02-09-25

By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian

Top Photo: Anti-Immigration protestors demonstrate in front of the U.S. Federal Building in San Antonio.

 Photographs and information provided by J. Anson Bills

 Approximately 45 protestors of President Trump’s Federal Deportation Policy assembled in front of the U.S. Federal Building at the intersection of North Alamo Street and East Houston Street near the Alamo Plaza Saturday, February 8th around 2 PM. “Join us in fighting back against Trump’s Immigration policies that target both undocumented migrants and U.S. Citizens,” a Facebook post said a day prior to the protest. 

 Uvaldean J. Anson Bills, who was at the Plaza stated that Alamo Rangers who were accompanied law enforcement and supporters from the kept at a distance from the Alamo Cenotaph. Bills said over 200 Texans were there to keep the protest peaceful.

The Alamo Rangers are in charge of protecting the Alamo and the Alamo Plaza. The protestors were not allowed in these areas because the Alamo is a place to honor the Alamo Defenders.

  Bills also said several surveillance drones could be seen positioned overhead in the sky.

  Other anti-deportation protests occurred Saturday in Dallas and across the United States,

  by Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian Picture Credit: Office of Senator Ted Cruz

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz from Texas appeared on Frontline with Carl Higbie on Newsmax Wednesday, September 6th to weigh in on the U.S. / Mexico Border Crisis.

“Of our nation’s two-thousand-mile border with Mexico twelve-hundred of those miles are along the state of Texas. I spend a lot of time on our southern border, and Carl as bad as your viewers think it is, I promise you it is a thousand times worse. … Over seven-million illegal immigrants have crossed under Joe Biden. … Senate Democrats and House Democrats … don’t care about the children they brutalize, the human traffickers, the women being sexually assaulted, and sadly they don’t care about the over one-hundred-thousand Americans that died last year of drug overdoses – seventy percent of which came from Chinese fentanyl flooding across the southern border.” Senator Cruz said.

On Friday, September 8th, Senator Cruz posted the followoing on Twitter:

In one day, 15,000 illegal aliens poured through the border into Del Rio, where the town’s population is 30,000.

Joe Biden’s open border policy has allowed crime and drugs to destroy our communities.#BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/4ZJE1SaNZ9

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 8, 2023

Senator Cruz is running for re-election in 2024 against Roland Gutierrez who currently holds a seat on the Texas State Senate, Gutierrez has recently criticised Texas Governor Greg Abbott on the Floating Bouys his administration placed in the Rio Grande River which divides U.S. and Mexico. Migrant deaths have been blamed on the bouys.

According to Yahoo News, In a recent decision of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, A three-judge panel provided Governor Greg Abbott and the state of Texas a win late Thursday, allowing a floating barrier of buoys and circular saw blades to remaintemporarilty in the Rio Grande River as the lawsuit progresses.

“The appeals court, which has jurisdiction over federal lawsuits pending in Texas, gave no reason for overturning the ruling Wednesday by Senior U.S. Judge David Alan Ezra that the state had violated the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 when it placed the floating barriers in the international river near Eagle Pass,” Yahoo News reported.

Press Release from the office of Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez AUSTIN, TX – After Texas border communities and migrants have endured years of suffering under Operation Lone Star, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has finally filed a lawsuit to force the state to remove buoys from the Rio Grande, which represents just one small, but potentially lethal, aspect of Gov. Abbott’s border operation. Border residents are gathering in front of the U.S. District Court to share how lives have been impacted not just by the buoys, but by every aspect of Operation Lone Star – from criminalizing Black and brown communities to high-speed vehicle chases. Advocates will walk into the courthouse to witness this important hearing. Since March 2021, many have warned of the dangers and human rights violations associated with Operation Lone Star (OLS). Now that this operation has turned deadly, advocates are demanding that the DOJ do more than a narrow lawsuit— DOJ must investigate DPS state troopers’ illegal arrests and family separation practices under OLS, and the DOJ should bring additional lawsuits based on the Title IV violations occurring under OLS.

