we'll see it play out.
• 14:32
  It did come back the second times.
• 14:34
  So maybe the third time's a charm.
• 14:35
  Well, we will see and then when and
• 14:37
  if that happens, we will get you
• 14:39
  updated right here on Austin Signal.
• 14:41
  We have been speaking with KUT City
• 14:42
  Hall reporter, Luz Moreno Lozano.
• 14:45
  Thank you for your reporting, Luz.
• 14:47
  Thanks so much.
• 14:48
  And thank you out there for tuning
• 14:49
  into Austin Signal, hope you're
• 14:51
  having a nice Wednesday.
• 14:52
  We will be back after this break.
• 14:59
  Thank you for tuning in to
• 15:00
  listener-powered public radio.
• 15:02
  This is Austin Signal on
• 15:04
  KUT News.
• 15:05
  It is Black History Month all
• 15:07
  February long, and our friend Miles
• 15:09
  Bloxson has been chronicling black
• 15:11
  Austin artists for years for our
• 15:13
  sister station KUTX.
• 15:15
  Let's listen to a little Austin
• 15:16
  music history right here.
• 15:20
  Why we can't agree?
• 15:22
  Dr. Hep Cat born Albert LaVeda
• 15:25
  Durst was an American blues pianist,
• 15:27
  singer, baseball commentator, and
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  radio DJ.
• 15:30
  Born January 9th, 1913
• 15:32
  in Austin, Texas, he learned piano
• 15:34
  as a child and grew up playing
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  barrel house blues.
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  Mentored by fellow pianist Robert
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  Shaw, whom he credited as his
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  most important teacher, LaVeta
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  performed everywhere from fish fries
• 15:45
  and rent parties to juke joints.
• 15:47
  Music wasn't his only lane.
• 15:49
  In the 1940s, Durst became
• 15:51
  an announcer for the Austin Black
• 15:53
  Senators, a Negro League baseball
• 15:55
  team. And after catching the
• 15:56
  attention of future Texas Governor
• 15:58
  John Connolly, then manager of
• 16:00
  KVET, he was hired in 1948
• 16:02
  as a baseball commentator and
• 16:05
  DJ, becoming the first black
• 16:07
  radio DJ in Texas, under
• 16:09
  the name Dr. Hefkat.
• 16:11
  He hosted the Rosewood Scramble,
• 16:13
  becoming known for his jive talk and
• 16:15
  helping bridge the gap between black
• 16:17
  and white audiences.
• 16:18
  At a time when shared listening
• 16:19
  spaces were rare.
• 16:21
  He even published a book, The Jives
• 16:23
  of Dr. Hepcat, which served as
• 16:25
  both a dictionary and a guide
• 16:27
  to jive talk for his fans.
• 16:29
  I'm turning evil,
• 16:32
  I'm gonna give you plenty misery.
• 16:41
  Laveda was a major promoter here in
• 16:43
  Austin, bringing prominent
• 16:45
  African-American acts to the
• 16:46
  historic Doris Miller Auditorium,
• 16:48
  which is located on the same East
• 16:50
  Austin grounds as the Rosewood
• 16:52
  Recreation Center, where he worked
• 16:54
  as director of athletics from the
• 16:55
  mid-40s until his retirement.
• 16:58
  And while his career took many
• 16:59
  turns, music never left him.
• 17:01
  And in 1949, he released
• 17:04
  the singles Hattie Green and
• 17:05
  Hep Cat's Boogie.
• 17:07
  Just as soon as my
• 17:09
  bonus comes
• 17:18
  In the 1950s, he shifted
• 17:19
  towards gospel music, becoming
• 17:21
  active in church life and later
• 17:23
  serving as associate pastor at
• 17:25
  Olivet Baptist Church.
• 17:26
  During this time, he helped write
• 17:28
  the influential gospel song, Let's
• 17:30
  Talk About Jesus.
• 17:31
  About Jesus
• 17:36
  Lavedo was also a devoted community
• 17:39
  leader, and when he retired from the
• 17:40
  Parks Department in 1979,
• 17:43
  that did not go unnoticed.
• 17:45
  Willem Nadeau Coe, along with the
• 17:46
  City of Austin, recognized him for
• 17:48
  his distinguished work with the
• 17:50
  city's African-American youth,
• 17:51
  and in 1995,
• 17:53
  Durst was inducted into the
• 17:54
  unofficial Rock Radio Hall of
• 17:56
  Fame and has also been credited
• 17:58
  as one of the inventors of Rock
• 18:00
  and Roll Radio.
• 18:03
  Albert LaVeda Durst died in
• 18:05
  1995 in Austin
• 18:07
  at the age of 82.
• 18:09
  The spirit of his work, his music,
• 18:11
  his commitment to community, and the
• 18:13
  trail he blazed for black radio
• 18:15
  voices just like mine
• 18:17
  continues to live on.
• 18:19
  As I can be
• 18:22
  For more on LaVeta Dr. Hepcat
• 18:24
  Durst, visit KUTX.org.
