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South By Southwest has brought many travelers into Austin to enjoy the city’s music, food and culture, but getting out of town via the Austin airport has turned a bit chaotic as TSA agents go without pay amid a partial government shutdown. We’ll have the latest from the airport and from local officials.
Carmen Mejia was exonerated from a Travis County prison after serving 20 years for a crime she didn’t commit. Once she was exonerated, however, she still faced threat from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We’ll have the latest on her story.
Plus, the Texas men’s and women’s team basketball team are gearing up for the start of this week’s championship tournaments. We’ll break down who they’re playing and what their championship odds are looking like.
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The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] South by Southwest has brought many travelers into Austin to enjoy the city’s music, food, and culture, but getting out of town via the Austin airport has turned a bit chaotic, as TSA agents go without pay amid a partial government shutdown. We’re gonna have the latest from the airport and from local officials. And Carmen Mejia was exonerated from a Travis County prison after serving 20 years for a crime she did not commit. And once she was exonerated, she faced threat from immigration and customs enforcement. The latest on her story Coming up on today’s show. The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News hosted by Jerry Quijano. Plus the Texas men’s and women’s team are gearing up for the start of this week’s championship tournaments, who they’re playing and what their championship prospects are looking like. That is coming up next on Austin Signal. Howdy out there, thank you for tuning in to Austin Signal here on Community Powered Public Radio. This is KUT News 90.5. We are online at KUT.org and we have more for you on the KUT app. It’s March 16th, the Monday of spring break here on the UT campus and for the Austin Independent School District. So enjoy that little break in traffic while it laughs. Alas, things are still busy with South by Southwest going on through Wednesday. And if you’re looking for something to do in the next couple of days, we have more over at KUTX.org. By now we’ve seen the videos of those long lines over at the airport, and not just the ones at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, but all around the country. Many folks have been saying that this is happening because of a partial government Shutdowns TSA agents have gone without their first paychecks since the start of that shutdown, but some politicians say that this is not the case Joining us now is key. UT’s transportation reporter Nathan Bernier Nathan. Thanks for being on the show
Nathan Bernier [00:02:15] Hey, thanks for having me, Jerry.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:17] So you were out at the airport earlier today, what was it like?
Nathan Bernier [00:02:21] It was very busy, but I was not there at those early morning hours when the security lines were stretching out onto the sidewalk. I was there, I showed up around 11 o’clock for a news conference, and it was very busy but the lines were all inside.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:34] Okay, so tell us a little bit about that press conference, who was speaking.
Nathan Bernier [00:02:38] That was US Senator John Cornyn. He had scheduled a press event to deliver trays of Whataburger to TSA officers who’ve been working without a paycheck because of the government shutdown. And it’s a little bit of competing stagecraft here. He showed up with his Whatabburger tray, went in the elevator to go bring them down. And then Congressman Greg Kassar, whose district includes the airport. Of course, he’s the Democrat from Austin. He used to sit on the city council. He walked in and started talking to the media who was there too, you know, we wanted to hear from him too, of course, to try and get both parties on this story, and it just became, you, know, a battle of words over who’s to blame for the government shutdown. Now, I was there primarily to figure out what is causing these long lines, and that is something that was interesting to me, while these politicians cannot agree on who’s to blame the shutdown, they pretty much all agree on what the cause of the lines is.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:34] What did you hear from airport officials, Nathan?
Nathan Bernier [00:03:37] Well, they have not said as much as Cornyn and Greg Kassar and also Lloyd Doggett. They all say that it’s actually not the result of short-staffed TSA officers. That there have been very few people calling out sick. That in fact the lines are the result a lot of people traveling over spring break and South by Southwest. And especially Doggett mentioned families traveling with multiple Czechs. I bags bags to carry on and that can slow down the lines as well Now when I got some data from the air from the airport about the number of flights that are departing per hour And what I found very interesting was there’s not I had assumed that the morning there is a huge Volume of flights compared to other parts of the day actually 4 p.m. Has the most flights per hour really have yeah What’s happening in the morning is? A few things. People tend to show up all kind of around the same time. The distribution of arrivals is not as spread out. And the TSA lines, while they open around 3 a.m., they’re not 100% fully up. When the clock strikes 3, all the lanes are open. And there’s 22 lanes now in the Barbara Jordan Terminal for TSA screening, and only one of those planes is down because of an equipment problem. This is according to Congressman Doggett. So while all of these politicians are using Austin as an example of why the government shutdown needs to end, and certainly it should, but that’s not, according to all of the politicians, the reason why we’re seeing these insanely long lines in the morning at Austin Berkshire International Airport.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:15] Well, South By used to last two weekends, Nathan. I would guess that would be two busy weekends at the airport. This year, it’s only going for one weekend, which ended yesterday. And I’m sure that things were a lot busier because of that on this Monday. I’m sorry, with the festival ending on Wednesday, do officials expect a busy Thursday at the Airport?
