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-Berksham 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
Hey, thanks for having me, Jerry.
So you were out at the airport
earlier today, what was it like?
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.
Okay, so tell us a little bit about
that press conference, who was
speaking.
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.
What did you hear from airport
officials, Nathan?
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.
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?
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.
All right, that is KUT's
transportation reporter Nathan
Bernier. Nathan, thanks for your
reporting. We'll talk to you later.
Thanks, Jerry!
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.
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.
Yeah, she maintained her innocence.
What were the question marks that
were still lingering after her
conviction?
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,
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?
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.
So the federal government put this
detainer on her, what happened after
that?
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.
You just mentioned Carmen's family.
What did you hear from them?
What was their reaction to all this
back and forth?
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.
What comes next in this story and
what is your newsroom still
reporting on?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jerry, thanks for having me on, man.
Anytime we have a chance to talk
basketball, especially in March, you
know I'm there.
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?
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.
And how strong would you say that
their bracket is looking?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.