Category: Uncategorized

We found this discussed at Scott Henson’s blog, Grits for Breakfast, when we went looking for his take on the governor’s fresh brag about reducing major crime at the border.

As a long term trend, border counties are fast growing and fast reducing crime rates, which tells you more about the quality of the new arrivals than about the value of border crackdowns.

Which brings us to Henson’s second point: it’s not migration that’s getting out of hand, it’s immigration crackdowns. Here’s another source on the issue of border crime from the US/Mexico Border Counties Coalition:

“The contemporary situation in southwest border counties relating to crime and law enforcement is quite different than many would expect. Consider, for example, that some of the nation’s safest cities are located along the southwest border, including Tucson and El Paso. Given the link of crime to important quality of life decisions, the low rate of crime in southwest border counties, combined with attributes, such as affordable housing is part of the landscape of increasing retirement in the southwest. Since 1990, official crime statistics have recorded a dramatic drop of 30 percent (Figure 13.1). Property crimes are down 40 percent between 1990 and 2000 and violent crimes, among the lowest in the nation making up only 12 percent of all crimes, dropped 29 percent in the same decade.”

Chapter 13, “At the Cross Roads: US/Mexico Border Counties in Transition”

. . . the Strategic Resource Assessment (SRA). The SRA combines statistics on workload, facility and stakeholders, identifies current and future needs, and outlines short and long-term facility project needs prioritized across the national portfolio. Two pilot region-sites have been completed, Buffalo NY and Tucson AZ. The reports for these sites are under development, but they will establish key trends/facts and priorities.

The next SRA for the San Diego region is underway. CBP is requesting input from SCT and INDAABIN in this area and is scheduling another site visit to gather this information. The schedule for the other regions has been established, with El Paso to be completed in December 2005, and Laredo in September 2005. Source: JWC Meeting Minutes; Las Cruces, New Mexico;
May 24-25, 2005. USDTransportation, Federal Highway Administration, JWC U.S./Mexico Border Transportation Planning.

To: Governor’s Office of Texas (3:58 pm)

Under provisions of the Texas Public Information Act, please provide a copy of the Governor’s authorization, announced in a press release of June 30, 2006, that “Perry authorized up to 2,300 Texas troops to support the mission [of Operation Jump Start].”

From: Governor’s Office of Texas (3:59 pm)

The MOU is posted on our website, attached to a June 2nd (or around then) news release. Let me know if you have trouble accessing it.

To: Governor’s Office of Texas (4:05 pm)

I can access the MOU, but it says nothing about 2,300 troops, so I am seeking the document that clarifies the troop level authorized by the Governor. Please provide the documentary evidence that “2,300 troops” have been authorized by the Governor.

June 2 Press Release from Gov. of Texas

June 23 Letter from Gov’s Office Regarding Records Request of June 8

Indymedia Austin

First in a series of comments recorded by the Texas Civil Rights Review at the Camp Mabry protest against the militarization of the border (June 24, 2006):

Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Uni*n of Texas:

“We oppose the militarization of the border.
“We know that many of these women and men, these national guardsmen are probably headed down to the border, and they don’t really have a choice. Of course they can consciously decide not to go at all, but those who are not in a position to do that are going to head that way.

“We hope they will at least go down there with a consciousness that these are not enemy combatants that surround them, these are human beings who’ve lived there for generations upon generations and that they should be respected.

“We’re very concerned about the potential for violence, and we’ve been here before. Everytime for whatever pop reason the national leadership sends the guard or the military to the border, somebody gets hurt. I think that the last time we went through this there were eight shootings. And we’re very fearful that there will be shootings.

“But even short of shootings, it creates sort of an atmosphere of siege and fear and concern and stress, particularly on kids to be surrounded by men with M-16s. It just does damage to the human psyche. So for all sorts of levels we are opposed to the policy of sending the military to the border.”

Q: On the question of task forces. I know the ACLU has protested the task forces, and overnight we got word that the El Paso sheriff had taken down some of the checkpoints in his task force.

Harrell: “Yes, indeed, it was a glorious victory, but it’s simply a battle, the war is long and continuing. We’re still considering litigation, because damage has been done. And frankly, we’re encouraged and we salute this move, but it is only temporary, he says. And we need it to be permanent. If it’s not permanent, then we’ll be going to court, for sure.

“He also tried to mislead the public by saying wait a minute we never enforced immigration laws, and then he said, well we did, but there was only a secondary purpose. Well our position is number one he did in fact enforce immigration laws, or attempted to do that. And whether it was a primary or secondary purpose, it was still illegitimate.

“He didn’t do us any favors by stopping what he shouldn’t have done in the first place, but we’re glad he stopped. And we are continuing to monitor that.

“People are still scared you know. We were just out there. We just got back the night before last and people aren’t reporting crimes in the community, people aren’t going to church. Some parents won’t even take their kids to school for fear of being subjected to harassment by the Sheriff’s department.

“That fear will continue to linger. Just saying we’re not going to do that anymore isn’t enough. The sheriff’s going to have to actively engage the community, acknowledge publicly the error of his ways and try to rebuild those fences.”