Author: mopress

By Greg Moses

And while we’ve got your attention, please see if you can help with any of the suffering that federal actions are causing here.

In the matters of the Ibrahim family, Rrustem Neza, Ramsey Muniz, and the Suleiman Twins we could use less crackdown and more humanity from the federal face of power. In these four cases, immediate federal relief is possible and therefore necessary.

What sort of nation provides prisons as solutions to immigration? The T. Don Hutto prison for mothers and children is a mean-spirited sign of the times. We think you should all go there, and we think you should all issue statements that the facility is offensive to your conscience. Agencies created in Washington have not only conjured the prison, but have refused to let UN inspectors onto the premises.

The Rolling Plains prison of Haskell and the human warehouses of Raymondville are two other examples of the prison state you are funding here. Go smell what you are doing.

While many of you have been working in Washington, we’ve been worn thin by your contradictory border policies which legalize all manner of movement for commodities and profits while criminalizing migrant workers whose lives have been uprooted. And today, as you speedily enable even faster velocities of trade across the border, your federal agents intensify their maddening contradictions by taking land to build a more people-impervious wall between families and neighbors.

We can see why it makes sense from a party planning standpoint that Texas issues were scheduled to be addressed at a time in the primary cycle when the races might be winding down. But history is exhibiting its creative talent for truth, and therefore, in order to become President you must first wade right into the policy mess of Texas and tell us how you are going to bring some clarity of mind, some justice, some leadership.

Before primary election day, here is what you can do: stop the wall, shut down Hutto, and stop hurting the Ibrahim family, Rrustem Neza, the Suleiman twins, and Ramsey Muniz. With these accomplishments on the record, we could be assured that you are competing for something more important than a popularity contest in Texas; you could actually change history.

Good luck to you all. May justice be the cause of your success.

Note: Previously posted in the announcements section of the Texas Civil Rights Review.

Hola y’all…

The March 4 March 4 launches this Monday morning, Feb. 25th, at the University of Texas in Brownsville.

The walk was designed to impact the debates and the March 4 Texas primaries. Before the launch of this 7-day 63-mile walk, our first objective was accomplished. The Thursday night debates were compelled to address the issues that are at the heart of the Texas borderlands. Border walls, UTB, eminent domain of private property and municipal property, threat to our environment, economy, our amistad, the neglect of the poorest region of the US, including our hundreds of thousands of Veterans, ICE raids, militarization of our borders and the mistreatment of immigrants and Hispanics in general.

The second mission of the March 4 March 4 is to impact the Texas primaries. We’re already well under way on that. No one will make it to the White House without championing our part of the United States.

Attached are the March 4 March 4 press release and schedule [under “Read More”]. Many elected officials as well as local citizens and organizations have offered to walk a mile, and hour, a part of a day, a day…and some have offered to support all seven days. There will be a security vehicle and some will caravan behind the walkers in their vehicles. Also attached is the new No Wall Between Amigos sign that we will be making available along the border wall-k.

Along the route, the border wall-kers will be hosted by the residents of El Calaboz, the ARISE organization in Las Milpas, the residents of Granjeno and Father Roy Snipes of the La Lomita Mission in Mission. On several of the evenings, we will be screening the new documentary “The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez”, by Kieran Fitzgerald, about the murder of 17-y-o Esequiel by US Marines on his family ranch in Redford, TX.

Dinah Bear, a recently retired environmental attorney who served as General Counsel for the Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of the President, will be joining March 4 March 4 on February 29th for the final three days of the border wall-k.

Why not schedule to walk for a mile with fellow citizens opposed to the wall. There are 63 miles to choose from.

Anyone interested in more information can call Sarah Boone of Border Ambassadors at (830)768-1100.

Join us in this history making event to stop the border wall…

In solidarity…and amistad…

Jay

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Connecting the dots
…Making a difference

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Border Ambassadors
Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.
jay@villadelrio.com

MARCH 4 MARCH 4 SCHEDULE

Mon., 2/25: UT/Brownsville 9:30 a.m. Press Conference, Start 10:00 a.m. End at FM 1421

Tues, 2/26: Start at FM 1421, 10:00 a.m. End at FM 1479. Return to St. Ignatius Church for Dinner/Screening.

Wed., 2/27: Start at FM 1479, 10:00 a.m. End at FM 491

Thurs,2/28: Start at FM 491, 10:00 a.m. End at FM 493

Fri, 2/29: Start at FM 493, 10:00 a.m. End at Las Milpas

Sat, 3/1: Start at Las Milpas, 10:00 a.m. End at Granjeno

Sun, 3/2: Start at Grajeno, 1:00 p.m. End at La Lomita, 3:00 p.m. for Reception/Cookout

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PRESS RELEASE

“March 4 March 4” Gaining Momentum

Del Rio, TX

February 19, 2008

The “March 4 March 4” walk from Brownsville to La Lomita Mission in protest of ‘the wall’ is attracting national attention as political pundits emphasize the importance of the Texas vote in the March 4 Primary. Each new story about the Department of Homeland Security threatening the rights of property owners is focusing additional attention on the “Valley” vote.

