- Coming up on "Austin Insight", a behind-the-scenes look into an iconic local recording spot, Arlyn Studios, marking their 40th anniversary.

- Plus, immigration policy.

How Trump's potential mass deportation plans could impact Central Texas and the business community.

Hear from some legal experts.

- "Austin Insight" starts right now.

- [Narrator] Support for "Austin Insight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este and Bar Toti restaurants.

Bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in central Texas.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Hi there, and thank you so much for joining us here on "Austin Insight".

I'm Danielle Banda.

- And I'm Laura Laughead.

We begin with the look at immigration policy and the potential local impact of mass deportation.

A top issue in the presidential campaign and high on the agenda of President-elect Donald Trump, who reiterated his commitment to the topic in an interview last weekend.

- Here in Texas, state government leaders are ready to embrace a tougher approach to immigration policy and to help with its implementation.

So, what are we likely to see happen soon?

Well, we're gonna talk with a specialist on immigration law in just a moment, but first, let's go ahead and take a look at some data regarding undocumented immigrants as of today.

- Currently, there are an estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants here in Texas and here in Austin about 205,000 "non-citizens".

That's according to data from both the Migration Policy Institute and the American Immigration Council, which is a non-profit advocacy group.

- [Danielle] Of that 1.7 million undocumented immigrants across Texas, more than 1.4 million are from Mexico and Central America.

Not surprising, considering the proximity and history of the region.

Now, the next biggest group is from Asia with 136,000.

That's followed by 54,000 from South America and 41,000 from Africa.

Finally, 24,000 are from Europe, Canada, and the South Pacific area combined along with the 5,000 from the Caribbean.

- [Laura] Now, how long have many of these undocumented immigrants in Texas been living here in the US?

A little over 60% have lived in the US for more than 10 years.

Breaking that down further, 23% have lived here more than 20 years.

About 21% have lived here less than five years, while 15% have lived in the US between five and nine years.

- [Danielle] Now, about home ownership.

37% or nearly 640,000 undocumented immigrants in Texas, actually own their own homes.

- [Laura] And lastly, about financial status.

According to the migration Policy Institute, 71% have a family income that is above the poverty line, while 29% are below that.

- With some of that context in mind, we'll turn now to immigration policy.

American Gateways is a nonprofit immigrant advocacy organization that's been a part of the Central Texas community for more than 30 years.

They provide legal services and education to people who have come to Texas from Central America, Africa, and other parts of the world.

And today, we're joined by Edna Yang, executive director of the organization to learn more about what changes in deportation law may mean for undocumented immigrants.

So, welcome, Edna.

Thank you so much.

- Well, thank you so much for having me today, Danielle.

I really appreciate it.

- Yeah, absolutely.

A lot to dive into.

So, to start, can you maybe just tell us a little bit about the number of undocumented immigrants that we're kind of looking at that your organization sees in particularly and works closely with?

- Yeah.

Well, Texas and the United States in general has a large number of immigrants, non-citizens.

Some who are documented, some who are documented in a temporary-type status, and some who are seeking more permanent status, right?

Or already have permanent status.

Our organization works with low-income immigrants in central Texas in 23 surrounding counties.

And we assist them to get a status here in the United States to learn about the process, to educate their community, to educate them about the immigration process, and provide them with access to the justice system, because you don't get representation, free representation, if you can't afford it in the immigration system.

- Yeah, and that's really interesting, 'cause it's multifaceted of course.

So, what do you think is maybe your understanding of how deportation law could change and be implemented in the future?

I know it's ever changing.

- So, our current immigration laws haven't changed for decades.

And so, instead what we're seeing is an administration coming in saying, you know, we have too many undocumented immigrants here, and so, we're gonna do something about that by using our current laws.

And so, there will be different policy changes that look to separate families unfortunately, and to enforce the deportation rules and regulations under the laws.

- Do you have any insight as to the timeline of when we might be able to see policy changes by chance?

What are your thoughts about that?

- Well, I think part of the fear in the immigrant community and the community overall is based on the fact that everything's so uncertain.

We don't know what timelines are gonna be.

We don't know what new policies are going to be.

We don't know what enforcement's going to be like.

