Ayden Runnels, The Texas Tribune

People seeking a host of professional licenses in Texas, from electricians to dog breeders, will soon have to prove they are in the country legally after the state’s Commission of Licensing and Regulation on Tuesday adopted a new rule that could affect thousands of workers.

Commissioners unanimously approved the change after hearing from a parade of speakers who largely asked them to do the opposite because of worries that it will hamper the state’s economy and burden immigrants trying to make an honest living. The speakers also argued the move will push people to work without a license, and erode state oversight of crucial industries.

The commission oversees the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which plans to implement the rule May 1. An agency spokesperson did not immediately respond Tuesday for comment.

Despite the agency’s stated intent to follow federal statute and the concerns raised by workers across the state, TDLR lawyer Derek Burkhalter told commissioners that some noncitizens will still be able to get licenses — so long they meet one of the qualifications under a three-decade-old federal law underpinning the rule change and provide required documentation.

People can qualify for benefits under the federal law if they were granted asylum, admitted as a refugee or are recognized as a victim of human trafficking, for example.

“The proposed rules do not impose a citizenship requirement,” Burkhalter said. “Individuals who are not U.S. citizens may still be eligible for licensure if they meet the eligibility criteria.”

TDLR argues that the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 prohibits people in the country unlawfully from receiving certain benefits, including professional licenses administered by the state, unless they qualify for certain exceptions. The lists of documents that can be used to apply for a license will be posted on TDLR’s website, officials said Tuesday.

TDLR joins at least three other state agencies that have cracked down on immigration through administrative and regulatory procedures since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. The Texas Department of Public Safety has stopped issuing commercial driver’s licenses to many noncitizens, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles imposed new strict photo ID requirements for vehicle registrations, and the Texas Secretary of State’s Office has been on the hunt for noncitizens registered to vote, at times erroneously flagging Americans as potential noncitizens.

The changes mirror a presidential executive order from February 2025, when Trump ordered federal agencies to crack down on the same 1996 law to “defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans.”

It remains unclear how many undocumented workers will be affected in Texas by the new licensing requirement. The state is home to an estimated 1.7 million people without authorization who work in numerous key industries such as construction, hospitality and an assortment of others under the purview of TDLR.

Steve Bruno, the agency’s deputy executive director for licensing and regulatory services, told commissioners that fewer than 2% of the licenses issued by the agency did not have a Social Security number attached to them.

But TDLR could not assume those individuals were running afoul of federal law, agency officials said, because there are a number of ways for noncitizens to live and work in the country through federal programs.

The agency issued more than 1 million individual and business licenses during the 2025 fiscal year.

TDLR’s website currently contains guidance to apply for occupational licenses for those who do not have a Social Security number. The page links to a form, last updated by the commission in January, that instructs applicants to attach supporting documentation, such as a green card, immigrant visa or refugee travel document.

To offer commissioners context, Bruno said the agency had issued roughly 19,000 new licenses and renewed another 39,000 in February alone.

The information did little to assuage concerns from a variety of industries.

Agency officials received 450 comments about the proposed rule; of those, all but 28 were against it.

Among those who testified in person Tuesday morning was Rocio Gomez, a 35-year-old Austin resident who holds an eyelash extension specialist’s license and instructs at a beauty school in the capital city. Some of her students without legal status have been in great distress since the agency proposed the rule in January, at times crying to her about the uncertainty of their future, she said in an interview after testifying.

“Seeing how this has affected the students affects us too, emotionally. It appears that everything is at the whim of them,” Gomez said in an interview in Spanish, gesturing at the dais where the commissioners sat.

Other speakers — salon owners, educators and beyond — reminded commissioners about the strict requirements already in place to earn some licenses. Industries that will be affected range from dyslexia therapists to used car parts recyclers to dog breeders, according to TDLR’s proposal filed with the state.

Some of the licenses require many hours of practice and safety education. For instance, earning a cosmetology operator license in Texas can take more than a year as applicants learn about chemicals and hygiene as well as hair technique.

In barring undocumented people from getting licensed, the state will force them into the black market and lead to a proliferation of people providing services without oversight or proper permitting, speakers told commissioners.

The issue has already captured the attention of elected officials and immigration hardliners, who welcomed the new rule.

"For too long, benefits to illegal aliens have served as a magnet to entice migrants to enter the United States illegally,” Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott, said in a statement after the vote. “Texas will not reward illegal immigration by issuing professional licenses to those here unlawfully. These changes protect the integrity of our licensing system, uphold federal law, and ensure jobs go to hardworking Texans.”