• 18:27
  For KUTx, I'm Miles
• 18:29
  Bloxson.
• 18:38
  Thank you for being with us here on
• 18:40
  Austin Signal.
• 18:41
  Hope you're having a good Wednesday.
• 18:43
  We're gonna talk a little bit more
• 18:44
  about music here on the show.
• 18:46
  The deadline is approaching to
• 18:48
  submit an entry into this year's NPR
• 18:50
  Tiny Desk Contest.
• 18:52
  The lucky winner earns a spot on an
• 18:54
  NPR back tour and they get to do
• 18:55
  their own tiny desk at the
• 18:57
  headquarters in Washington, D.C.
• 18:59
  And this year, one of our own will
• 19:01
  be part of the team judging the
• 19:03
  entries into the contest.
• 19:04
  That is Alex Marrero, he is host
• 19:06
  of Horizontes, which airs Sunday
• 19:08
  nights on KUTX, and he's joining us
• 19:10
  live on the show today.
• 19:11
  Alex, thanks for coming in.
• 19:12
  Hey Jerry, thanks for having me.
• 19:14
  Absolutely, we're really glad
• 19:16
  to have you in.
• 19:17
  So let's talk first a little bit
• 19:18
  about the contest.
• 19:19
  What are the basic requirements for
• 19:21
  people to get entered?
• 19:22
  So basically you have to be an
• 19:24
  unsigned artist, that's
• 19:26
  it. And you basically
• 19:28
  record yourself, they will give you,
• 19:30
  if you go to npr.org
• 19:32
  slash tiny desk contest,
• 19:34
  they have all the parameters that
• 19:36
  you need to follow to videotape
• 19:38
  yourself and to put it up on
• 19:40
  YouTube and send it to them.
• 19:41
  Okay, okay, so people shouldn't be
• 19:43
  DM-ing you their videos.
• 19:44
  You know, I've asked them not to but
• 19:46
  they still do and that's okay I
• 19:48
  just send them the correct
• 19:49
  information because you know, that's
• 19:51
  how it is. Yeah. Yes
• 19:51
  Yeah, yeah. So how did you end up
• 19:53
  getting lined up as a judge for this
• 19:54
  year?
• 19:54
  You know, I have no idea.
• 19:56
  Okay. Okay. I'm sure.
• 19:57
  Yeah. I think it's a combination of,
• 20:00
  uh, Horizontes having taken over
• 20:02
  Horizontas and just being,
• 20:04
  being a part of that.
• 20:05
  And I've noticed throughout the year
• 20:07
  and a half that I've been doing the
• 20:08
  show that Felix Contreras,
• 20:10
  who's the host of Alt Latino,
• 20:12
  he's been kind of commenting on my
• 20:14
  stuff and you know, we've
• 20:15
  communicated. So I think he might've
• 20:17
  recommended me for it.
• 20:19
  Okay. So that's probably one of the
• 20:21
  connections.
• 20:21
  Okay, very cool.
• 20:22
  Well, yeah, I want to ask you a
• 20:24
  little bit about Odesanthus, but the
• 20:26
  deadline, like I said, is fast
• 20:27
  approaching.
• 20:28
  It's coming up. So when is that?
• 20:30
  The deadline is Monday,
• 20:32
  February 9th at 1159
• 20:35
  p.m.
• 20:36
  Eastern.
• 20:36
  Time.
• 20:37
  Okay. Eastern time. That's, that's
• 20:38
  an important little addendum.
• 20:39
  Yeah, because musicians, we put
• 20:41
  it, we get right close
• 20:43
  to the edge! Same goes for
• 20:44
  journalists, same goes for...
• 20:45
  Goes for journalists and goes so remember to
• 20:46
  everybody out there a reminder I
• 20:47
  rather that we are in the central
• 20:49
  time zone so you need to post that a
• 20:51
  little bit a little bit early but
• 20:52
  let's move on to or ease on this how
• 20:54
  long you've been hosting the show
• 20:55
  now
• 20:55
  I got my
• 20:57
  first episode was July 2024.
• 21:00
  So I'm coming in on a year and a
• 21:01
  half already. Okay.
• 21:02
  Okay, so we have 24
• 21:04
  hours of radio seven
• 21:06
  days a week on KUT on KU
• 21:08
  tx for somebody who might not
• 21:10
  have heard oldies on this What do
• 21:11
  you feature on the show?
• 21:13
  Lisontes is a radio show that
• 21:15
  has existed for 50 years and
• 21:17
  it is basically the music
• 21:19
  of Latin America, Brazil,
• 21:21
  and I like to say the beyonds
• 21:23
  because it ties in, you know,
• 21:25
  whatever fits the
• 21:27
  Latin music paradigm or
• 21:29
  I like the push the envelope a
• 21:30
  little bit. Basically,
• 21:32
  anything that fits the African
• 21:34
  diaspora, I think,
• 21:36
  fits the bill.
• 21:37
  And is this your first radio show?
