Monthly Archives: March 2009

In good ol’ American fashion, the nativists and Republicans (can those be used interchangeably?) will attack Obama and Clinton for their comments of responsibility as Clinton prepares to visit Mexico.

“Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade,” she said. “Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians.”

“I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility,” she told reporters accompanying her to Mexico City a day after the Obama administration said it would send more money, technology and manpower to secure the United States’ Southwestern frontier and help Mexico battle the cartels.

Obama himself said Tuesday that he wanted the U.S. to do more to prevent guns and cash from illicit drug sales from flowing across the border into Mexico.

“That’s part of what’s financing their operations. That’s part of what’s arming them. That’s what makes them so dangerous,” he told a news conference. “And this is something that we take very seriously and we’re going to continue to work on diligently in the months to come.”

All I can say is: It’s about time! But what are we going to do about the demand? Again, it seems the PR coming from the White House (as well as the $$$) is all about one prong of this drug war.

I’ll let the Chron comments speak for themselves. It’s the most “patriotic” that never take blame for Americas ills–poverty, educational attainment, economy, drug use, etc.

Let’s hope Secretary Clinton’s comments are welcomed by Mayor Bill White, who seems to blame immigration and nothing else, lately.

Here’s a five minute video on the legacy of Cesar Chavez, featuring various Hollywood friends that also promoted the movement.

Reading the Chron article on the Obama administration’s “1-2 punch” on drug cartels, I am hoping that it is only about the Cartels. It sure isn’t time for the Republicans to use this as an opportunity to bash immigrants.

If the administration really wants to take on the Cartels, then utilizing agents, increasing the DEA presence, and especially increasing intelligence assets is probably the way to go. Here’s what the Chron reports will be paid for by the $700 million OK’d by Obama and Napolitano:

• Triple the number of intelligence officers working along the U.S. southwest border.
• Double the border enforcement security task forces (known as BEST teams) that combine local, state, federal and Mexican law enforcement officials and intelligence agents.
• Spend $30 million in economic stimulus funding to reimburse state and local law enforcement agencies for their anti-drug efforts in the border region.
• Add 16 new Drug Enforcement Administration positions to the 1,000 agents already working in the southwest region.
• Move an additional 100 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives personnel to the border in the next 45 days to combat drug trafficking.
• Buy five helicopters for the Mexican Army and Air Force and a surveillance aircraft for the Mexican Navy.
• Create a “Southwest Intelligence Group” within the FBI to serve as a clearinghouse for all bureau activities inside Mexico.
• Step up Treasury Department efforts targeting the financial networks of Mexican drug traffickers and add new mobile X-ray technology to detect guns being smuggled south to the cartels.

Of course, let’s hope that the Constitution, civil rights, and guarding against racial profiling don’t get thrown into the soon-to-be herbicidally-damaged Rio Grande. I wish Obama and Napolitano would discuss that aspect of this operation to ensure the rights of South Texans.

Obviously, these assets better serve the battles against the cartels, and not the Republican political interest of “stopping illegals.” Ted Poe’s quote leaves much to be desired, and surely will appease nativists as to the “problem” on the border.

“The acknowledgment that there is actually a real problem on the border by the administration is a tremendous step in the right direction.”

Cornyn’s quote was more to the point. Of course, both of these Republicans can show how serious they are about keeping solutions to Cartel violence and immigration separate by supporting the DREAM Act later this week.

Still, a one-sided “war on drugs” does not take care of the problem. There is still the problem of demand on this side of the border that we seem to be ignoring. Although it will take intelligence assets to infiltrate the Cartels, how do we decrease demand on this side of the border? More prisons and racially-influenced sentencing (crack vs powder) have been a failure, thus far.

This week, we celebrate Cesar Chavez week. Here’s a video on the Civil Rights and Labor Leader.

As I told Mayor White in a recent blog post, “Tread lightly.”

First of all, anti-immigrant Dems are not well-liked by the Latino base, and they certainly do not get one right-wing votes (Remember former Congressman Nick Lampson, Bill?).

U.S. Border Watch, a Spring-based anti-Latino group known for taunting hard-working day laborers in the North end of the County was at today’s Council meeting, and they called out Mayor White.

The anti-[Latino] group US Border Watch staged a protest outside city hall today and demanded Mayor White resign. Day laborers and civil rights activists staged their own demonstration and accused Border Watch of racism.

Thankfully, they were met by a diverse group of activists, as evidenced in the video.

The local Cops union recently took the side of U.S. Border Watch, supporting the 287g program, a program which federalizes local law enforcement, basically, making them into a “Migra” agency, rather than a crime-fighting agency. Instead of solving crimes and arresting major criminals wanted on warrants, they break up families and use racial profiling tactics, such as what is occuring in Maricopa County, Arizona.