Nathan Bernier [00:05:37] I think so because it’s not just South by Southwest, it’s also spring break. I got some numbers in terms of the volumes of people that are actually being screened by TSA each day. Yesterday, it was over 38,000 people screened. And if you compare that to the prior Sunday, March 8, it was 36,000. So an increase of about 2,000, but then you look at Sunday, so two days ago, it was 34,000 but then compare that to the Sunday a week prior, so nine days ago, I guess. It was 25,000, so that was an increase of 9,000 Sunday to Sunday. And while I think that you’re right, that the South by Southwest obviously draws lots of people to town, but some people might fill throughout on Thursdays. Maybe someone stays a little longer on Friday, and then, of course, you have people who may have traveled to Austin for other reasons over spring break, because there’s a lot going on here that may be departing. So I wouldn’t place a bet that it’s going to be back to. Non spring break levels as a result of that. But I mean, you can only imagine that it may must play some role.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:42] All right, that is KUT’s transportation reporter Nathan Bernier. Nathan, thanks for your reporting. We’ll talk to you later.
Nathan Bernier [00:06:48] Thanks, Jerry!
Jerry Quijano [00:06:57] For more than 20 years, Austin woman Carmen Mejia was serving a sentence for a crime. She said that she did not commit. Now the courts have ruled that she was right. No crime occurred. It was an accident. For more about this story, we’re speaking with Austin Sanders, reporter from the Austin American Statesman, who has been following the case. Austin, thanks for chatting with us. Yeah, thanks. Thanks for having me, Jerry. So can you tell our audience a little bit about who Carmen Meja is and what was originally convicted of.
Austin Sanders [00:07:27] Right, Carmen Mejia is an Austin mother for daughters who are now in their mid-20s. But they were all young children in 2003 when she was accused of killing a 10-month-old baby. She was two years later convicted of murder for this, you know, what now officials are calling a tragic accident. When she was accused of lowering this baby into scalding hot water. Causing, obviously, severe burns that later resulted in the baby’s death. The whole time, she maintained her innocence of this crime and she was finally exonerated last week.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:10] Yeah, she maintained her innocence. What were the question marks that were still lingering after her conviction?
Austin Sanders [00:08:16] Well, there was, for a time, science couldn’t explain how this baby could have died from, as an accident, from this kind of incident. But what post-conviction analysis uncovered, which really this effort began about three years ago, led by the Innocence Project when they began taking on her appeals, And what they found was that at trial in 2005… Burn experts didn’t even really consider some of the evidence that could have caused the burns to this baby. And what experts today found was that this absolutely could have been caused by an accident. And the burn patterns kind of resembled what could have an accident. But what was perhaps most key in something that was highlighted by. Judge David Wahlberg at this exoneration hearing last week was that there was key testimony that Prosecutors in the jury in 2005 were not aware of and that’s because it was testimony from a three-year-old This is one of Carmen Mejia’s daughters who later testified to Investigators that she put the baby in the bathwater by accident. It’s a three year old This is something that this is testimony that Judge Wahlberg characterized as being locked inside the mind of a three-year-old. So obviously that played a key role in the high court’s decision earlier this year to not only overturn Carmen’s conviction to say she was wrongfully convicted, but also to declare that no crime was committed at all. As you said,
Jerry Quijano [00:09:59] She was officially exonerated last week, but immediately after that the federal government set up an immigration hold on her. Can you tell us what happened there?
Austin Sanders [00:10:08] This was a really stunning moment in this Travis County courtroom that we all watched unfold just moments before the judge was to kind of sign the paperwork, issue the order that would have dismissed the indictment against Carmen Mejia and kind of close this chapter. He says, but she also has this ICE detainer request on her. And this is something that federal immigration officials do. Periodically whenever they think someone, an undocumented immigrant is in the custody of a jail sheriff’s office, they will put a hold on that person so the jail has to hold on to that person 48 hours after they are to be released from jail so that immigration officials can detain them for deportation. So Carmen spent 23 years in jail on the day that she should be reunited with her children. Is forced to go back into jail because she is thinking she may be deported.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:08] So the federal government put this detainer on her, what happened after that?