What: Press Conference & Court Watch  When: Tuesday, Aug. 22nd, 2023 at 8:00 AM CDT  Where: 501 W 5th St Austin, TX 78701  Who:  Senator Roland Gutierrez            Sergio Treviño, San Juan resident             Robie Flores, Eagle Pass resident             Anita Anaya, Brackettville resident

This event is co-sponsored by the following organizations: Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), Grassroots Leadership, La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Eagle Pass Border Coalition, The Border Organization, and Poder Latinx.

Picture from Zavala County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page

Article by Michael Robinson

The Uvalde Hesperian spoke with two Zavala county residents about the realities of living in an area where high speed pursuits and bailouts are a daily occurrence. Due to the nature of the subject matter, the two residents wish to remain anonymous and will be referred to with pseudonyms: Both will be referred to as she. Both residents live on properties near Highway 83 not far from Crystal City and Carrizo Springs.

Each day, Martinez listens to police scanner channels covering Uvalde, Zavala, Kenney and Frio Counties on a smartphone app. Martinez also posts reports of illegal aliens referred to as IA’s are a daily occurrence and happen many times a day at all hours. Yesterday, she posted reports of bailouts and high speed police chases on her personal Facebook page. “Eastbound 140 high speed chase…LE losing it,” Martinez posted. In another post, she wrote, “120 mile an hour high speed chase about to hit 35.”

Because many of the bailouts happen close to their properties, Martinez sometimes says they have what is known as “bail-gate parties”  where residents sit outside of their homes watching the law enforcement pursuits and bailouts of IA’s near their residences.

Martinez and her husband goats and many of the fleeing migrants crash into the fences which makes it hard to keep the goats from escaping. When asked how often she and her husband have to repair the fences, she said it is a weekly occurrence and happens so often, fencing materials need to be kept on hand. “There is no time to drive to Uvalde to pick up fencing materials when the fences and gates are damaged.” she said. Martinez went on to say that the broken fences have to be repaired quickly as the goats can get out.

Both Smith and Martinez say they when going outside, it is important to always stay armed as IA’s have been found on the properties before. Sometimes, Smith said migrants will knock on the door looking for food and water. That said, many are looking for outlets to charge their cell phones. For example, when a couple of migrants came to the door asking to charge their phones, Smith told them. “Sorry, I can’t help you.” A few hours later it was discovered the migrants went onto the property and found an electrical outlet in a nearby shed.

                                                                                                                                                          Constant Vigilance

Smith and Martinez say the migrant activity has brought them and other neighbors together creating an unofficial neighborhood watch. Smith said they each look after each other letting them know of potential incidents and threats. Both say it is not advisable to go out on property at night as it can be unsafe.

While driving and at home, the police scanner is always on. According to Smith, when one listens to the chatter, one learns how to interpret the 10 codes and pick up on the terminology used by law enforcement or LE. “When driving to and from home, I can tell by the way the vehicles are driving that they are local or possibly smugglers,” Smith said.

She went onto say one has to always be on the lookout for vehicles fleeing LE. Even when getting out of the truck in the carport near the house, family members are always checking on each other. Smith said recruitment ads for human smugglers are placed on Craigslist and other sites on the internet and depending on the distance of the drive, the pay offered is high.. Many of the smugglers who are caught often carry large amounts of cash. Migrants also carry other items as well referring to narcotics like Fentanyl.

Picture from the Office of Senator Ted Cruz participated in Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

Wednesday, I attended the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to demand answers from one of President Biden’s nominees to the federal bench over her decision to remove an ankle monitor from an illegal immigrant who had a serious criminal history.

  “More than 6.5 million people have crossed illegally since Joe Biden became president. I was down on the border just a few days ago, Thursday night I was down in Brownsville. It is absolute chaos.”

“The defendant was an illegal alien, he was subject to deportation. He assisted his brother to evade law enforcement for several days after his brother shot and killed a police officer during a routine traffic stop. So, this was not a minor criminal matter.”

Given the dangerous and dire state of our border—where in the month of April alone Border Patrol encountered 16 known individuals on the FBI’s terror watch list—it is wholly unacceptable to be removing tracking devices and allowing individuals with a propensity to partake in criminal acts to roam freely within the U.S.

 

Wednesday, I attended the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to demand answers from one of President Biden’s nominees to the federal bench over her decision to remove an ankle monitor from an illegal immigrant who had a serious criminal history.