The Mayor has a decision to make: Support Border Watch, who apparently doesn’t even care for him. Or, Cease and Desist on the 287g talk and get back to effective solutions, such as comprehensive immigration reform.

And not just because of any threatened militarization of the border, but as you may have read in the Chron, Chertoff Napolitano is going to blast the border with herbicides to get rid of Carrizo cane that grows along the Rio Grande. XicanoPwr at Para Justicia y Libertad gives us a comprehensive look at the poisons that our Government is about to unleash on South Texas.

Not learning the harsh lessons from the past, Frontera NorteSur has just reported that Napolitano is unleashing a Vietnam tactic on the border. In the Vietnam War, the US sprayed vast tracts of land with the chemical defoliant Agent Orange as part of a counter-insurgency strategy aimed at removing forest cover for Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces.

Because a giant bamboo-like weed known variously as Carrizo cane – scientifically as Arundo donax – has run rampant along portions of the Rio Grande between the US, the US Border Patrol and DHS are eager to find a way to kill it. The variety of Carrizo cane that is common in the Laredo-Del Rio borderlands grows as tall as 30 feet and provides convenient cover for undocumented border crossers and smugglers. On the US side, US Border Patrol plans to use the same Vietnam tactic to eradicate stands of the Carrizo cane.

The herbicide in question is imazapyr. Like all broad spectrum herbicides, imazapyr efficiently kills most plants with which it comes in contact, even those not intended as targets of the herbicide. However, as Jay J. Johnson Castro, Sr., executive director of the Rio Grande International Studies Center at Laredo Community College noted, “Nobody knows the impact of imazapyr.”

Read the post. Look at the photos of those afflicted by pesticide-caused disease. Learn and fight back.

My colega en la Causa, XicanoPwr at Para Justicia y Libertad, has an excellent post on The New Illegals–The White Collar Criminal. This is an extensive post and very much worth a couple of reads.

There is always a touch of irony when a citizen of the United States complains about immigration. But now. As a Latino and a person of color, we no longer have to worry about those little things like, “driving while brown.” However, since the argument used against the undocumented by the nativists (Pat Buchanans, Lou Dobbs, et al) is that this is a Nation of Laws, well, two can play this game, bitches! Lets go through their arguments.

Keep on reading…

Apparently, Spring-based white supremacist group, US Borderwatch, doesn’t want folks to know where they’re from. In a recent e-mail sent my their grand wizard, he simply notes their private mail box address, but only mentions “77379″ and not the city in which that private mail box is located. I guess they don’t want us to know that they “office” from a UPS Store in Spring.

From: U.S. Border Watch <conner@usborderwatch.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Subject: Houston City Council

[...]

We will have a protest in front of City Hall on March 24th from 11am til at least 3pm.

There are several parking lots near City Hall. Bring flags, signs and bull horns,
water. Make sure you eat before you come.

We’ve been quiet for too long – let’s give them hell – this has to stop.

More to follow as the date gets closer.
Message sent by: U.S. BORDER WATCH, 6046 F.M. 2920 SUITE 401, 6046 F.M. 2920 SUITE 401, 77379, United States

Perhaps someone should make a counter-protest sign that says, “GO BACK TO YOUR UPS MAIL BOX!” These outside agitators are quite annoying, aren’t they?

Maybe the Spring-based white supremacists group, US Borderwatch, will high-tail it to Spring Branch to protest Wal-Mart once they’re done with their pro-Latino-round-up rally at City Hall.

Wal-Mart is making some of their Neighborhood Markets stores into “Supermercados.” Judging by the comments, thus far, in the Chron, the Nativists aren’t too happy.

Still, let’s hope the marketing translates into quality.

And speaking of restless nativists, they’re smacking Chief Harold Hurtt for his defense of HPDs policy. It’s quite the explanation of the process, as well. At this point, bigots really don’t care what one says. They are set in their racist ways, and will begin all of their statements with, “We’re not racist, but…”

Houston’s rate of serious crime last year was the lowest in decades.

If we were to use our police officers to investigate and enforce civil federal immigration laws against those who are not committing criminal acts, we would divert our local police resources from our mission of solving crime.

We cannot both keep the crime going down and use our police to investigate the citizenship status of residents who are not committing crimes. That does not make our city a sanctuary.

No big cities in Texas, nor any of the largest U.S. cities, use their police for that purpose, for good reason.

Now, can we hear something from HPD about HPOU pairing up with a white supremacist group whose P.O. Box isn’t even in the city limits?