State agencies must run proposed rule changes by the governor’s office before they are made available for public comment.

Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt of Austin, who is running for comptroller of public accounts, submitted a comment to TDLR in opposition to the change. Using published estimates by a variety of groups, the senator calculated that the rule change could result in a reduction of the state’s skilled workforce by 8 to 10%.

“Texas cannot afford to lose qualified and skilled licensees in these high-demand jobs,” Eckhardt wrote, urging the commission to study the potential effect. “The impact of TDLR’s proposed rule is likely more far-reaching than what was initially assessed by the agency.”

In their formal rule proposal filed with the state, agency officials wrote that there would be no anticipated economic impacts or effects on small and microbusinesses. In response to questions about this on Tuesday, they told commissioners that it was difficult to assess potential impact because they did not want to assume a licensee was afoul of federal law simply because they did not provide a Social Security number.

Commission Chair Rick Figueroa asked for frequent updates to the commission as the rule is implemented, acknowledging the agency was entering uncharted territory perhaps only in the company of the Department of Motor Vehicles, which made its change months ago.

“This is a front-burner issue in regards to information back to the commission,” Figueroa said. “I'm sure we're building a plane and flying it a little bit.”

Ayden Runnels contributed to this report.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Monday confirmed that a 39-year-old man who was killed in a standoff with Dallas officers last week was a member of her security team who had been using a fraudulent identity.

Diamon Mazairre Robinson lived as “Mike King” for years, during which he operated security businesses that hired off-duty officers, Dallas police said during a Monday press conference. Robinson’s real identity was exposed after Irving police put out a bulletin for a vehicle with stolen government plates, which a Dallas officer had seen while working with Robinson on a security job six months earlier.

Robinson fled Dallas police, who attempted to pull him over on March 11, escaping a brief chase before being located once more in a hospital parking garage, officials said. After an hours-long standoff with negotiators, officers shot and killed Robinson after he stepped out of the vehicle and drew a handgun.

In a statement posted on social media, the Dallas congresswoman confirmed that Robinson had helped provide security for her for years, and said her team had followed U.S. House procedure for contracting security. She also said Robinson, acting as Mike King, had worked with multiple law enforcement agencies, including Capitol Police. A spokesperson with the Capitol Police did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

Crockett said that her team was unaware he had been acting under an alias, but that Robinson had always maintained positive community relationships and never gave anyone reason to suspect he had misconstrued his identity.

“What we’re learning about his past doesn’t fit the person we came to know as Mike King,” Crockett said. “ His death evokes a range of emotions. Our hearts grieve the loss of someone we knew and the lost good that could have come from his redemption.”

DPD Deputy Chief William Kenneth said investigators did not discover Robinson’s true identity until after Crockett’s campaign for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race had ended. Crockett, a former public defender, said in her statement that she believed in people’s capacity for redemption and second chances. She also acknowledged Robinson’s prior criminal history and said they did not believe he had been charged with any violent offenses.

Robinson had posed as a federal officer under the “Specialty Dignitary Police,” a nonexistent agency he created identification cards for, officials said. He also had two active felony theft warrants from 2017, a parole violation, two vehicles with stolen government plates and multiple stolen firearms, including the one he produced before being shot, Kenneth said.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is encouraging the public to help enforce the state’s “bathroom bill” via a tip line for suspected violations of the new law designed to restrict which facilities transgender people can use.

Senate Bill 8, also known as the Texas Women’s Privacy Act, requires government buildings, schools and colleges to restrict access to restrooms and locker rooms based on sex assigned at birth. If someone does enter the “wrong” bathroom, institutions, not the individual, are punished by the state, with $25,000 first-time fines and $125,000 subsequent penalties per day. Individuals can also sue agencies if they are in a restroom and are "affected" by a violation of the law.

SB 8 tasks Paxton’s office with investigating complaints and proposing penalty amounts, but only after complaints are initially filed with the accused agency. The complaint form launched Wednesday requires a copy of the original complaint to the accused institution for any submission.

The form also has an option to submit photos to the tip line, however, taking photos inside a restroom is illegal. In 2023, Williamson County GOP Chair Michelle Evans had her phone confiscated by Department of Public Safety officers and was investigated by Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza after she posted a photo of a trans woman inside a Texas Capitol restroom. Evans sued Garza to stop the investigation, arguing the photo was not an invasion of privacy, but in early December the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against her.

