WASHINGTON — Texas mayors are in Washington this week for an annual meeting with their counterparts across the country. High on the agenda are many of the hot-button issues the Texas mayors are wrestling with, from immigration to gun safety.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. is a rare opportunity for local leaders to easily meet with federal officials.
Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez was able to sit down with Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
“Brownsville has been a model process for processing migrants. We've never really had any sort of issues. But, you know, the secretary has come down to see our model a couple of times, and it was good to catch up to him just to kind of let him know what's going on,” Mendez said.
Newly elected Austin Mayor Kirk Watson met with Mitch Landrieu, a White House senior adviser overseeing the implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law.
“All that we have going on transportation-wise, from Project Connect, I-35, to the airport. So it's an opportunity for me to get information and also to convey the things that we might need in Austin,” Watson said.
Just over a dozen Texas mayors traveled to Washington for the annual conference where they hope to work with the federal government and other local leaders on issues that matter to Texans, from immigration to the explosive growth across the state.
“We're growing really fast — two major universities — so lots of growth, lots of land for growth, that sort of thing. So what other people are doing for infrastructure funding, that sort of thing. And that's road infrastructure, that's connectivity, broadband,” said Mayor Gerard Hudspeth of Denton, Texas.
Some Texas mayors came searching for solutions to homelessness and the lack of housing.
“Temporarily moving them and putting them in another location, that's not going to conquer it. I believe if we have an entire plan with the services available to them. I think we could start the process," said Mayor Robin Mouton of Beaumont, Texas.
The meeting was also an opportunity to push the federal government on issues like comprehensive immigration reform and gun safety.
In the wake of the Uvalde mass shooting, mayors from large Texas cities sent a letter calling for gun reform, including raising the age to buy military-style and semiautomatic rifles.
“They only have a use in the military or in law enforcement. I don't think the public really has any, but the constitution does guarantee the right to bear arms, and it doesn't say pistols, rifles, assault weapons,” said Mayor Joe Zimmerman of Sugar Land, Texas.
A group of mayors attending the conference, including the Texas delegation, is scheduled to visit the White House on Friday and meet with President Joe Biden to discuss how several major pieces of legislation — such infrastructure and gun safety laws — will affect their communities.