Those are kind of the realities that we're looking at.

But what we do know is that there has been a lot of xenophobia, a lot of hate, a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment.

And then wrapped in that these threats of separating families, taking enforcement measures against people who have been here for long periods of time and who are here in a status that is not permanent, because our immigration laws are currently broken.

We want people to be able to make educated decisions, because we know that there's gonna be a lot of suffering that is also coming with some of these policy changes as well.

- [Danielle] Well, thank you so much for helping us navigate all of this changing information.

We appreciate you and your experience and your expertise.

So, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you.

- Right, if you guys would like to learn more information, you can definitely visit AmericanGateways.org.

- Still on the topic of immigration, let's look at how undocumented immigrants participate in the economy and in the workforce here in Texas.

So, where do undocumented immigrants work?

Well, more than 311,000 are construction workers.

152,000 are in food services, arts and entertainment, and recreation services.

12% or 127,000 are jobs that are professional, scientific, management, administrative, or waste management services.

87,000 or 8% are in manufacturing.

Another 8% are in other types of work.

Joining us now is Texas monthly contributing writer Jack Herrera whose article in the November edition of the magazine looks at the role of undocumented immigrants in the workforce here in Texas.

Jack, thanks so much for joining us.

- Thank you, Laura.

It's good to be here.

- Well, Jack, your article focuses primarily on the construction industry.

So, what would you say would be the potential impact of mass deportation on that industry here in Texas?

- Yeah, I mean, I think that when you look at estimates of how many construction workers are undocumented in Texas, estimates go as high as 50%.

So, it's somewhere between a quarter and half of all construction workers in the state don't have that legal status.

And so, if you start deporting people in any sort of meaningful numbers, there are work sites that will go quiet the next day.

And especially, in residential construction where there are work sites, you know, houses going up in Dallas and Houston and Austin where the entire work crews pretty much from, you know, every single man, every single person working the site are undocumented.

So, you want houses, you can't deport these people.

- Now, as for other Texas businesses that have long relied on undocumented workers, what do you think the potential impact is for them, if mass deportation happens?

- Yeah, I mean, when you look nationwide, just the immediate economic impact is gonna be profound.

It has an inflationary effect.

You know, there's so many of like dairy workers in Wisconsin, for instance, are undocumented.

So, price of milk goes up.

In Texas, you're gonna see price of manufacturing, price of construction, meat packing, all these industries that really rely on these workers.

You know, if they were to actually, deport every single undocumented person in Texas, if they got to that, we'd be talking about a recession on the scale of the Great Recession, if not greater.

- And that being said, what's your sense of what realistically could happen echoing Trump's sentiments?

We've seen state leaders here in Texas taking steps and sending clear signals.

They'd like to help with that mass deportation.

So, what should we here in Texas be watching for in the coming months?

- I mean, it's a really good question, and that's really the unknown right now.

Anything could happen after Trump takes office in January.

My sense of it is that Texas leaders like Greg Abbott, like our senators, know that the state, for instance, the construction industry relies so heavily on these undocumented workers.

There'll become a point really quickly that if you're deporting a lot of have profound damage on the Texas economy.

So, what that leaves them is the need to show a strong crackdown, but not necessarily deport everybody.

And so, what I think we can predict, you know, we can expect are mass workplace raids.

There'll be probably in our state, probably in Texas.

There'll be large scale raids on, you know, chicken processing plants or maybe even construction sites.

And they'll arrest a large number of people they'll have it in front of the news cameras.

And then I think that they will have camps.

They'll have deportation style, you know, mass detention camps, concentration camps, and Star County is one of the options.

These will be soft-sided tent camps that America's put them up before.

But I think that really what it is, is it's gonna be the spectacle.

It's gonna be a place where you can see Trump being tough on migrants, being tough on immigrants, making life harder.

That's what the voters want from him right now.

- Well, this is definitely something that Texans and even folks across the nation are going to be watching closely.

Jack's article is called "The Border Crisis Won't Be Solved at the Border".

You can find it in the November edition of Texas Monthly's magazine, as well as online at TexasMonthly.com.

Jack, thank you again for joining us and talking about this.

- Thank you, Laura.

(bright music) - The holiday season is considered a time of giving when people give back to those in need.

