Category: Uncategorized

  • They Can Keep the UN from Touring Hutto, but the Vigils Continue

    In the following email, Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr. responds to news that the UN Special Rapporteur for the Human Rights of Migrants has not been approved by USA authorities for a planned visit to the T. Don Hutto prison for migrant families.–gm

    This is really good news folks…!!!

    This whole thing more than amply exposes the epitome of Texas corruption…and how it goes all the way to the White House. Corruption that is the stench of Washington…and traumatizes our own country and the entire world.

    Bush, Chertoff, ICE, CCA, DeLay, Gonzales…Perry, Craddick, Dewhurst…Swinford…and corrupt Texas elected officials of every level, city, county, state and those that have infiltrated all the way to the Administration are making a mockery of democracy by prostituting themselves to the corporate elitists. And we’ll expose them all. Now we have more need to than ever! They’re imprisoning children for profit…and they think they can use our government to get away with it!
    Remember that we recently shared information with you how the D.A.of Willacy County, Juan Guerra, who was prosecuting corrupt officials that were on the take in the rush to build profit prisons like the concentration camp of immigrants in Raymondville. And…how Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales blocked federal investigations into how high up the government the corruption went…which we already know goes all the way to the White House?

    Remember how we showed you how much money that CCA gets of our taxpayers money to imprison innocent children here in Texas? $7000 per month/per child….to be in 8’x12′ cells?

    Remember how we recently showed you documents exposing how the State of Texas Department of Family Protective Services exempted CCA based on lies and deception so that ICE and CCA could get away with child abuse?

    Remember how we showed you the $500,000+ that Texas Governor Perry, Speaker of the House Craddick and Lt. Governor Dewhurst, and how the mostly anti-immigrant legislators recently received from “for profit” prison companies?

    Remember how we showed you how David Swinford, who heads the House State Affairs Committee has blocked a public hearing of HCR 64 which was authored by Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and Rafael Anchia…and co-authored by some 20 other Texas legislators. The resolution denounces Chertoff and ICE’s imprisoning innocent children and their moms at Hutto as immoral. Yet…he who receives money from CCA…serves as a buffer between corrupt tyranny and democracy…in favor of greedy corporatism. Monday is that last day that the resolution HCR 64.

    Remember that we showed you that Homeland Security itself is based at HUTTO? Why else would their marked vehicles be there. Why else would they need to double the parking lot last month…for 400 children and women?

    People all over the country were celebrating the fact that UN Human Rights Commission special investigator, Sr. Jorge Bustamante, was going to visit Hutto this coming Monday…and report his findings to the UN next month. The US has never been faced with an inspection by the UN for human rights violations. We should have been in previous eras. But now…we really should be. Our government is violating everything that stands for human rights…right here in America.

    National media has been frighteningly uninterested in the cause of our extremely diverse group of grass roots Americans. They will embrace our desire to free innocent children from the grips of a cruel, immoral, tyrannical and therefore criminal regime that would greedily profit off of imprisoning women and children. They will learn that most some of the victims of ICE who are in Hutto have fled murder, rape, torture…while the White House, Chertoff and ICE…and of course CCA…all call it humane…and in the best interests of national security…branding them their victims as “illegal”. . . .

    We are now faced in this country with something quite sinister. Our government is not allowing a UN inspector to investigate what we Americans and Texans already know to be human rights violations that resemble things we thought were horrifying when committed in other countries. And we know why they are not letting the UN investigator to tour Hutto. Our government is hiding their moral stench…!!! Maybe they can decoy, avoid, silence, prevent the U N inspector…but they will not silence us.

    “We the people of the United States” will not back down? Why not? Because WE KNOW! Because this is a battle front. This is a new kind of war. Those in power who swore to “protect the constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic” have not only failed…they have become the “enemies…domestic”.

    Morally…this dark side is at war against “Love thy neighbor”, the “Golden Rule” of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. A war against the “Good Samaritan”. This is a moral war. And those in control are truly of the criminal and organized crime element. They are cruel and hateful.

    We all know that atrocities are being committed against our human family…and they are being committed with the same false pretexts as those that put us…and keeps us…in Iraq. So that the Administration’s cronies can bilk us of $2 Billion dollars a week from the Iraq war. Like Walter Read, New Orleans, education and medical care have all but failed…they have created the State of Fear…inside of our own country…and they do it so that they can imprison children, women, asylum seekers, refugees and desperate humble people…and bilk billions of dollars through privatization doing so. We do not need to dwell for long on Halliburton…but how about Blackwater? Now we are learning about CCA, GEO(Wackenhut), Emerald, Cornell, MTC.

