LGBTQ advocacy and civil rights organizations are evaluating what procedures were bypassed by the Department of State Health Services after the agency quietly rolled out a policy change that blocks the ability for transgender Texans to change their gender on birth certificates.
“We’re trying to create solutions,” Andrea Segovia, policy and field director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas, said. “It’s very much building the plane as we fly it because this was such an out-of-the-blue attack.”
The move to only approve changes to children’s birth certificates due to hospital error or omission comes after the Texas Department of Public Safety altered policy, no longer allowing modifications to gender markers on state-issued IDs and driver’s licenses.
The policy change effectively halted Texas DPS from accepting court orders for this purpose. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a vocal opponent of the LGBTQ community, questioned the validity of these court orders.
According to reports, a spokesman from the state health agency said the birth certificate policy change could be attributed to the same line of questioning. Similar to the switch-up by Texas DPS, the Department of State Health Services did not publicly announce the policy change, which went discreetly into effect on Friday.
“This was not something the attorney general made a press release about or did an interview on. Legally, they should not be able to do this,” Segovia said. “It shouldn’t be that the attorney general kind of snaps his fingers, and people say, okay, let’s do it. There are systems. People have to have meetings and decide on these things.”
Segovia emphasized that the policy change is not a new law, opinion or directive by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. She added that this has made navigating steps to hold Paxton accountable a bit more complicated.
“But, we know we are moving to hold him accountable for this,” she said.
Segovia noted that Paxton had requested a compiled list of residents who had changed their genders on their licenses from the Texas DPS in 2022, to which the agency said the data requested would not be possible to collect at that time.
“That did not satisfy him, so instead, he moved to say, ‘Okay, let’s just stop this process altogether,’” she said.
Although transgender Texans will no longer be able to alter their genders on their birth certificates or driver’s licenses, Segovia stressed that there are still some options for them to get their name and gender marker changed on official documents.
Segovia said individuals can update their passports or request passport cards with the updated information. The Transgender Education Network of Texas has created an informational guide on the topic and is requesting that anyone with questions regarding the subject email [email protected].
HOUSTON, Texas – More and more people are shining lasers at pilots flying above Houston.
In 2023 alone, it happened well over 400 times. Each of those occasions temporarily blinding a pilot flying at several hundred miles per hour, putting lives in the air and on the ground in danger.
A laser strike is when someone on the ground points a laser at an aircraft. The laser hits the cockpit of the airplane or helicopter, often obstructing the pilot’s vision temporarily. In some serious cases, a laser strike can lead to injury.
According to data from the FAA, pilots flying above the Houston area reported 473 laser strikes.
One of those pilots is Lt. Ryan Chapman with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Texas Department of Public Safety Pilot Lt. Ryan Chapman flying above Houston, Texas in a law enforcement helicopter. (Copyright 2023 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)
“Your eyes constrict and you can’t see anything,” Chapman said. “Not only is my life at stake, but my partner’s life is too.”
He flies the Texas DPS helicopter around 1,000 feet above the ground, travelling often at speeds topping 150+ miles per hour. Just the slightest of movements on the controls could be the difference between staying airborne or crashing to the ground.
“It’s like jumping on one leg, patting your head and rubbing your belly,” Chapman said. “Because every limb you have is doing something different. There’s a lot going on. And then you add a distraction like a laser you can’t see that’s that’s a big factor.”
Any distraction is bad, but a blinding laser could be catastrophic. When the laser beam enters the cockpit, it often reflects off the glass, expanding and blinding the pilots to the point they can’t see.
A laser strike as seen in the cockpit by the pilot of an aircraft. (Copyright 2023 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)
To make matters worse, law enforcement, like the Texas Department of Public Safety, uses night vision goggles. This just makes the laser strike that much more powerful.
Gage: “When you think about a laser coming out of a little device just like that, whenever it travels up to the aircraft, is it coming in tiny like that? Or what does it look like?”
Ryan: “No. As the beam travels, it gets wider from the source. It gets wider. And so when it hits, it hits a wider surface area of the actual helicopter or airplane.”
According to Chapman, the tiny little laser that’s smaller than the tip of a pencil grows into a ginormous glow.
Gage: “We’re right over one of Houston’s busiest highways. If something, God forbid, were to happen. I mean this not only for us in the aircraft, but it could be for countless people on the ground.”
Ryan: “That’s correct. Yep. Residential areas. Because most people are at home when they’re doing this, they don’t realize the people that their friends and neighbors they’re putting at risk.”
Chapman is one of the thousands of pilots that have been blinded by lasers. This wasn’t a one-time occurrence for him.
Ryan: “At least 25.”
Gage: ”25 time?”
Ryan: “25 times.”
Gage: “How long you been doing this?”
Ryan: “Two years.”
Gage:“You’ve been hit 25 times in two years?”
Ryan: “Yes, sir.”
His most recent run in with a laser was on February 1, 2024.
Two men are accused of pointing a laser at his law enforcement helicopter in Northwest Houston. His tactical officer, or right hand man, used the helicopters state-of-the-art cameras system to hone in the home that the light beam was coming from.
Texas Department of Public Safety Pilot Lt. Ryan Chapman flying above Houston, Texas in a law enforcement helicopter. (Copyright 2023 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)
“You can see the beam all the way to the ground. So, if you’re within range of the camera, then we can see you,” Chapman said.
The chopper calling down to Precinct 4 Constable deputies who arrested Artemio Gonzales and Leonel Vasquez.
“If an individual decides to make that unfortunate choice, state wise, it’s a Class A misdemeanor, but federally, it’s a felony charge,” said Sgt. Stephen Woodward of the Texas Department of Public Safety. “And it’s not a matter of if, it’s when you get caught, you could face some serious penalties and fines.”
