Please call Gov. Rick Perry’s office at 1-800-252-9600 TODAY and press 2 to tell a representative: “We do NOT want a so-called “Sanctuary Cities” bill in the Special Session. Texas can do better. We do NOT want local police and school officers asking for federal immigration status.”
The Special Session can start as soon as 8am tomorrow. (via Houston United)
Thank you!
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Posted in Immigration, LatinoVote '11, LatinoVote '12, Texas Lege
Just got the news that Harris County Democratic Party SD15 Chair Lane Lewis has announced that he is seeking the office of County Chair of the Harris County Democratic Party. Here’s the press release:
“I am happy to announce today that I will be a candidate for Harris County Democratic Party Chair,” said Lewis.
“Our county party needs a renewed sense of purpose, a clear vision for 2012 and beyond, and a plan to win on Election Day. My experience and passion make me ready to take our party to the next level starting on day one. My desire for all of our candidates to be successful will guide my work each and every day.”
“Now is the time to be planning for 2012. Now is the time to recruit great candidates. Now is the time to organize and inspire our precincts. Now is the time for Democrats to build an organization that is strong, capable, and worthy of Harris County. I am the candidate that can make this vision a reality and take our party to the next level.”
Happy Jueves, folks!
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Posted in Houston Dems '12, LatinoVote '12
…who is about to announce a city-wide run for Houston City Council At-Large Position 2–Bolivar Fraga.
Fraga will be making it official on Thursday.
LOCATION: 5501 Brady St., 77011.
DAY: Thursday, May 26, 2011.
TIME: 6pm
In a pre-announcement press release, Fraga stated:
“This is where I learned my core values—this is where I learned how to build communities—with the best role models of all: my Dad and my Mom. Now, I want to take this experience to City Council to build, shape, and protect communities all over Houston,” said Bolivar.
Bolivar Fraga will formally announce his candidacy at the steps of his parents’ home—Felix and Nelly Fraga—in the East End. Felix, a former Houston City Council Member, is beloved in the Greater Houston Area for having worked in the community at Neighborhood Centers since 1946, and having also served on the Board of the Houston Independent School District.
So, the one thing that I have long said–that we need more Hispanics running city-wide and beyond our comfort zones–is happening, apparently. Given some of the supporters, including some I highly respect and tend to think like me, there may be hope we are going beyond the usual right-wing Latino candidates that perennially run (cough!-Roy!-cough!).
Here’s Fraga’s bio:
Bolivar Fraga was born in Houston and raised in the East End. After graduating from Bellaire High School, Bolivar attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force and earned a Bachelor of Science in History. Bolivar’s active duty experience included serving as an Intelligence Officer during 9/11 in support of operations into Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror (Operation Enduring Freedom). Bolivar also holds Master degrees in Latin American Studies, Social Work, and Pastoral Studies. Remaining true to his passion for service, Bolivar currently works as the Community Developer of the Ripley House Neighborhood Center, and is a Board Member of the Greater East End Management District, Harrisburg Rotary, Houston A+ Challenge, Second Ward Super Neighborhood (Vice President), and the Mickey Leland Kibbutzim Internship Program.
There will be plenty of opponents for Fraga since this is an open seat, and you can follow the filings at my friend Noel Freeman’s site. Ultimately, this seat serves all constituents and all of those in the running must prove they can work with all communities. This race will definitely be on the radar.
Late Tuesday night, we get the following tweet from the Texas Tribune:
@TexasTribune: Senate doesn’t have votes to suspend the rules and take up sanctuary cities.
Well, after all of Woodlands Senator Tommy Williams’ maneuvering, do you think we’re ready to give out a sigh of relief? Hell no!
So, here’s the Vimeo of the press conference today in which numerous organizations and activists lined up against the ban on nonexistent sanctuary cities and the mandatory InSecure Ethnicities bills.
NALEO REJECTS HB 12
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, a nonpartisan organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the political process, has joined many organizations in calling on the Texas Senate to reject HB 12, the bill to ban non-existent sanctuary cities.
“HB 12 is an unconstitutional and very costly measure that will
jeopardize the public safety of all Texans,” said NALEO President and former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia R. Garcia. “This legislation
will violate their civil rights and subject the state’s Latinos and newcomers to discrimination.”HB 12 would not allow counties and cities to approve measures blocking law enforcement from asking the legal status of detained persons.
“This bill makes it harder for localities to set their own policies on keeping their neighborhoods safe,” said NALEO Educational Fund Chairman Juan C. Zapata. “In these times of pressing economic challenges, HB 12 does nothing but place significant burdens on local governments when limited resources are sorely needed elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, check out my recent post and action alert at Somos Tejanos:
As SomosTejanos predicted earlier this week, the conservatives in the Texas Legislature were not about to disappoint Governor Rick Perry by denying him his“emergency” measure targeting nonexistent sanctuary cities.
Soon after the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security added onto and voted out of committee Texas Senator Tommy Williams’ (R-The Woodlands) Senate Bill 9, the Secure Communities bill, The Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security returned the favor and reconsidered and voted out of committeee House Bill 12, the sanctuary cities bill.