In a statement about the new tip line, Paxton encouraged those who witness violations to use the tip line and said the necessity for SB 8 stems from “radical leftism” and the danger of “mentally ill men.”

“Together, we will uproot and bring justice to any state agency or political subdivision that opens the door for men to violate women’s privacy, dignity, and safety,” Paxton said.

The restrictions have been long-supported by conservative lawmakers and advocates as a way of restricting trans people’s access to facilities, a move they claim protects women in vulnerable spaces. SB 8, however, has no guidance on how to enforce its restrictions, only mandating that institutions take “every reasonable step” to ensure violations don’t occur, which opponents of the law have said is purposefully vague.

Critics of SB 8 have worried that the vague enforcement guidelines may also encourage people to harass or intimidate people in restrooms if they believe someone is in the “wrong” restroom, even in areas the law doesn’t apply.

"The 'tip line' wrongly encourages Texans to violate each other's privacy in bathrooms," said Brian Klosterboer, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, in a statement. "The Attorney General has tried for years to vilify and dehumanize transgender Texans, but he can’t strip away every person’s right to privacy and right to live our lives free from gender stereotyping."

In one instance cited during legislative testimony on SB 8, a cisgender teenaged girl was accused of being in the wrong restroom at a Minnesota restaurant and harassed by a server until the girl exposed her breasts. Minnesota does not have a law restricting restrooms to biological sex, and no bathroom bill in the country, including Texas, applies to private businesses. Advocates allege the animus created by laws like SB 8 caused the incident to occur.

Enforcement across Texas since SB 8 went into effect on Dec. 4 has varied. At the Texas Capitol on Dec. 6, Department of Public Safety officers in one instance blocked the women’s restroom and checked the IDs of protesters attempting to enter.

For most other agencies and colleges, though, change has amounted to new signage and written policies. Some agencies have asserted they had no need to implement any new policies, as their current restroom policies were sufficient.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

A Texas State University student’s enrollment ended after a video was posted showing him mocking conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death, the latest in a series of removals across Texas campuses prompted by comments made about the killing.

The video, posted Tuesday morning on X, shows the student in a crowd slapping his neck several times, calling himself Kirk and at one point climbing the base of a statue and stating “my name is Charlie Kirk” before falling over. Kirk died after being shot in the neck on Sept. 10 during an event he was hosting at Utah Valley University.

The video sparked responses condemning the student’s mocking of Kirk, including from Gov. Greg Abbott, who reshared the video and demanded Texas State University take action against the student.

“Expel this student immediately,” Abbott said in a social media post on X. “Mocking assassination must have consequences.”

Six hours after Abbott’s request, Texas State University announced the person in the video had been identified and “was no longer a student” at the university, according to a statement from Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse. It was not immediately clear whether the student was expelled or voluntarily withdrew. In Damphousse’s statement, he called the video “disturbing” and condemned the student’s behavior.

“I will not tolerate behavior that mocks, trivializes, or promotes violence on our campuses,” Damphousse said.

The name of the student was not released by Damphousse in his statement. He said that federal law prevents the school from commenting on individual student conduct matters. Texas State University spokespeople did not immediately respond to questions about what policies may have been broken or what specific behavior from the student had triggered officials to act.

The end of the student’s enrollment is a convergence between two recent phenomena gripping Texas education: widespread conservative backlash against those who mock or criticize Kirk in the days since his killing, and viral videos of those in higher education leading to their removal from campus. Faculty and advocacy groups have expressed repeated concern that the wave of removals and firings for statements and actions by students and faculty amount to First Amendment violations and a clampdown on free speech.

A student at Texas Tech University was arrested for misdemeanor assault on Sept. 12 after a video of her demeaning Kirk and arguing with another student was shared on social media, including by Abbott.

And in K-12 schools, at least two teachers in Texas have been fired for online comments they made about Kirk and two have resigned. The Texas Education Agency said it has received 180 complaints it will investigate related to comments made about Kirk. Texas American Federation of Teachers president Zeph Capo condemned the investigations as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”

Comments made by those in higher education to matters unrelated to Kirk’s death have also prompted online criticism and calls for removals. On Sept. 10, Texas State University fired Professor Thomas Alter for comments he made during an online social conference that was unknowingly recorded and posted on social media.