• 21:39
  This is my first venture into
• 21:41
  radio.
• 21:42
  Okay, okay.
• 21:43
  Well you have a great radio voice,
• 21:44
  you know, you're suited for the gig.
• 21:45
  Well, what are you gonna?
• 21:46
  Learning about it?
• 21:49
  It's very how
• 21:51
  isolated it is.
• 21:53
  Because as a musician,
• 21:55
  I've been a musician in town for 30
• 21:57
  years. And as a physician,
• 21:59
  you have immediate reaction
• 22:01
  and you know, I know if I'm in a
• 22:03
  room with five people or 5000
• 22:04
  people, but I work
• 22:06
  really hard on the show.
• 22:08
  And I put it out there and then it's
• 22:10
  just like
• 22:12
  I have no idea what's going on out
• 22:14
  there, but that's, that's that's
• 22:15
  what's taken me the most to get used
• 22:17
  to is the silence.
• 22:19
  Cause there's no, no
• 22:21
  feedback. There is.
• 22:22
  I mean, I haven't gotten fired.
• 22:23
  So that's the best feedback, I
• 22:24
  guess.
• 22:24
  I guess well, that's what makes it
• 22:26
  nice whenever you come into a
• 22:27
  conversation or a studio right now
• 22:29
  And we there's two of us right you
• 22:30
  can actually exactly off of somebody
• 22:32
  versus you know Sometimes I
• 22:34
  say these really bad jokes, and they
• 22:35
  just go off into the ether and
• 22:37
  no, but there's no they're just kind
• 22:38
  of like bouncing Oh, that all
• 22:39
  Oh, that's all I do is tell bad
• 22:41
  jokes. Yeah.
• 22:42
  Okay, so you have been doing the
• 22:44
  show for about a year and a half you
• 22:46
  said I understand that like this
• 22:47
  Sunday's episode is Going to feature
• 22:49
  something new for your show
• 22:50
  So about a year ago, I
• 22:52
  created this thing called a
• 22:53
  spotlight series episode.
• 22:55
  And what I do is I invite a guest, a
• 22:57
  musician to be my guest.
• 22:58
  I asked him to bring whatever
• 23:00
  kind of music and has influenced
• 23:02
  them, whatever their project may be
• 23:04
  at the time. I asked them to bring
• 23:05
  anywhere between six and nine
• 23:07
  songs. And we have
• 23:09
  a conversation based on those
• 23:11
  songs. So it's still music based,
• 23:13
  which is important to me.
• 23:14
  I want the show to be still very
• 23:16
  much about the music.
• 23:17
  So this weekend is
• 23:19
  a little twist on that theme.
• 23:21
  I have Trio Los Vigilantes who
• 23:23
  have been an Austin music staple for
• 23:25
  almost 30 years.
• 23:27
  They are going to be at Studio
• 23:29
  1A with me and they're
• 23:31
  going to perform.
• 23:32
  It's the same format, but it's
• 23:34
  actually with a live band.
• 23:35
  We're going hear the music performed
• 23:37
  live and have a conversation about
• 23:39
  it all.
• 23:40
  So I'm super excited about that.
• 23:42
  And that's airing when?
• 23:43
  That airs this Sunday.
• 23:45
  On Orisontis, 7 to
• 23:47
  9 p.m.
• 23:48
  Central Time, or you can stream it
• 23:49
  later on kutx.org.
• 23:51
  Okay, and one last reminder at the
• 23:53
  Tiny Desk Contest, the deadline to
• 23:55
  enter is Monday 1159
• 23:58
  Eastern Time.
• 23:59
  Remember that, people, before you
• 24:03
  end up realizing too late that
• 24:05
  you can no longer get in on that.
• 24:07
  We have been speaking with Alex
• 24:08
  Marrero. He is, again, host of
• 24:10
  Horizontes, Sunday nights on KUTX,
• 24:12
  and he's a judge for this year's
• 24:14
  Tiny Desks Contest.
• 24:16
  Alex, thanks for coming on the show.
• 24:17
  We appreciate you.
• 24:18
  Really appreciate you, too.
• 24:19
  And thank you out there
• 24:21
  for tuning in to Austin Signal.
• 24:24
  We really appreciate you.
• 24:25
  One tiny note before we get out of
• 24:27
  here today, wanted to
• 24:29
  send a special message to our family
• 24:31
  at Texas Public Radio in San
• 24:33
  Antonio.
• 24:34
  We are mourning the loss of Ruben
• 24:36
  Garcia, who is the radio voice of
• 24:38
  TPR. If you've ever driven from
• 24:40
  Austin to San Antonio and listened
• 24:41
  to KUT and TPR,
• 24:43
  you have heard Ruben's voice.
• 24:45
  He was 66 years old.
• 24:47
  And he was an incredible human
• 24:49
  being. I'm glad to know him.
• 24:50
  And we thank you for having this
• 24:52
  community here with us on the radio.
• 24:55
  This is Austin Signal.
• 24:56
  We'll be back tomorrow.