Senate Dems Vow to Block HB 12
Off the Kuff has the report on Texas Senators vowing to block HB 12, the bill to ban nonexistent sanctuary cities.
The best outcome is that both of these bills die. Whatever does happen, at least the Democrats will have gone down fighting. Sometimes, that’s all you can hope for.
Stay tuned!
Posted in Immigration, Republinutiness, Texas Lege
The entire membership of the Texas Progressive Alliance was actually raptured this past weekend, but thanks to our foresight and the scheduling capabilities of our blogging software we were able to put together a weekly roundup for you anyway. Because that’s the kind of bloggers we are.
The Lege reached a budget deal on Friday. Off the Kuff explains why it is a bad deal for Texas.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson in stating that “..by and large, Republicans aren’t as racist as they are greedy” makes the point that we must adopt a new form of populism in Texas.
At TexasKaos, lightseeker seeks to explain why Snake Oil is not a cure for evaluating teachers of for improving public education. Check out Snake Oil, Classrooms and Teacher Evaluations.
Nat-Wu of Three Wise Men takes another in-depth look at Irving politics.
This week, McBlogger says that Democrats joined with Republicans in the House in a bipartisan effort to screw every Texan.
Public school funding and the Texas legislature get set to go back to the future — as in litigation. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs finds a twelve-year-old column from Mollly Ivins that both rehashes and pre-cogs the details.
refinish69 asks WTF? President Obama is Now Talking Drill, Baby, Drill?
Neil at Texas Liberal noted a new study that said billions of planets are flying around the galaxy that are not in the orbit of any star.
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Posted in TPA Stuff
Houston City Council voted today on the all-new council district map put forth by the Mayor’s office which included changes suggested by local consultant Robert Jara and other Latino leaders. The vote was 14 to 1, with Anne Clutterbuck being the sole anti-map vote.
At least one reaction was positive from one of the detractors of the original map, CM James Rodriguez, as was seen on his Twitter:
My colleagues and I just passed the City of Houston’s redistricting plan! Thanks to Mayor Parker for a very thorough and open process.
My reaction? Well, it will be tough to elect a Latina/o in this district just based on Latino population, and much like I mentioned about the Mayor’s original map, it will take some coalition building for any candidate to win a seat. Given how Latinos have spread out around the City, it seems that in more than a couple more districts the Latino community will need to be sought out for support by any candidate. And that’s a good thing.
The Chron had an interesting op-ed about today’s vote supporting the map.
Big kudos to all involved, especially some highly intelligent friends of mine who also presented maps, including one which proposed five Latino population districts.
Ultimately, we (Latinos) still need to vote–a lot! Representation means you also get involved in your communities and even call out your elected officials when you see something that doesn’t seem right or is needed. For some this may have been a very political “going through the motions,” but for others new to the process I hope it was a wake-up call for mass civic participation beyond the redistricting process.
About 100 local progressives, including Democratic stalwarts and pro-migrant activists, protested the grand opening of the King Street Patriots’ new voter suppression warehouse located off of Hempstead Highway and Loop 610.
Calling out their king Rick Perry, progressives held up signs voicing their opposition to Perry’s “emergency” measures, including intrusive sonograms for women and Mexican hunting measures (HB12). The biggest issue on the minds of protesters was Perry’s lack of leadership regarding the Texas budget. Calls for greater use of the Rainy Day Fund and support for teachers and students were among the protesters’ chants.
Some say King Street is a Republican party operation posing as a nonprofit organization. During the 2010 elections, KSP participated in a voter suppression operation which included challenging voter registration applications of mostly poor and minority voters, as well as polling location intimidation of minority voters.
Houston Unido, a coalition comprised of 16 civil rights and Hispanic advocacy organizations held a press conference today on the steps of Houston City Hall to blast the passage of HB12 (the Arizona-like immigration bill) in the Texas House of Representatives.
Houston Unido also voiced its opposition to SB 9, which would needlessly force local law enforcement agencies to become a part of the Secure Communities program. Secure Communities is a deeply flawed immigrant round-up program which the state of Illinois recently rejected. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently changed its tune when it decided that local agencies could no longer “opt-out” of the program; however, ICE has also failed to rectify the various failures and abuses of the program.
HB12 was passed with all Republicans voting for the bill and all Democrats voting against the bill by the Texas House after amendments were limited to a few and further debate was curtailed.
Stay tuned for future actions and news.
At least that’s the image we were given.
First, the Texas House railroaded through the Arizona-like, yet harsher, House Bill 12, which allows local law enforcement to go on the hunt for Hispanic Texans who might be thought of as “illegal.” Then, President Obama visited El Paso to announce an all-new effort to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. Soon after the visit, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin announced that he was going to re-submit the DREAM Act for consideration in a very changed legislative atmosphere in Washington, DC.
For the rest, click here.
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Posted in DREAM Act, Immigration, La Familia, LatinoVote '12, National Democrats, Texas Lege
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