And at Texas A&M University on Sept. 9, Professor Melissa McCoul was fired and the College of Arts and Sciences dean and a department head were removed from their positions. The firing and removals came after a video of a student confronting McCoul in her children’s literature course over gender identity content was posted online.

The shockwave of backlash on multiple fronts across the state, led and at times spurred by conservative lawmakers, comes as Texas universities are turning to politicians more frequently to take on administrative roles at state institutions. Three current and former state Republican lawmakers have been selected as chancellors of some of Texas’ largest university systems this year.

Republican lawmakers have also led efforts to restrict when and how students can protest on campus, claiming the new guidelines will help to avoid unsafe behavior seen at pro-Palestinian protests last year. Senate Bill 2972 restricts sound amplifying devices to be used in a disruptive manner and prohibits protests between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.

The restrictions in SB 2972 come five years after the Texas Legislature passed a bill in 2019 that aimed to bolster free speech protections on campus. Senate Bill 18 was also authored and favored by Republicans, which created sanctions for students who interfere with others’ free speech and protects student organizations' ability to invite speakers on campus.

Amid the public outcry, Damphousse pushed back on claims that the student’s actions in the video reflect on the university or its community as a whole in an email sent to Texas State University students. He also asked for “measured response and dialogue” amid the anxiety on campus.

“Just as the behavior in the video was reprehensible, attempts to spread the blame onto innocent students are also unacceptable,” Damphousse said. “The actions of one person do not reflect our entire community or the individuals in it.”

Disclosure: Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, you can sing in a play, that's insane,’” said Max, who was already an active choir singer.

So, when Max, who is now a high school senior, was cast in a supporting role with his own solo in the Sherman High School production of “Oklahoma!” — a quintessential American musical about love and statehood — he threw himself into the production.

But now it’s unclear whether Max, who is transgender, will get to sing as Ali Hakim, the Persian peddler. Through a whiplash of sudden policy changes about the gender of performers and public hand-wringing about the revered American musical’s content, Sherman school officials have effectively cast Max as the lead in a very different drama playing out in real life. It’s more akin to the civil rights fight of “Hairspray” than the love triangle in “Oklahoma!”

After Max was bumped from the chorus to the supporting role, the school pulled aside him and several of his fellow student thespians. High school administrators told students one-by-one the play would be postponed and recast, and that students could only play roles that match their sex assigned at birth.

After the initial decision garnered local and national headlines, the district on Friday recanted the gender policy. But the district also announced the school will now produce an “age appropriate” version of the play.

Only two versions of “Oklahoma!” are available from a firm that holds the licensing rights: the original and a “youth” version billed as an “adaptation for pre-high school students” that has content “edited to better suit younger attention spans.” In that version, the character Max was previously cast to play is now listed just as “The Peddler.” The run time of the show is one hour, compared to the original’s two-hour length.

"I think it's insulting, I think it's still targeting Max, I think they chose the version that would have Max in it the least," said Amy Hightower, Max’s mom.

The waffling about transgender students’ participation in a musical is the latest wrinkle in a national debate over trans rights, especially in public schools.

The fights, which have played out in school board meeting rooms and statehouses across the U.S., have largely focused on books in school libraries, access to restrooms and participation in sports. But Texas lawmakers earlier this year also banned trans kids from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy that leading medical groups have OK’d for children.

In Texas, decisions by school districts to enact strict gender policies and review the books available to students have made national headlines, including a new documentary podcast about the suburban Grapevine school district. Max’s family worries Sherman ISD’s handling of “Oklahoma!” has pushed the district in that direction.

“I didn't want us to be that,” Max’s father Phillip Hightower said. “I wanted us to show that we could stay somewhat progressive and look out for the needs of every kid.”

Sherman ISD, which has a student population of about 7,800, did not make any administrators available for comment, and the school board has not voted on any rules about student-performers’ gender assigned at birth.

One statement from the Sherman school district said “Oklahoma!” featured “mature adult themes, profane language, and sexual content.” Still, the show has been a staple production in high school theater departments for decades. That earlier statement also said that the policy about performers’ gender wouldn’t necessarily be applied to future shows.

“Sherman ISD values the diversity of our students and staff and knows this has been an especially difficult time for many of our students,” said a Friday statement from the district. “The circumstances revealed the need to implement a more formal review process for theatrical productions and scripts. Moving forward, the District will have a tighter review and approval process, and we apologize that this was not already in place.”

But that’s done little to appease Max’s parents.

