. @RepAnnWagner @HawleyMO & @Eric_Schmitt conservation of public lands is bipartisan. Big Bend National Park is an inhospitable desert for miles, making it the least popular area to cross. Please investigate the latest construction plans for border protection in Big Bend, nature already provided natural barriers.
Today, I joined a bipartisan coalition of Texas House members in calling on the United States Department of Homeland Security to halt construction of destructive physical barriers in Big Bend National Park.
Even though border security is a federal responsibility, its consequences are felt right here in Texas — and we have a duty to speak up when federal action threatens our land and our communities. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue; it is a Texan issue. We have an obligation to secure our border, but Big Bend's rugged, unforgiving terrain already serves as a natural, God-given barrier that deters illegal crossings. The border crossing data already confirms this.
The federal government has immediate access to smart barrier technologies that increase interdiction rates without bulldozing through Texas' most scenic and irreplaceable landscapes. DHS can and should use these alternative methods and stop the bulldozing now.
We owe it to future generations of Texans to protect Big Bend, and to ensure the hunting, ranching, and agribusiness operations that sustain this region can continue unimpeded. #txlege
A cost/benefit analysis is needed - given how few people even attempt to cross this unforgiving landscape. Keeping in mind cost includes taxpayer $ + damage to flora, fauna and reduced water access in a desert.
As bulldozers plow through Big Bend National Park, Border Patrol apprehended only 98 people in its 517-mile-long Big Bend Sector in July.
Big Bend is pink on this migrant apprehensions chart. You can barely see it.
Border-wide, the agency apprehended 9,295 people last month.
ALT Geographic Area Feb-25 Mar-25 Apr-25 May-25 Jun-25 Jul-25 Aug-25 Sep-25 Oct-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 Jan-26 Feb-26 Mar-26 Apr-26 May-26 Jun-26 Jul-26 Total Rio Grande Valley Sector 1,289 1,103 1,339 1,439 980 949 1,362 1,661 1,603 1,599 1,365 1,273 1,381 1,784 1,800 1,986 2,231 2,438 27,582 El Paso Sector 2,109 1,628 1,958 2,011 1,631 1,096 1,304 1,447 1,385 1,265 1,191 1,040 1,261 1,220 1,614 1,877 1,912 1,528 27,477 Tucson Sector 1,335 1,068 1,327 1,588 966 671 1,067 1,753 1,740 1,368 1,062 1,018 1,020 1,470 1,688 1,938 1,758 1,544 24,381 San Diego Sector 1,648 1,200 1,315 1,394 895 555 715 946 960 833 855 798 850 947 958 1,151 1,039 1,065 18,124 Laredo Sector 565 708 749 878 573 519 741 1,203 873 1,037 826 824 923 1,241 1,485 1,505 1,399 1,322 17,371 Del Rio Sector 894 928 1,056 927 652 474 643 882 910 758 703 627 671 986 857 1,000 991 933 14,892 Big Bend Sector 165 235 324 237 156 142 208 202 185 219 178 152 158 187 158 124 148 98 3,276 Yuma Sector 243 184 175 121 137 109 194 203 161 142 1
. @Eric_Schmitt & @HawleyMO - please investigate the destruction taking place in Big Bend National Park. This is an unpopular crossing zone due to the harsh and vast terrain. There should be better ways using technology to secure this area without harming the flora, fauna, or cutting off our access to the river itself. Thank you!
Republican Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, who spent 26 years as a U.S. Border Patrol agent, nearly half that time in the Big Bend Sector, told Newsweek that construction was "both unfortunate and unnecessary."
Cleveland said officials making the decisions "do not have the first-hand knowledge of Big Bend that the men and women who have actually patrolled this country possess," arguing that the region could be secured through strategically placed technology, improvements to existing roads and the expertise of agents familiar with the terrain.
"We can secure this sector effectively without unnecessarily bulldozing one of the most rugged and treasured landscapes in America," Cleveland said. "Border security is too important for one-size-fits-all solutions developed from behind a desk. Big Bend requires a plan built around the realities on the ground."