    Mr. Bustamante knew that all across America there are people like you and me that know that our government has gone way beyond indecency. Their actions are immoral and criminal. They are above the law. They are outside the law. They are really “out laws” that have seized control of every aspect of America. They crush justice and erase the constitution in order to continue with their corrupt ways.

    Mr. Bustamante was encouraged that grass roots Americans would hold a vigil in support of his visit…and to FREE the CHILDREN of Hutto. We will not let him down. We will not let ourselves down. We will not let the children and their mothers in Hutto down. Sure…they can bully the UN inspector…but WE will not be bullied…let alone by cowards. They can stop Mr. Bustamante from seeing the inside of Hutto…but they cannot stop our voice of outrage. Their decision to prevent Mr. Bustamante will sting them like the scorpion that stings itself with its own tail. Even the national media will cease to suppress this shocking atrocity. Now…the child victims of Hutto will now come to the light of America…and the world. We may finally see the likes of Geraldo Rivera, Anderson Cooper, Keith Oberman, Cris Matthews. Maybe now Oprah, Angelina Joli and Chuck Norris will weigh in. Maybe even Dan Rather?

    Regardless…we WILL proceed with our Hutto Vigil VIII this coming Monday…May 7th…just as we resolved. Chertoff and ICE will not…and cannot…dissuade us by their impeding Mr. Bustamante. What Chertoff and ICE are trying to hide from the UN…we already know. Either way…we have won this battle.

    Hutto Vigil VIII will take place all day in front of the Hutto prison camp. We’ll start at 10am. We’ll stop after sunset. Come any time during the day that you can. Feel free to share this invitation. Please feel free to bring your friends, family, neighbors…and members of your faith or organization.

    Our statement to the leaders of this country?

    NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND BARS

    FREE the CHILDREN

    Jay

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    jay@villadelrio.com
    (830)768-

    0768
    (830)734-8636 (Saturday-Monday’s Hutto Vigil VIII) (cell)

  • Alert: Chertoff Denies UN Access to Hutto

    Alert!!!

    We just got word from a reliable source that Chertoff is denying access to the Hutto prison camp to the UN Human Rights Commission independent inspector, Sr. Jorge Bustamante….who was to inspect human rights violations against the innocent children and their mothers from some 30 different countries.
    And we know why!!! Immoral and criminal conduct!!! Sleazy, callous and greedy exploitation…and child abuse…committed by the corporate controlled state. The military-industrial complex is committing its atrocities on innocent children and their mothers…right here in Texas. Taylor, Texas.

    For years, we’ve criticized other dictators for refusing UN inspections. We even go to war over their refusals.

    The State of Texas Department of Family Protective Services exempted CCA…actually exempted itself from Texas supervision over the child abuse being committed by Chertoff at Hutto.

    Is it not time for a national outrage?

    Will you join our outrage? Will you help?

    Jay

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    jay@villadelrio.com
    (830)768-0768

    ********************

    May 3, 2007, 5:33PM
    U.N. representative visit to immigration center rejected

    By ANABELLE GARAY Associated Press Writer
    © 2007 The Associated Press

    DALLAS — A planned United Nations visit to a highly criticized central Texas center for detaining immigrant families was never approved by federal immigration officials, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said Thursday.

    ICE didn’t immediately respond to questions of why the visit by Jorge Bustamante, the Human Rights Council’s independent expert on migrant rights, wasn’t approved.

    Bustamante had been expected to tour the T. Don Hutto facility on Monday. The U.N. human rights office in Geneva announced late last month that he was going to tour the former prison in Taylor, as well as two border areas where U.S. officials say they will crack down on people illegally crossing the border.

    ICE spokeswoman Ernestine Fobbs said no tours of Hutto are scheduled.

    Bustamante still plans to discuss migrant issues with government officials, campaign groups and immigrants during a mission this month that includes stops in Tucson, Ariz.; Austin, Texas; Fort Myers, Fla.; New York; and Washington, D.C.

    Bustamante, who is from Mexico, is expected to present his findings to the 47-nation rights council at its next session in June.

    Civil liberties and immigration advocates sued federal officials in March on behalf of several children detained at Hutto, which typically houses about 400 non-criminal immigrants awaiting deportation or other outcomes to their immigration cases.

    The groups contend families at Hutto are subjected to psychologically abusive guards, inadequate medical care and inhumane conditions in a facility run like a prison.

