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Press release from Governor’s Office

Excerpt: “In addition to the more than 1,700 Texas Army National Guard troops Gov. Perry activated for Operation Jump Start to support U.S. Border Patrol activities, he has activated an additional 604 troops, comprising 12 armed security platoons. These platoons will deploy to various traffic crossovers along the Rio Grande River to support Operation Wrangler, and each platoon will be accompanied by a Border Patrol agent and a local police officer.”
Jan. 22, 2007

Gov. Perry Announces Phase II of State-Led Border Security Operation

Operation Wrangler expands border crime initiatives statewide

AUSTIN – Today Gov. Rick Perry announced the launch of Operation Wrangler, a statewide expansion of highly successful border security surge operations. This statewide surge operation will be active for an undisclosed period of time in different areas across Texas.

“Operation Wrangler continues the state’s steadfast efforts to prevent and disrupt criminal activity along the border region by expanding security measures statewide,” Perry said. “An unsecured border affects the entire state of Texas and our nation as a whole. Until the federal government brings the necessary resources to bear, Texas will continue to do all we can to secure our border and protect our citizens.”

Operation Wrangler is a coordinated interagency law enforcement surge effort intended to prevent and disrupt all crime and illegal international drug and human trafficking. Operation Wrangler will involve federal, state and local ground, air and water-borne assets, including more than 6,800 personnel, 2,200 vehicles, 48 helicopters, 33 fixed wing aircraft and 35 patrol ships.

In addition to the more than 1,700 Texas Army National Guard troops Gov. Perry activated for Operation Jump Start to support U.S. Border Patrol activities, he has activated an additional 604 troops, comprising 12 armed security platoons. These platoons will deploy to various traffic crossovers along the Rio Grande River to support Operation Wrangler, and each platoon will be accompanied by a Border Patrol agent and a local police officer.

Local, state and federal agencies involved in Operation Wrangler include up to 90 sheriffs’ offices and 133 police departments; the Texas Department of Public Safety; the Texas Department of Transportation; the National Park Service; the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the Texas Civil Air Patrol; the Texas Cattleman’s Association; Texas Military Forces; Texas Task Force 1; the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Immigration & Customs Enforcement; the Railroad Police; the U.S. Transportation Security Agency; the U.S. Postal Service; the U.S. Coast Guard; and the University of Texas Center for Space Research.

The Border Security Operations Center (BSOC) within the State Operations Center will serve as a central point of coordination for state, local and federal officials during Operation Wrangler. Joint Operational Intelligence Centers (JOIC) will be positioned throughout the state to provide real-time information and intelligence in support of these surge operations. Five of the JOICs will be located at Border Patrol offices along the border and the others will be located along smuggling corridors around the state.

“We have proven that our strategy of increasing manpower and patrols along the border decreases criminal activity,” Perry said. “We will continue to apply these methods of success across the state, and I will continue to urge Congress to meet its long-term responsibility by providing the necessary resources and manpower to secure our nation’s borders.”

Operation Rio Grande, launched February 2006, reduced all crime by an average of 60 percent in sheriff-patrolled areas of border counties during five surge operations last year. Perry will ask the Texas Legislature for an additional $100 million during the legislative session to sustain border security efforts.

“This effort is about making our border more secure and our neighborhoods safer,” Perry said. “This unprecedented effort is just the beginning of a long-term commitment to rid our state of drug trafficking and human smuggling.”

We’re getting some viistors from LiveJournal, which is cool, because they put stuff up like this –>.

“We hope to have a delegation of volunteers to visit Hutto in the very near future,” says Megan H. Mack, Associate Director of the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration (see flyer pasted below).

Mack expressed the hope in a Jan. 17 email forwarded by Jay J. Johnson-Castro.

Although the results of the ABA visit to the T. Don Hutto prison camp for immigrants will be confidentially reported to Immigration and Customs Enfocement (ICE), Johnson-Castro said it will serve notice “that Chertoff & the ICE Company will not forever conduct such immoral and criminal acts in secret.”

In other immigration activism news, Farmers Branch– the Texas city that has passed ordinances naming English the official language and tightening citizenship restrictions on housing–will be getting attention from activists soon. In an updated schedule for a border caravan planned for early February, Johnson-Castro and fellow organizers added a Valentine’s Day stop in Farmers Branch.

Also the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is one group calling for a major march at Farmers Branch on April Fools Day.