- But this year the need for help is especially high.

Decibel senior multimedia reporter, Blair Waltman-Alexin is here to tell us more about that.

- That's right.

In recent years, food banks in the area have seen a huge increase in the number of people seeking assistance.

We spent some time at one of the only food banks in Dove Springs to see how they've been handling the increased need.

(traffic droning) - [David] Whoa!

That's hot.

(speakers speaking in Spanish) - Whoa!

Okay.

- I ran everything as a volunteer for the first about eight years, and we just got really, really busy.

So, now this is actually, my full-time job.

I'm David Horning.

I am the executive director at Impact Now Dove Springs.

We're the only food distribution that I know of in Dove Springs that's like a permanent location.

(packets rustling) (upbeat music) I'm here six days a week.

On Tuesdays, in the mornings we pack all of our shelf stable food.

So, we're packing cans, we're packing rice, we're packing beans.

(packets rustling) And we're usually packing about 220 bags.

(forklift beeping) (people chatting indistinctly) - [David] On Fridays, we pick up about 7,000 pounds of food from the food bank.

Saturday morning we get here at 07:45, we pack all of our fresh and frozen foods.

- Two in the back seat, guys.

- [David] And then at 9:00 am we open and we start distributing.

Okay, and is how many families?

Four or three?

- Everybody's family.

- For a long time, I would say probably five or six years, we were serving an average of 50 families a week.

10 years later we're serving about 220 families a week.

The rising cost of things has, I think, brought more and more families to us.

(Yessenia speaking in Spanish) (Yessenia speaking in Spanish) (somber music) - [David] Definitely, hear lots of stories of families struggling to buy food.

(car fan whirring) - USDA released a report last year talking about how there's 10 million more Americans in need of food assistance and we're seeing that translate into the 21 counties we serve.

My name is Sari Vatske and I have the honor and privilege of being the president and CEO of the Central Texas Food Bank.

Texas is now the second highest state in the country for food insecurity.

Last year, we estimated about 178,000 people were food insecure.

And this year we're anticipating about 208,000, and that's just in Travis County alone.

Folks think that the holidays are the busiest time of year and people need the most support.

And the reality is, is summer.

(packets rustling) Families face what we call as a triple threat, right?

Not only do they not have access to free or reduced meals in school, but the cost of cooling a home increases, the cost of daycare is a factor.

And as it is, you know, the Central Texas Food Bank has already adjusted its budget.

We're spending about $1.1 million a month to purchase food, which is just really not sustainable.

(somber music) (packets rustling) - I feel like things are going to continue to increase.

I haven't seen it stop yet.

But giving them food to help feed their families is kind of what keeps me going.

I do, I know who you are.

- Roberto Lupe, yeah.

- [David] The people that we serve are just normal people.

They have kids, they have families, they have loved ones.

They just want to eat and be healthy.

And a lot of them also want to give back.

- I'm a great stacker.

- Excuse me.

- I would probably say 70% of the volunteers that we have were previously in line.

They realized that there was a need for support, so they offered to help.

They might still be getting food from us, but they wanted to do more themselves.

We love Dove Springs and we love helping people.

Good morning, Maria.

Doing okay.

How are you?

Did you fill out a paper already?

(gentle upbeat music) - Remember, if you need food assistance or if you just wanna help, you can visit the Central Texas Food Bank's website to learn more.

- Absolutely.

Now, Blair, this story was actually, part of the community journalism work that you create for Decibel.

As we look forward, what can we expect for next year?

- Yeah, this was one of our final stories in the Dove Springs neighborhood, but right now we are preparing to spend a year reporting in the Rundberg community in North Austin.

- How did you guys pick Rundberg?

- So, it was actually, picked by the Austin PBS Community Advisory Board.

It is made up of volunteers from across the community.

We presented them with four neighborhoods that have historically been underserved in Austin and they selected Rundberg.

- All right.

Well, what kind of stories are you expecting that you're gonna work on once you're out there?

- Yeah, so every story that we do starts and ends with community input.

What we've been hearing from residents in the area is that this is a vibrant community that is often stigmatized as the dangerous part of Austin.

In our first few stories, we're gonna highlight some of the residents that are working to make Rundberg better.

- And how can people get involved?

- That's a great question.

So, right now we are looking for community volunteers to join our sounding board.

This group will give us feedback on our reporting and help shape our storytelling.

If people live or work in the Rundberg area, they are welcome to visit DecibelATX.org and sign up.

- Well, this is all so wonderful, Blair.

Thank you so much.

We look forward to seeing this very important coverage, which we're actually, gonna include here on "Austin Insight".

So, thank you again for sharing this info.

- Thank you.

- Now, let's switch gears into some local music history.

There are countless stories about people that have helped shape the soundtrack of this music-oriented city.

And for many well-known artists, their career paths included a stop at the legendary Arlyn Studios, a recording facility in the heart of South Austin.

- For decades now, their team has paved the way in the entertainment industry, hosting musicians from Willie Nelson to Stevie Ray Vaughn to Gary Clark Jr. and so many others.

I actually, had the chance to get a behind the scenes sneak peek into their 40th year anniversary party.

I sat down with co-owner Lisa Fletcher to learn all about their journey and how it mirrors Austin's rise as a global hub for music.

- My name is Lisa Fletcher.

I am a partner and manager at Arlyn Studios, and we are here today celebrating our 40th anniversary.

When you walk in here, you kind of feel like you're in the seventies.

We have a lot of analog gear, we have a lot of old, we kind of, I think, try to honor old school.

It's an inexpensive endeavor.

You're not gonna be a billionaire doing this, but these people have just stuck it through year after year after year to support this amazing community that we have.

(upbeat music) We've had some really big special names.

Willie Nelson is, of course, the most special person in the world to us.

So, he's been in here a lot.

A few years ago he and Merle Haggard did their record "Django and Jimmy", and it was the last record I think that Merle ever recorded before he passed away.

So, that's very special to us.

Sublime was a band that did their record with us.

That is our largest selling record to date.

That record put us a little bit more on the map nationally.

My kind of end all be all is this singer songwriter named Steve Earle, who I'm an obnoxious fan about.

He has just recently done a record with us.

And then Miranda Lambert two months ago finished her last record with us.

So, there's so many special ones.

I don't even know how to, you know, it's amazing.

- And it's so great to see another Austin icon being reinvigorated.

- My biggest pride in us still being here four years later is that these not only local musicians, but national musicians, that they still keep coming back and they've helped us stay alive.

They really do just become like family.

Charlie Sexton who produces records here.

I mean, I could go on with the names and kind of just watching them go from this young up and coming to, you know, conquering their world.

It's just special to be a part of it.

It just really is.

(upbeat music) Austin is such a great sort of wrapping a blanket around their community kind of place.

We have a lot we can improve on, like affordability for musicians, but I think there's so many groups.

Marcia Ball has a group called Home that is trying to find, you know, affordable housing for musicians so they can not be homeless.

I mean really basically down to that.

So, I think we have so many organizations, HAAM and SIMS for mental health for musicians.

And I do love too that we have more and more live music venues, ACL Live at the Moody Theater and the Continental Club and C-Boy's and Antone's and Broken Spoke and Saxon Pub and Waterloo Records.

All of those that we have on our stage today that we're trying to honor are places that have had the same challenges we have.

But these people have stuck it through year after year after year to support this amazing community that we have.

It's about all the people who are still standing after all of the ups and downs.

We're celebrating our 40th, but it is with so many other people.

This little building is the heart of our home.

So, we're not going anywhere.

We are gonna be right here.

- You can visit ArlynStudios.com to learn more.

Congratulations to all of the Arlyn team on their 40th anniversary, and here's to many more.

- Well, the holiday season can be joyful, but also stressful.

And for some, the holidays can worsen mental health challenges like anxiety and depression.

Amid all the hustle and bustle, it's really important to be mindful of your emotional wellbeing and to take time to pause and practice self-care.

- I sat down with Anna Bunker, director for programs at the National Alliance on Mental Illness Central Texas, and she's got some tips for us to keep in mind to help protect our mental health during the holiday season.

(gentle upbeat music) Thank you so much for being here.

We appreciate you.

- Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

- Absolutely.

There's a lot to talk about here.