    A federal judge was critical of the facility in an order setting the case for trial in August.

    U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks in Austin wrote that living conditions at the Hutto may be unsuitable, and federal officials overseeing the facility should have spent more time researching how to properly care for children in detention.

    ********************

    SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON RIGHTS OF MIGRANTS TO VISIT UNITED STATES

    27 April 2007

    The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge Bustamante, will visit the United States from 30 April to 18 May 2007 at the invitation of the Government.

    The purpose of his visit is to witness first hand the situation of migrants at the borders and in immigration detention facilities and discuss migrant rights related issues with United States officials, experts and advocates from the civil society.

    During his visit, the Special Rapporteur is scheduled to meet senior government officials, local authorities, representatives of non-governmental organizations and individual migrants. The Special Rapporteur will begin his mission in San Diego and then visit Tucson, Austin, Fort Meyers and New York. His mission concludes in Washington DC. His agenda includes visits to the Florence, Hutto and Monmouth detention centers. [emphasis added] He will also visit the Nogales border in Arizona and the border in San Diego.

    The Special Rapporteur will report on his findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

    Prof. Bustamante was appointed Special Rapporteur by the Commission of Human Rights in August 2005. The mandate was established in 1999 and further extended by the Human Rights Council to “examine ways and means to overcome the obstacles existing to the full and effective protection of the human rights of migrants, including obstacles and difficulties for the return of migrants who are undocumented or in an irregular situation”.

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  • Dear Hazahzas: Open Letter from Javier Iribarren

    Javier Iribarren was one of four people who walked the final mile from Abilene to Haskell in solidarity with the Hazahzas and all mistreated immigrants. Following is his email in response to news of four more Hazahzas released.–gm

    Dear Jay and all of you,

    Great day indeed. I am humbled by the joy and by the enormity of the odds. I am humbled by your humility, courage and dedication, my dear friends. Last night, at home, after coming from the event honoring Dorinda alongside other feminists that have changed America, my heart became full thinking of all of you. Changing history means to talk the talk and walk the walk. It means above all to be walkers.

    I want to tell the Hadahzas a few things:

    We are walking
    alongside you

    Your fear
    matters to us

    Your future

    Your children’s future

    as important

    as our future

    as our children’s future

    I ask for your forgiveness
    from the deepest part of my heart
    With the best of my soul
    for taking so long
    to walk alongside you
    I love you

    Broken homeland
    Broken hearts
    Broken tears
    Broken promises

    No more

    I love you

    You know where to find me my good friends

    Javier Iribarren

  • Record Number of Texas Children Dropped from Insurance Plan

    Only Once in Texas History (2003) Have More Children Been Dropped

    Press Release from Center for Public Policy Priorities

    Austin, TX—Today the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) announced that 17,078 fewer children will be covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in May than in April. This is the second largest number of children ever to be disenrolled in one month, second only to immediately after state budget cuts in 2003. In September 2003, there were 507,259 Texas children enrolled in CHIP; with today’s announcement that number stands at 305,991, a drop of more than 201,000 children (39.7%) since that time.
    “This drastic drop in CHIP coverage makes it even more urgent for the Senate to take up HB 109, legislation that overwhelmingly passed the House and would allow children to apply for CHIP once a year instead of twice, eliminate a 90-day waiting period for coverage, and let families deduct child care expenses when determining their eligibility,” said Anne Dunkelberg , Associate Director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities.

    Currently legislation is also on the table that would direct the state to correct the problems plaguing enrollment for the CHIP and Children’s Medicaid programs.

    “It is critical that the legislature also act to address delays in coverage, understaffing, and processing errors in both CHIP and Medicaid,” Dunkelberg said. “Thousands of children are getting dropped from health coverage and getting lost in the system. Even HB 109 will not be enough if there still aren’t enough staff to properly process applications and renewals.”

    Also, below find two useful links, one to the Children’s Defense Fund’s report, In Harm’s Way, which tells the real stories of children who were denied CHIP coverage and the other to CPPP’s overview of state and federal health care policies.

    In Harm’s Way report: “True Stories of Uninsured Texas Children,” Children’s Defense Fund.

    Child Friendly? How Texas’ Policy Choices Affect Whether Children Get Enrolled and Stay Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP (CPPP: 03/22/2007). This report illustrates the history and consequences of Texas’ policies related to children’s Medicaid and CHIP, using official state program data. It also summarizes national and state research on the effects of eligibility and enrollment policies, and explains how Texas policies compare to those of other states. The report was funded by the generous support of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers.