Brady is a no-show at town hall meeting in Conroe

Feb. 26--CONROE -- Constituents packed the sixth floor of the Conroe Tower during a special town hall meeting with Congressman Kevin Brady to ask questions and voice concerns regarding a number of controversial topics, including Affordable Care Act and immigration.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to ask Brady questions never came because the congressman didn't show for Saturday's meeting.

"We wish he had shown up. There is obviously a lot of people here that want to ask him questions and show him that they are concerned," event organizer Courtney Myers said. "I do hope that with this civil, peaceful and informative discussion he will attend a town hall in the future and not be afraid to address people who might oppose his policies."

Brady's absence didn't halter the meeting. Instead, organizers arranged for speakers to talk about each topic in an effort to dispel myths about Obamacare and immigration.

Dr. Dar Abhishek, who works as a pediatrician at the Texas Children's Hospital and other Houston-area hospitals, spoke about what it was like before and after the Affordable Care Act for his patients, as well as what it could mean for citizens if the law is repealed.

According to Abhishek, to repeal Obamacare would mean more than 22 million people would lose health insurance coverage. Some say that could increase the U.S. deficit by $137 billion over the next 10 years.

"ACA needs to be worked on and needs to get better, but doing away with it is not the answer," Abhishek said.

Abhishek went on to discuss the many services that are available to citizens through the Affordable Care Act, such as cancer screenings and other basic preventive services. Not only that, but through ACA, women have easier access to birth control, which Abhisek says, has been an important factor to lowering the rate of abortions.

"No matter what side of the debate you fall on, I think we can agree that the best way to do deal with abortion is to prevent those high-risk pregnancies and the unplanned pregnancies, which leads someone to having to make that choice in the first place," Abhishek said. "We need to provide easy access to these services."

Linda Good, a trustee on the Lone Star College System Board of Trustees and directing attorney for Lone Star Legal Aid, spoke to the crowd about education. She specifically talked about Texas Senate Bill 4, also known as the anti-sanctuary cities bill. If passed by the Senate, any city not willing to cooperate with federal immigration officers or enforce immigration laws could be punished.

The bill would also allow local police to enforce to impose immigration laws while working with a federal immigration officer. If passed, the bill would punish any local governments and county jails that refuse to hand over immigrants who are in custody for deportation.

"These are times that we demand to search our conscience," Good said. "We have to ask ourselves of what we need to do. If it is a question of violating a deeply unjust law and protecting one of your neighbors, co-workers, a member of your family, what choice will you make? Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly wants to use local officers to expand his personnel."

Good told the audience about a recent occurrence that involved her husband, a dean at Lone Star College-North Harris, and an email he received from a student who asked about identifying immigration students and outing the ones that were there illegally. She says this bill will convert campuses into "places of fear."

"Over 6,000 students at Lone Star College have various statuses other than U.S. citizen. Some, undoubtedly, are not here legally," Good said. "They might have been brought here illegally by parents, or those who are here legally may have parents who might not possess a legal immigration status.

"Already, in the last 10 days, I have been made personally aware of three students who are afraid to come to class in fear of immigration officers. Imagine coming home from class to find out that your parents have been picked up and now having to take care of your family when you don't hold the proper credentials to earn a living wage. Our communities will suffer if we turn our officers into immigration officers."

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