Across the county, laser strikes are up 40%, according to data from the FAA. A total of 13,304 reports were filed in 2023 alone.
In the Lonestar State, a total of more than 1,400 laser strikes were recorded. Of those, 473 are in the Houston area.
Many of those strikes hitting commercial airline jets, which are carrying hundreds of passengers.
Gage: “What does that tell you?”
Ryan: It tells me they’re not getting caught enough.”
That’s exactly what the FAA is looking to change. The enforcer of the sky is cracking down on anyone who has the not so bright idea to blind a pilot.
Texas Department of Public Safety Pilot Lt. Ryan Chapman flying above Houston, Texas in a law enforcement helicopter. (Copyright 2023 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)
“Including fines of up to $11,000 per violation. Bottom line lasers and aircraft don’t mix,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker.
Gage: “What would you say to anybody that thinks it’s funny? It’s a joke to just go ahead and shine. A laser up in the sky thinking it’s harmless fun.”
Ryan: “I would tell them to think about their actions before they do that, because it’s not fun and it’s not safe.”
To report a laser incident to the FAA, click here.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
Texas DPS says more than 130 medical marijuana dispensary applications received so far – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news
An officer working at Texas’ southern border with Mexico emailed his superior expressing deep concerns that efforts to prevent migrants from crossing into the U.S. had “stepped over a line into the inhumane” earlier this month, according to a shocking account published by the San Antonio Express-News.
The unnamed trooper, who works for Texas’ Department of Public Safety, described troubling orders to prevent asylum seekers from crossing the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, in recent months. State officials have drawn sharp criticism after deploying miles of floating barricades covered in razor wire on the river, an initiative the officer likened to “traps” meant to snare migrants.
The email details multiple troubling incidents in which migrants were caught or injured by the razor wire.
In one instance, a 19-year-old woman “in obvious pain” was found stuck in the wire before she was cut free. Medical officials determined she was pregnant and having a miscarriage. At another point, troopers treated a man with a “significant laceration” on his leg that he sustained while trying to free his child from a “trap in the water” covered in razor wire.
Exclusive: Officers working for Abbott’s border security initiative have been ordered to push children into the Rio Grande, and have been told not to give water to migrants, according to an email from a DPS trooper who described the actions as “inhumane.” https://t.co/NLdOy307pq
The email also details a moment on June 25 when a shift officer ordered troopers to push a large group of people — including small children and babies that were nursing — back into the Rio Grande “to go to Mexico.” Troopers on site resisted the order after they expressed concern the exhausted migrants could drown, and they were later ordered to tell the group to go back to Mexico before leaving the site.
The trooper also alluded to an order to prevent officers from providing water to migrants, although Texas officials have denied any such mandate exists.
“Due to the extreme heat, the order to not give people water needs to be immediately reversed as well,” the trooper wrote, suggesting a series of policy changes to protect migrants’ safety. The officer later added: “I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane.”
HuffPost has reached out to Texas’ DPS for comment on the report.
Migrants trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico approach the site where workers are assembling large buoys to be used as a barrier along the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 11.
Eric Gay/Associated Press
Travis Considine, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, told the Express-News that the agency was aware of the email and that its director, Steven McCraw, called for an audit last Saturday into lowering risk for migrants. McCraw also sent another email to troopers saying the wire, a key feature of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) border measures, was meant to deter smuggling, “not to injure migrants.”
“The smugglers care not if the migrants are injured, but we do, and we must take all necessary measures to mitigate the risk to them including injuries from trying to cross over the concertina wire, drownings and dehydration,” the message said.
Abbott has taken dramatic steps to prevent migrants from crossing the state’s border with Mexico, lambasting President Joe Biden for failing to do enough to stop a surge of crossings. The governor also has dropped off thousands of migrants in cities across the nation, mainly in states led by Democratic officials, in an act that human rights groups have blasted as inhumane.
The report brought swift condemnation from Democrats. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) called the razor wire barriers “death traps” on Twitter, saying he had urged the Biden administration to intervene “for the sake of human rights.”
HOUSTON – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added a new car to its fleet of Texas Highway Patrol vehicles — a 2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye.
This vehicle was awarded to the department following a felony investigation that was initiated after the driver of the Dodge engaged in dangerous street racing and fled from law enforcement at approximately 160 mph. The driver then proceeded to drive erratically on highways and streets in well-populated areas in Houston, according to DPS.
Officials said, around midnight on April 25, 2021, a DPS aircraft saw two similar vehicles speeding westbound on I-10 near Gessner Road at the same time that DPS Troopers were engaged in a multi-agency street racing task force. Relaying what they saw from the aircraft to law enforcement near the area, a DPS Trooper attempted to stop the Dodge when it fled from the officer. During the lengthy pursuit, which became too dangerous to continue with a marked patrol vehicle, the DPS aircraft crew updated officers on the Dodge’s location. The 1,080-horsepower Hellcat Redeye ran out of fuel near I-10 and the West Sam Houston Parkway. The driver fled on foot and attempted to enter locked structures in the area as he tried to avoid arrest.
The driver was later taken into custody for felony evading. In addition to an evading charge, the driver was arrested for the unlawful carrying of a weapon — a misdemeanor — after a loaded Glock 22, .40 caliber pistol was found in the front passenger seat.
Working with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Troopers began the asset forfeiture process to seize the Dodge due to the egregious nature of this offense. On January 25, 2022, the Challenger was awarded to the State of Texas.
Since then, the Dodge has been converted into a black and white Texas Highway Patrol Vehicle, and it’s been outfitted with emergency lights and a police radio.
Though a few more items must be installed, the seized Dodge Challenger will be used for several law enforcement functions, including traffic and criminal enforcement and community events.
Copyright 2022 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