Austin Sanders [00:11:12] Right, so in a statement to the statesman, a DHS spokesman explained that ICE placed the detainer request on Carmen in 2009, but in that same statement, they announced that they would be lifting it, which meant that she would be free to leave and kind of escape the threat of immediate deportation, which is what happened when she left the jail late Tuesday night.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:34] You just mentioned Carmen’s family. What did you hear from them? What was their reaction to all this back and forth?
Austin Sanders [00:11:41] Right, right. Well, they didn’t speak too much to the media. The four daughters have, you know, been pretty private. They have been pretty kind of staying away from the spotlight, although a few read statements or had statements read on their behalf at the hearing last week. And one of the daughters did speak at the hearing sitting alongside her mother. And they spoke of the 23 years of incarceration that their mother experienced as creating this hole in their lives. You know, immediately after Carmen’s conviction, the children were entered into a closed adoption process and adopted by a different family. And what that means is Carmen had no idea what happened to them. They had no idea what was happening with their mother until two or three years ago. So for them, it was this kind of relief, but also a stressful time because their mother was finally Her name was clear, she was exonerated, yet this question over would she be deported was now hanging over her head.
Jerry Quijano [00:12:44] What comes next in this story and what is your newsroom still reporting on?
Austin Sanders [00:12:47] Right. Well, the question of what comes next for Carmen’s immigration status is still up in the air. She was in the country legally through what’s known as temporary protected status. This is something that asylum seekers, people fleeing natural disasters, other emergency conditions from foreign countries can attain when they come to the states. She lost that status. She fled from Honduras in the late 90s, but she lost that while she was in incarceration. She couldn’t keep up with it. And when she was released, the Department of Homeland Security, they said they would lift the detainer request so she wouldn’t be immediately detained for deportation. But they said that would only last while her temporary protected status was active. But it’s not. So her attorneys say that they’re exploring all potential avenues to gain legal status so that she can remain in the country with her family where she has been for past 30 years.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:47] We have been speaking with Austin Sanders. He is a reporter at the Austin American Statesman. We will have a link to his work in today’s show notes and at kut.org slash signal. Austin, thanks for chatting with us. Thanks again for having me. And thank you out there for spending part of your Monday here with community powered public radio. This is Austin Signal here at KUT News. And you can always find more from us at kutt.org slash signal, we’ll be back after this break.
Jimmy Maas [00:14:29] This is Jimmy Moss, program director with KT, and you are listening to The Austin Signal. Another huge weekend, the only weekend this year for South by Southwest, and all the legends came out. Alanis Morissette headlined a showcase Saturday at Stubbs for Spotify. St. Vincent also made an appearance with her on stage. Austin’s own, we’re claiming her, and Texas State alum Edie Patterson was here over the weekend for the premiere of her new comedy, Brian, that’s a feature film, With a few more screenings to come Still has to do without a badge. The public radio day stage is happening right now with the lineup picked by KUTX that’s happening at the downright all afternoon. And the Oscars being held over the weekend did not scare away the big stars from South By. Comedian turned now action star Bob Odenkirk was at the festival and in the KUT studios just minutes ago. Stay tuned for that interview coming to a radio near you. And speaking of the Oscurs, once I was interviewing Oscar winner Melissa Leo at the Four Seasons. For a South By film, I just offhandedly remarked that this is a nice hotel to stay at and she said, not at these prices, it’s South By. This is Jimmy Moss and you’re listening to the Austin Signal.
Jerry Quijano [00:15:45] Well, if the craziness of South by Southwest and our up and down weather pattern isn’t enough madness for you, we are now entering the peak of college basketball season. And both Texas teams are in the championship tournaments this year. Joining us now is Jeff Jones. He is the sports director and weekday sports anchor at K-View. Jeff, thanks for chatting with us.
Jeff Jones [00:16:05] Jerry, thanks for having me on, man. Anytime we have a chance to talk basketball, especially in March, you know I’m there.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:10] Absolutely, and we got some basketball happening in Austin this weekend because the Texas women’s basketball team is a number one seed. Can you remind our audience about the season that they’ve had up to this point?
Jeff Jones [00:16:22] Yeah, it’s been incredible. And I don’t like to throw around words like incredible when it’s not warranted, but it’s definitely warranted for this team. They started off the year hot. They were the number one team in the nation for a while. They’ve been top three really from wire to wire. Um, I think they started the season with like 20 straight wins. Then they had a slip up. They lost back to back to really, really good teams, teams that are also top three seeds in the March Madness tournament, and they close the regular season now winning 13 of their last 14. If you had to make a short list of the two or three teams that could win it all, Texas is on everyone’s short list.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:58] And how strong would you say that their bracket is looking?
Jeff Jones [00:17:03] Uh, weak. They’re in a great, great spot. I think of all the number one seeds, obviously there are four number one seeds every March for men and for women of the four number, one women seeds. I think UT’s path looks the most manageable, like I don’t ever want to call a March madness path easy because every team that’s in the field deserves it and we’ve all seen how things can flip on their head in March, you know, somebody gets hot, especially if a team gets hot with guard player with experienced guards, they can make a run. But when I look at UT side of the bracket, it just. It looks manageable to me. Michigan is the number two team in this side of the bracket. And Michigan is good, but they’re a team that doesn’t really have a dominant big. They have bigger guards, but no true center presence, who I think could bang with a player like Kyla Oldacre. Remember, Kyla is the UT center. She stands 6’6″. And she would play against players who were about six, three or below. Kentucky is the five seed in this corner of the bracket. Uh, Texas has beaten Kentucky and honestly, Texas beat Kentucky when Texas was having an off day and they beat them by a lot, Alabama’s on this side of the brand and Texas has proven they can beat them. I just, I think UT is looking like they’re in pretty good shape to make a very, very deep run.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:21] And the program has been shaping up over the last couple of years. It was Elite 8, and last year was the Final Four. What do you think makes them different this year that could really take them to the final step in the championship?
Jeff Jones [00:18:34] Yeah, excellent question, Jerry. I think what makes them different is how much of the same they are. All of the key players from last year, you know, save Taylor Jones are back. And so what makes Texas different than how Texas has been in the recent past? Is all these players have been there, done that. You think about the core of last year’s team, Madison Booker, Rory Harmon, they’re still the core of this year’s teams, but Jordan Lee, who was leaned on this time last year, I wanna say she was the leading scorer in that final four game that they lost, she was, the leading score in that Final Four game that they lost last year. She’s a year older, a year more experienced, and she’s proven when she needs to take over a game, she can still lead them in scoring. Justice Carlton, same way. Last year she was young. They didn’t really use her a lot last year. This year we’ve seen her go off for 20 plus in a game and lead this team on multiple occasions. So if there is a rare, rare day where both Rory Harmon and Madison Booker are off, you have more experienced players who you can lean on to carry the team this go-round than we’ve see in the past few years.
Jerry Quijano [00:19:41] So the Texas women’s team is going to start this tournament again this year at the Moody Center. When does the action start and when will the Longhorns be back on the court?
Jeff Jones [00:19:50] Yeah. So the action for Texas starts on the 20th, that’s Friday. We don’t yet know who they’re going to play. They’re either going to plan Missouri state or Stephen of Austin, SFA. Uh, I kind of just root for the in-state team. So I hope that SFA has a chance to play against Texas. Um, if Texas wins that game, which I believe they will, they’ll line up again on Sunday, uh, and they’ll play either Oregon or Virginia tech. Both of those contests will take place right here in Austin. Like you said, on the court of the moody set.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:20] So let’s talk quickly about the men’s team. They also snuck into the tournament at the very end. Did you anticipate that they were gonna make the field?
Jeff Jones [00:20:28] You know, it’s weird because if I had to put my money on Texas being in or out, I would have put my on them being in. I had a conversation with ESPN’s Joe Linaugherty, who is their, their top bracketologist is what they call him. It’s his job to predict who makes the tournament and Jerry, I’m not sure if you follow Joe’s work, but Joe is excellent at his job. He went 68 for 68 this year. So he predicted every team spot on and he told us that he thought Texas would make it in. Whether they deserve to be in or not, that’s a conversation you can have, but I did expect them to get in. You said they snuck in. That’s exactly what they did. I think they were the third to last team to make it in. They have to play against NC State in one of those first four matchups in Dayton. So they’re in the field, but they have to earn their way into the true first round. We’ll see if they can do that.
Jerry Quijano [00:21:20] All right, that is Jeff Jones. He is the sports director and weekday sports anchor at K-View. Jeff, thanks for making the time. Enjoy the games. We’ll do, we’ll do. Appreciate the invite. And that Texas game against North Carolina State is set to tip off tomorrow night at 8.15. And if you’ve never been out to the Moody Center to catch the Texas women’s team, it is definitely worth your time. And if your on spring break this week, enjoy yourself out there, and don’t forget to keep it tuned in right here to the Austin signal. On KUT News, this is community powered public radio.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
