Texans on the Front Lines of Cybersecurity

Statement

In Monday, I met with top officials from the Houston Independent School District, one of the nation's largest school districts, to discuss the recent warning from the Texas Department of Public Safety that Mexican drug cartels are attempting to recruit high school students. Terry Grier, HISD Superintendent, and Jimmy Dotson, HISD Chief of Police, assured me that they have no evidence to indicate that the cartels have been successful in any attempts to recruit HISD students. This is largely due to the proactive measures that the school district has taken to address this threat. HISD has the nation's only fully accredited school district police force. This includes a gang task force dedicated to tracking gang activity and sharing intelligence with multi-jurisdictional gang task forces on the regional, state and federal levels. We all acknowledged that constant vigilance is required to protect our students, and I am confident in HISD's ability to do so.

As Texans, we're not strangers to the senseless brutality of the drug cartels on the other side of the border. DPS's warning stands as further proof that the border must be secured for the sake of all Texans--especially our children.

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