Voters in Farmers Branch will be asked to vote on the citizenship-for-housing ordinance on May 12. The law was to go into effect Jan. 12, but has been restrained by court order. The English language resolution was passed during Nov. 2006. *****
flyer from ABA

THE DETENTION STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION INITIATIVE

WE NEED YOU TO HELP MAKE THIS INITIATIVE A SUCCESS!

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Immigration has undertaken the Detention
Standards Implementation Initiative (Initiative). The Initiative is an innovative national effort by the
organized bar to contribute to the consistent implementation of the Standards which govern legal access issues at all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE – formerly the Immigration and
Naturalization Service or INS) detention facilities and other facilities detaining immigrants and asylum
seekers. Under the auspices of the Commission on Immigration, Initiative participants will visit and
tour facilities and produce an official report for the ABA to share with ICE, specifically looking at the
implementation of the four legal access standards.

As a result of 1996 immigration law amendments that mandated the detention of certain immigrants
and asylum seekers, ICE now detains more than 200,000 people annually at over 300 sites, the majority of which are county and local jails. Immigration detainees are the fastest growing group of people incarcerated in the United States. In 2006 ICE will receive $3.7 billion for immigration law
enforcement, including detention and removal. The Detention Standards are the result of negotiations
between the ABA, the Department of Justice, the former INS, and other organizations involved in pro
bono representation and advocacy for immigration detainees. The Standards, which took effect in
January 2001, are comprehensive and encompass a range of issues including access to legal services and
materials. The four legal access standards concern visitation, access to legal materials, telephone access,
and group presentations on legal rights.

As a key stakeholder in developing the Standards, the ABA is committed to their full and effective
implementation. In a spirit of cooperation and collaboration with ICE, the ABA’s Commission on
Immigration has launched this special Initiative to visit, tour, and report on observations of the facilities
across the country with a special focus on the four legal access standards. The organized bar is in a
unique position to contribute to ICE’s implementation of the Standards at facilities nationwide.

The ABA’s Commission on Immigration is recruiting lawyers, law firms, and bar associations to
participate on a pro bono basis in special delegations to tour and report on various detention facilities’
implementation of the Standards, with an emphasis on the four legal access standards. Delegation
leaders will be responsible for organizing a team of up to six volunteers for a facility visit and tour;
researching the local detention situation; visiting the detention center; and producing a report on the
delegation’s observations for the ABA for advocacy purposes. The ABA will report back to the
delegation on ICE’s response for appropriate follow-up.

Through participation in the Detention Standards Implementation Initiative, the organized bar and
attorneys can help facilitate access to counsel and fair treatment for detained immigrants and asylum
seekers.

If you, your firm, or your bar association is interested in participating in this Initiative

Please contact Megan Mack at
202-662-1006 or mackm@staff.abanet.org
American Bar Association
Commission on Immigration
740 15th Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20005

Statement delivered by Jane Van Praag to County Commissioners Court, Jan. 23, 2007. Also, see Daniel K. Lai’s report on the meeting for the Taylor Daily Press.

We understand that the contract between Williamson County and the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is up for renewal on January 31.

I am here to express my opposition to the renewal of this contract.
It is a moral wrong to imprison children. It is morally wrong to imprison whole families with children without exhausting all the alternatives, which would allow families to stay together while ensuring immigrants attend their immigration hearing.

Even Congress, when appropriating the money for this facility, stated: “The Committee expects DHS to release families or use alternatives to detention such as the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program whenever possible.” (House Report 109-079 – DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2006).

I urge the Commissioners’ Court to hold ICE accountable and request that ICE prove it is complying with what Congress intended. We need to know if ICE has exhausted all of the alternatives to detaining these children and families before you renew this contract.

There is only so much that can be done to the T. Don Hutto facility to make it more humane. At some point it becomes clear that it’s still a prison, with bars on the doors, where people are not free to go where they choose, and where children can only go outside at an assigned time.

That is why I am asking you to invite ICE to explain in a public and transparent way why the alternatives to imprisoning families in this way are not being used, before you renew this contract for another year.

If ICE needs more time than is available before the contract with CCA expires, I encourage you to extend the CCA contract for an additional 120 days only and give notice that you intend to terminate the contract with ICE unless ICE publicly explains what alternatives to prison they have tried and why they are not able to implement any of the alternatives to imprisonment.

The voters of Williamson County deserve to know that the federal facilities in their county are operated consistent with what Congress intended.