Among the groups pledging to join the walk are ARISE, LUPE and No Border Wall as well as numerous faith-based groups and individuals. The March 4 March 4 walk will begin at the UT Brownsville campus at 10 a.m. on Monday February 25. “We welcome walkers for a block, a mile, an hour, a day, whatever is in one’s heart,” says organizer
Jay Johnson-Castro. “At previous events we’ve pushed wheel chairs, had cyclists and motorists pull in behind the escort vehicle,” he adds.

That day participants will walk through Brownsville to Highway 281 and follow it (Old Military Road) to FM 1421. On Tuesday, February 26, the walk will begin at the intersection of FM 1421 and 281, proceeding up 281 through the El Calaboz community, to FM 1479.

Walkers will then return to El Calaboz, home of Dr. Eloisa Tamez, who is being sued by the federal government to gain access to her land. St. Ignatius Catholic Church will host the walkers for dinner and screening of the documentary movie, “The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez.” The 17-year-old was shot in the back by Marines in Redford, TX in 1997, while herding goats on family land. In the film, narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, three of the Guardsmen relate the story of the tragedy and how it was affected their lives.

The public is invited to view the movie at the church with the El Calaboz residents and the walkers. Anyone who would like to see this beautifully crafted documentary is invited to meet with the walkers for the screening on February 26.

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Contact: Sarah Boone at 830-768-1100

To help call attention to Rrustem Neza’s first full year of imprisonment at the Rolling Plains Prison at Haskell, the Texas Civil Rights Review asked attorney John Wheat Gibson to clarify some details of the original arrest:

Texas Civil Rights Review: John, what was the exact date of Rrustem’s arrest?

John Wheat Gibson: Arrested 18 January 2007 by Sheriff; transferred to BICE (US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody 13 February 2007, no charges filed.

TCRR: What was the method of arrest?

Gibson: Handcuffed at TACB (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission) office, I think.

TCRR: What was the date of his transfer to Haskell?

Gibson: 13 February, 2007.

TCRR: Could you clarify the legal pretext for the arrest?

Gibson: TABC accused Rrustem and Xhemal, who own a restaurant in Nacogdoches, of making a false claim to US citizenship, because they both signed an application for liquor license that a Jessica Ismaili prepared for them. Her affidavit is attached [PDF format: 338kb].

The District Attorney declined to prosecute after learning that they signed without knowing the contents. Rrustem speaks little and reads no English. The US Attorney says Rrustem was not charged, because he was transferred to BICE for deportation; but Xhemal was not charged, either. US Attorneys in this case seem willing to say anything.

TCRR: How does a beverage application get effectively translated into prison time?

Gibson: A false statement on the application can be prosecuted as a felony. A conviction could result in prison time. In the case of the Neza brothers, there was no prosecution and therefore no conviction or prison time. The DA realized they did not knowingly make any false statement. Rrustem is not in jail because of any criminal charges. He is like the kids at T. Don Hutto in Taylor, in jail purely for the purpose of deportation, totally unrelated to any fault or improper behavior.

Note: In the affidavit, Jessica Ismali of Lufkin, Texas describes how she prepared the beverage license for Xhemal and Rrustem Neza. She was the one who checked the citizanship box. “I never asked Xhemal or Rrustem about citizenship. I just assumed. . . . Neither Xhemal nor Rrustem even knew there was a question on the form about citizenship, much less that I had checked the box indicating that they were citizens” [Ismaili Affidavit, PDF format: 338kb]

By Greg Moses

We were sad to see that Brenda Denson Prince is not among the candidates for the Precinct 3 Commissioner’s race in Kaufman County (Terrell, Texas).

The Republican who election officials claim defeated Prince in the 2004 general election has drawn an opponent. And there are three Democrats in the primary.

Terrell Tribune reporter Marcus Funk reports that during the first two days of voting, “Three-hundred and fifty-seven Democratic votes were cast at the Precinct 3 subcourthouse, or 73 percent, compared to 132 Republican votes.”

Fifty of those voters were personally driven to the voting booth by our hero, Brenda Denson Prince.

“On Tuesday, the first day, I drove 26 voters. On the second day, 24. Then on Thursday and Friday I drove 23 or 24,” said Denson Prince, speaking to us by telephone from her Terrell, Texas home.

“This morning (Saturday) I took eight more people to the polls before I had to go to a Democrat meeting,” she explained.

Her 2004 disappointments discouraged her from running again. On election night she left the vote-counting center thinking she had clearly won. By the time she got home, however, a mysterious “computer glitch” was being cited as the reason for a changed outcome.

Denson Prince attempted to have the results reviewed by court order, but she recalls that the judge refused to rule in her case, “because of a pending case in Brazos County.”

“I decided not to run again, knowing the system hasn’t changed,” she explained. But she cannot sit idly aside, either.

“This stuff is in my blood,” says Denson Prince. “I love it.” Occasionally she will tell herself to sit things out, but it never takes her very long to talk herself back into action.

Which candidate is she helping? “Joe Parnell is the most qualified candidate that we have,” says Brenda Denson Prince. And when it comes to the truth of Kaufman County we are predisposed to take her word for it.