Truckers who smuggle now risk loss of livelihood[“Texas Hold 'Em”]

AUSTIN — Truckers who smuggle drugs or people into the United States are now risking not only prison time but the loss of their commercial drivers' licenses as Texas uses a long-standing law in a new border-crime crackdown.

“Up until today, when those lawbreakers had their trucks apprehended, they were convicted in federal court, they typically paid a small fine or served a brief sentence, then it was back to business as usual. Well, starting today, that all changes, ” Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday at the Texas Capitol with U.S. Border Patrol sector chiefs.

“If you are a commercial trucker who is involved in the illicit transportation of drugs or humans, and you get caught, our effort's going to be to stop you from being able to drive a truck again for the rest of your life,” he said. “You're going to lose your livelihood.”The “Texas Hold 'Em” initiative is meant to ensure the Texas Department of Public Safety gets documentation of federal smuggling convictions so it can suspend or revoke commercial drivers' licenses. In the past, there was a gap in convictions being reported, said Judy Brown, chief of the DPS driver license division.

The Texas initiative already has resulted in suspension of commercial license privileges in Texas in five cases, DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said. Two were Texas licenses, and the other three states — Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina — will be notified so they can revoke their licenses, she said. One Texas case was for smuggling drugs; the rest, for smuggling people.

Under state and federal law, people convicted of transporting illegal drugs face lifetime disqualification for commercial driving, Brown said. The disqualification for smuggling unauthorized immigrants is a year's license suspension for a first offense and a lifetime revocation for a second, she said.

That's on top of criminal penalties. Transporting an unauthorized immigrant can mean five years in prison and — if someone dies — range up to life in prison or the death penalty, say federal officials. The federal penalty for drug smuggling ranges from probation to life in prison.

Perry and Chief Patrol Agent Carlos X. Carrillo of the Border Patrol in Laredo said most Texas truckers are law-abiding, but the crackdown is needed to counter smuggling rings' aggressive efforts.

“Alien- and drug-smuggling organizations are aggressively recruiting truck drivers — using the promise of easy money, sex and drugs — to tempt drivers to transport illegal aliens or narcotics into Texas, into the rest of the United States,” Carrillo said, adding that Texas is pioneering the license-revocation initiative.

In the first eight months of fiscal 2008, Perry's office said, Border Patrol agents in Texas intercepted 423 tractor-trailers, resulting in more than 1,800 unauthorized immigrants being detained and more than 112,000 pounds of illegal drugs being seized. The total for this year will probably exceed 2007's total of 444, Carrillo said.

Robert D. Long, chief financial officer of USA Logistics Carriers in McAllen, called the initiative overdue. He said trucking companies face difficulties when drivers smuggle and rigs are seized.

“We're the owner of the equipment and now we're stuck trying to deal with Border Patrol, Customs — whoever — trying to get our equipment released,” Long said. “They (drivers) get a slap on the hand — ‘Don't do it' — and go down to the next company.”

Texas Motor Transportation Association President John D. Esparza said in a statement, “Texas Hold 'Em will continue to protect the law-abiding Texans who make a living by driving commercial trucks and it will discourage or remove those who try to circumvent the rules of the road.”

PERRY MUSTA UNDERWENT A BRAIN TRANSPLANT---HERE'S PERRY LAST YEAR:

In Mexico for trade talks, Perry blasts immigration policies
Houston Chronicle, Mexico City Bureau | Aug. 28, 2007 | DUDLEY ALTHAUS
Posted on 08/28/2007 5:35:20 PM PDT by Dubya

MEXICO CITY — Leading a large delegation of Texas executives trying to drum up business in Mexico, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday criticized the U.S. Congress for failing to pass an immigration bill that would legalize millions of workers. "I don't think this is that difficult an issue if Congress would have the maturity to sit down and really discuss it and cut out all the mean rhetoric," Perry said during a break in the third day of meetings with Mexican officials and business executives. (Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...

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PERRY HELPED GIVEAWAY TEXAS ROADS TO MEXICANS

TX governor Perry rapped for paving way for construction of Trans-Texas Corridor
One News Now | August 24, 2007 | Chad Groening
FR Posted on 08/25/2007 by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Texas Governor Rick Perry is being called to task by an author and investigative journalist for vetoing bills that would have blocked construction of the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor.

Dr. Jerome Corsi has been one of the leading voices warning the American public about the consequences of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which will be part of a superhighway -- purported to be four football fields wide -- that will allow Mexican trucks to enter the U.S. and traverse the core of the country all the way to Canada.

The best-selling author asserts that Governor Perry cleared the way for construction to begin in his state when he vetoed several bills passed by the Legislature that would have stalled the project.

"Governor Perry has been 100 percent gung-ho in building this road," says Corsi. "The Legislature voted a two-year moratorium, it voted a redefinition of eminent domain -- [and] Governor Perry vetoed them. [On] at least one of those measures, he waited until the Texas Legislature was out of session so it couldn't even override his veto."

Corsi says it is unfortunate that there has been political pressure to get the project started. "The Federal Highway Administration's lawyer wrote letters threatening the Texas Legislature to cut off federal highway funds if they got in the way of this Trans-Texas Corridor," he says.

Corsi believes the same pressure will be applied on other states, like Oklahoma, to go along with the project. He suggests that would mean a loss of more American jobs and could pose a threat to U.S. sovereignty.

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PERRY COLLABOATED WITH GIULIANI TO UNDERMINE US NATIONAL SECURITY

Here's Perry's idea of "border security."
Perry collaborated with Giuliani used eminent domain to take US properties from taxpayers and gave them to foreign entities.

NASCO TEXAS-CANADA-MEXICO TRADE CORRIDOR BROKERED BY Bracewell & Giuliani

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MAP----TERRORIST ENTRY POINTS

NEWS STORY Bracewell & Giuliani Firm Advises Cintra in First Privatization of Toll Road in Texas
DALLAS (March 1, 2007) Bracewell & Giuliani LLP (Rudy's Texas-based law firm with global connections) advised Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A., a Spanish transportation company, in its successful bid to develop State Highway 121 into a toll road through Collin and Denton counties ("trade road" is four football fields wide). The award to Cintra, approved by the Texas Transportation Commission, is the first privatization of a Texas toll road. Bracewell is acting as project counsel to Cintra with respect to the 50-year concession from the Texas Department of Transportation. Cintra will pay a $2.1 billion upfront and annual lease payments totaling $700 million. "Cintra was awarded this project because of its proven expertise and competitive proposal," said Thomas O. Moore, partner with Bracewell & Giuliani. "This is the largest transportation deal of 2007. This is one of only five deals in the country."

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COMMENT Gov Rick Perry does a Dixie Chick---he criticizes the US while in a foreign country. Is Perry collaborating with a foreign government to influence the policies of the US government on the issue of amnesty for illegals? Gov Perry endorsed Giuliani's candidacy-----does candidate Giuliani agree with collaborating with foreign governments to change US policies? Perry and Giuliani are collaborators, undermining US national security.

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