“The superintendent and the administration is attempting to deflect blame,” Phillip Hightower said. “To deflect blame to the theater department, to the theater director, hell, I guess even to the school board that approved this a year and a half ago. Their non-apology sickens me."

Amy and Phillip Hightower sit with their son Max Hightower. Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune

Centuries of artistic precedence

LGBTQ+ activists and lawyers believe the Sherman district’s initial decision about gender in casting decisions is the first of its kind to intrude on arts. Theater, in particular, has a centuries old tradition of bending gender roles. Shakespeare routinely cast men in female roles.

Max’s gender identity has not been a secret. He came out to his friends as trans in the eighth grade, and to his parents a year later. Barring some bullying and occasional misused pronouns, he is treated like any other 12th grader.

So when Max was told he could no longer star in his new role, he was taken completely off-guard.

“I know it's Texas, I know where we live, but not my school,” Max said. “There were so many queer kids in Sherman High school, I was like, ‘They wouldn't pass something like that because they knew how bad that would get.’”

Max was not the only student whose birth gender did not align with their role in the play, nor the only trans student involved. The school had a shortage of male actors, and so many students, trans and cisgender alike, had lost the opportunity to play parts they wanted.

The now-abandoned policy is believed to be the first attempt in the state to restrict theater productions based on sex, but similar cases have occurred. In Fort Worth, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against a charter school after it created a policy stating students could only join choirs based on their assigned gender at birth.

Brian Klosterboer, ACLU attorney and chair of the LGBT Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, called Sherman ISD’s temporary gender policy a “very extreme and egregious example” of discrimination and likened it to the lawsuit in Fort Worth.

“This Sherman ISD decision unfortunately is an example of this extreme anti-transgender animus that we are seeing here in Texas and across the country,” Klosterboer said.

Klosterboer and Equality Texas communications director Johnathan Gooch both asserted that Sherman ISD’s rolled-back policy appeared to be a clear violation of Title IX, the civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on gender. In 2021, the Department of Education released a notice explaining that discrimination based on gender identity would violate Title IX.

Misconceptions about Texans’ acceptance

Gooch said the Sherman policy does not reflect what many Texans want from school leaders. Seventy-five percent of Texans support LGBTQ+ non-discrimination laws, according to the Public Religion Research Institute.

“I think there are some misconceptions about what Texans generally want and expect from their school boards and their community leaders,” Gooch said.

In a rural city of 46,000 almost 70 miles north of Dallas, sympathy for LGBTQ+ issues in Sherman seemed sparse to the Hightowers — but not impossible. Amy, who is from Howe, felt that the fast-growing city could be a better place for Max than more rural areas nearby. Phillip thought the community could grow into what they needed.

Valerie Fox, founder of local LGBTQ+ nonprofit Grayson Pride, said the city is more accepting than it appears, but fear of public backlash prevents allyship from becoming public.

“We can get a lot of secret support, so we can get some money if we need to in a pinch,” Fox said. “They'll donate it to us, but they don't want to be on a sponsor banner. They don't want anyone to know.”

Fox started Grayson Pride because one of her children is gay, and didn’t see support for LGBTQ+ identities in Sherman. She said since she started the nonprofit four years ago, attendance has quadrupled.

The Hightowers have considered moving out of state to where Max’s siblings live and where there is less concern over how Max would be treated, but it is no easy choice.

“I don't really want to move away from here,” Phillip said. “I want to change here.”

Max’s parents had kept his transition private even from some family members out of concern and fear, but after the district took away their child’s pivotal role, they went to Facebook and posted publicly about the experience. The response, they said, has been overwhelmingly and unexpectedly supportive.

“If I'd have known that we had all of the support and all those resources, we would have reached out so long ago,” Amy said.

Grayson Pride and several community members are planning on attending Sherman ISD’s Monday school board meeting. The play’s postponement is not on the meeting’s official agenda.

After local broadcast station KXII reported on the play’s postponement, Max said the atmosphere at school has completely shifted. Students follow him around and have called him transphobic names. His parents pulled him from school and opted to stay in a hotel for the later part of the week.

“People were trying to follow me to the bathroom to see which one I'd go into,” Max said.

Gooch says policies like the one in Sherman ISD not only violate Title IX but also create a hostile environment that enables further discrimination. Eighty-six percent of LGBTQ youth feel that recent political discussion has negatively impacted their well-being, according to a report from the Trevor Project.

Disclosure: Equality Texas, Facebook and State Bar of Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/10/texas-trans-student-musical-sherman-oklahoma/.

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