Of course, we know that the holidays can, like I said, bring a mix of emotions.

So, what do you think are some of the most common mental health challenges that people might face during this time of year specifically?

And then how do we navigate that?

- Yeah, I mean, there's so many different things, whether it is like seasonal depression, that's something that oftentimes like Texans we do face in the summertime, but we can't also face it in the winter times, 'cause the days are shorter.

Grief, lots of grief.

- Yeah.

- Lots of anxiety about being around family members or other loved ones that we may not always get along with the best.

Depression, once you start realizing, okay, you know what?

I may not be closest with my loved ones as they're getting together for the holidays and different things like that, and coping with it kind of is different for everyone else.

But being able to, I think, pause and give yourself grace to kind of process those different emotions and say, you know, what is manageable for me?

Like right now, what boundaries am I able to set and I able to like do different things to boost my mood, even though like things are struggling a little bit, like what can I manage now?

And set those boundaries for yourself.

- It's all baby steps.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah.

- I like saying like, have a plan A, B, and C. Like plan A is, I'm gonna go for the holidays.

Plan B is like, you know what?

Maybe I'll go for part of the time.

And plan C is, you know, I'm gonna send a good message saying, "I hope you guys have the best time, but I'm gonna be staying back today."

- I love that.

Boundaries are so healthy.

And you know, on the note of things that we might experience during the holidays, what would you tell someone who might be going through the holidays this year without a loved one?

Whether it's because, you know, they moved away, or they're no longer in your life, or they passed on, that can be difficult.

- Yeah, I think the holidays are lonely, whether you have your loved ones here with you or not.

It kind of brings up like past emotions and feelings.

And one the biggest things that I like to say is finding a way to honor that loved one, whether it is a long distance loved one.

For me, I FaceTime my family while they're all together, because they're up in Wisconsin.

For our loved ones that have passed, it's maybe it's setting a plate at the table for them or doing something that they love.

We do it together as a family.

Listening to a song maybe, or a TV show for individuals that like have loved ones, like kind of like scarce throughout.

Maybe it's just finding like a quick time to check in with them.

- Yeah, yeah.

All of those things can make the world of a difference.

And there's also a lot of pressure and expectation when it comes to holiday finances.

You know, we can always opt for money, free, or DIY gifts.

That's a good idea.

Maybe fewer decorations, wherever we can.

But there's also that sentiment of heartfelt moments together and memories.

And that can be a gift too, can't it?

- Absolutely.

I always like gifting my family members or my friends something that we can do together, like a cookie jar.

So, let's put a recipe of cookies like into a jar and it's something that is very affordable.

Go thrift a jar or something like that.

Maybe it's taking a photo and like just being able to see like happy faces and being able to reflect back on it.

But spending time with loved ones, it doesn't always have to mean giving or receiving gifts, it's just quality time, which is a gift itself.

- Yeah, absolutely.

The important thing to remember on that note is we are not alone even if it does sometimes feel like we are, and your team is full of people that care.

So, do you have any final remarks for folks out there?

You know, how we can keep in mind just some peace and positivity in our most, despite what may be going on in the world around us?

- Yeah, absolutely.

It's very easy to feel like you are alone, whether you live with a mental health condition or not.

Holidays or no holidays, I just want everyone to know that they're not alone.

There are a lot of people out there who do struggle and can bring beautiful moments to your life.

There are free NAMI Central Texas resources such as support groups, recovery courses, different presentations and events.

And it just brings together a sense of community with people that are wanting to spread mental health joy.

and talk about mental health so.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Well, thank you for sharing those resources and those words of encouragement.

We appreciate you speaking on such an important topic and it means a lot.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Coming up next week on "Austin Insight", we're launching a new series called "Authentically Austin", spotlighting the places and people that have helped make Austin what it is.

We're starting with a beloved local bakery and restaurant.

- And a look at some perfect Texas wine pairings for the holidays, whether you're gifting or sipping yourself.

Plus, a cooking lesson from the chef of a newly Michelin star-awarded restaurant.

Thanks again so much for watching.

- We'll see you next time on "Austin Insight".

(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music continues) (gentle upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] Support for "Austin Insight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants.

Bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(bright music)