Launch article ⬇️
newsweek.com/bulldozers-plow…
This is the part I can’t wrap my head around, how was it ever legal to report the debt to credit bureaus & demand payment while denying access to view/maintain the account (@MOHELA doesn’t let me have an online account either) but how is that fair debt collection in any court? 🧵
I no longer have access to the statements on my JSCL loan as the “co-maker”. The loan reports to my credit, and I am the one making the payments. @SC_DoUsPart @Nelnet
There are debt collection rules, any class action lawyers want to research unfair practices of joint consolidation loans? Are we on our own because Congress designed abusive federal loans + uniquely stripped away bankruptcy protections for student loans? businessinsider.com/when-wil…
@Eric_Schmitt @HawleyMO @AGAndrewBailey - I’m begging you to investigate why @usedgov never implemented JCLSA. The law was signed Oct 11, 2022 & it’s now late 2024. Is @SecCardona too busy w/ executive orders to follow the new laws from Congress? Please send help! @SC_DoUsPart
🧵The focus on “federally held” is a sick joke to those 🔒in a FFEL joint spousal loan. Congress passed, & @POTUS signed the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act into law 117-200 on Oct 11,2022. These 🦄 student loans were blocked from pandemic pause, hard earned PSLF, & even forced to pay debts of abusive exes, but through it all this group pays, & pays, & pays. @millennial_debt @AdamSMinsky @arsheffey
Breaking: Beginning August 1, ED will begin emailing all federal student loan borrowers to provide updates on potential student debt relief; borrowers have until August 30 to opt out if they do not want this relief.
ed.gov/news/press-releases/b…
ALT Biden-Harris Administration Takes Next Step Toward Additional Debt Relief for Tens of Millions of Student Loan Borrowers This Fall
Since 2010, borrowers w/ FEDERAL Family Education Loans were encouraged to reconsolidate into modern Direct federal loans, but spousal loans were uniquely denied access. Congress fixed this with the only amendment to HEA1965 passed in 2022, granting joint borrowers the right to separate their loans and rejoin the Direct loan program.
If @usedgov won’t implement the law passed by Congress, the least they could do is retake possession of remaining JCL FFEL loans (like they did randomly to bail out banks in 2008) so they can stop using the abusive “federally held” quantifier for this 🦄 group they’ve refused to help despite Congress demanding a fix for joint spousal loans. @SC_DoUsPart
I requested my full payment history w/ Master Promissory Note in preparation for implementation of law 117-200, from @MOHELA 4 times over the course of 3 months and it wasn't until my CFPB complaint that they magically found & delivered the missing records. @SC_DoUsPart
MOHELA says that calling them out for mismanaging student loan accounts is "false and misleading"
Quote tweet this with your MOHELA horror stories and don't forget to tag @MOHELA
@MOHELA also hasn’t offered forbearance to all Joint Consolidation Loans despite recommendations from @usedgov & @FAFSA
@FAFSA & @MOHELA can’t decide who’s in charge of granting forbearance on joint consolidation loans while @usedgov delays 2 years before implementing the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation law 117-200 @SC_DoUsPart 🧵👇
AFord retweeted
Fined 13,000!? @Nelnet replies to @cfpb complaints, then ignores the action steps THEY give to resolve.
This company needs to be shuttered.
It's a circular scam & its ruining lives!
SOMEONE. HELP. #dischargejcls
@SC_DoUsPart @MarkWarner nbcnews.com/business/busines…
82% of Joint Consolidation Borrowers were locked into FFEL where private investors use SLABS to widen the inequality gap. Investors earn an average interest above 5% per JCL borrower w/ some locked in above 8%! There is 0 risk to investors backed by US taxpayers. @SC_DoUsPart 🧵
JCL borrowers worked together passing a law through Congress to set them free to pay their own debts. They are tax paying citizens, shackled to a shuttered loan program. 91% of @SC_DoUsPart were public servants. They are not deadbeats, they pay even when no one else pays.
The Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Law 117-200 allowed JCLs to finally separate debts from spouses & abusive exes to rejoin Direct but nothing changed. @SecCardona, you have the power to end this suffering. If you cannot implement the law to separate, then please terminate!
Yesterday’s session #negreg2023 acknowledged that records (especially FFEL) are missing. Interest & principal were not tracked separately so forgiving “interest only” would be difficult. I suspect this is the root cause delaying the JCLSA law 117-200🧵👇
