Free Republic

Sister Phylis L. Peters is going to stay with her people even if it means putting her own life on the line. Recent news that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will check the immigration status of individuals fleeing a hurricane has sent a chill through the poor, unincorporated colonia of Cameron Park, where Peters founded Proyecto Juan Diego, a community center. If a hurricane strikes South Texas this year, the colonia's undocumented residents might have to choose between deportation and evacuation. "If they are staying, I'm not leaving," Peters said. Because many Cameron Park residents have family members residing...

EL CENIZO — Fearing something was wrong as he arrived Wednesday after a long day's work, gardener Salvador García shouted to the police officers by his driveway that he was the homeowner. He later wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut. The officers, who swarmed García before he could get out of his beat-up white pickup, actually were federal immigration agents. They were looking for him. A dozen years ago, García had admitted in immigration court that he was in the country illegally and agreed to go back to Mexico. He never did. Unable to catch the day's...

Two of the most powerful women in the country are scheduled to be in Laredo today.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the third-most powerful politician in the country, will tour the region with U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, where she will meet some of the nation's most impoverished citizens. And U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will visit Texas A&M International University to discuss the importance of education and, specifically TAMIU's GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) program. After meeting with parents and students involved in the GEAR UP program, Hutchison is scheduled to briefly address the media. The...

Residents of Rio Bravo and El Cenizo are concerned about the escalating grass fires in Nuevo Laredo, which fire officials there say have been intentionally set.Warnings have been issued to residents with respiratory problems, urging them to stay indoors because of the heavy smoke drifting across the Rio Grande. Fears that flying sparks might start fires in the two Webb County cities, which have many structures made of wood, may have been realized late Thursday when a small home went up in flames. No major injuries were reported. "We have alerted the people about this emergency to help avoid health...

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas: Along muddy roads invisible from the highway, some families crowd into battered trailers patched with plywood. Others jam into self-constructed dwellings that seem designed by Dr. Seuss — wood and tarpaper shacks attached to half-finished concrete-block rooms, wires and hoses snaking in. The counties of South Texas are among the nation's poorest, and their jumbled subdivisions, known as colonias, home to 400,000 Hispanic-Americans, can certainly look the part. Since the 1950s, developers have carved small lots from mesquite woodlands and floodplains, selling them to workers with the promises that utilities, sewers and paved roads would follow....

The trial of three men accused of a gang-related shooting in Rio Bravo are set for trial today in 49th District Court.According to investigators with the Webb County Sheriff's Department, gunfire broke out when rival gang members showed up at a birthday party for an infant in Rio Bravo, leaving two dead: 14-year-old Oscar "Seco" Martinez and 18-year-old Roberto "KK" Villarreal. They died April 16, 2005. Among several suspects arrested in connection with the shooting were Martin Jesus Carrizales, Amado Vasquez Jr. and Noel Vasquez. They are each charged with two counts of murder and have entered pleas of not...

AUSTIN — Nonprofit housing groups in Pharr and Brownsville have been approved for of a combined $2.9 million in loans to provide housing to people who live in colonias. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs on Thursday approved a $1.4 million loan for the Pharr Housing Community Development Corporation and $1.5 million for the CDC of Brownsville. The money comes from federal grants to the state. Those nonprofit groups can use the money to buy land, develop lots, construct housing or give down-payment assistance, said Elena Peinado, legislative affairs adviser for TDHCA. The organizations must use the money...

HARLINGEN — The Texas attorney general alleges the developer of a small colonia, an illegally created subdivision without basic amenities near the Texas-Mexico border, ignored a recent court order to bring the area into compliance with platting laws and the assurance of water and wastewater facilities. Eric Solis, of Cameron County, had until mid-June to bring the residential subdivision into compliance, as per a Travis County court order, according to Attorney General Greg Abbott, who said he has filed a motion of contempt seeking sanctions, including possible jail time for Solis. A hearing on the contempt motion is set for...

Valley Briefs HARLINGEN — The state is suing a Cameron County developer for selling residential land plots with-out water and sewage service in violation of laws meant to stop the spread of shanty towns known as colonias, Attorney General Greg Abbott said Monday. Harlingen resident Eric Solis, developer of Toribio Estates, is accused in the lawsuit of illegally selling four residential lots without obtaining required approval from county officials and of failing to install or guarantee water and waste water services. Solis could not be reached for comment. A phone number at his last known address was out of service....

State grants allow Mission residents access to main line MISSION — Colonia residents living just outside Mission city boundaries can stop worrying about their old septic tanks later this year, when they tie into city sewage lines — for free. Thanks to two state grants totaling $1 million, the city of Mission is footing the bill for yard lines and sewer hook-ups in 22 of the 44 colonias lying just northwest of its boundaries. The money, which comes from a state fund specifically designated for crowded, low-income neighborhoods in counties near the U.S.-Mexico border, comes on the heels of a...

Developers would face new rules AUSTIN - Third-world-like conditions that exist in Nueces County and other parts of South Texas in colonias could come closer to being eradicated if a new bill becomes law. Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, filed a bill Wednesday seeking to end the construction of colonias, which are underdeveloped neighborhoods which are usually past paved roads and in patches of land without municipal water and sewer lines. "We have colonias with no running water, no drainage, no septic tanks. And when it rains, it floods," said Hinojosa, who represents Nueces County. "People cannot get out of...

Former mayor pleads innocent to psychic charge BY LYNN BREZOSKY Associated Press Writer McALLEN, Texas - The former mayor and bookkeeper of the tiny city of La Grulla pleaded innocent Friday to charges they used federal grant money to pay for tens of thousands of dollars in psychic consultations. Diana Cortez, the former mayor, and Sandra Lopez, the former bookkeeper, stood silently in casual street clothes as public defender Norman Mcinnis waived a reading of the indictment and entered innocent pleas. "She understands what she's accused of," Mcinnis said. "She doesn't want the indictment read in court." U.S. Magistrate Judge...

Minority activists air complaints about proposed redistricting AUSTIN (AP) — Minority activists and elected officials testified Wednesday that a Republican-drawn congressional redistricting map could hurt the political progress black and Hispanic Texans have made over many years. "I think it's probably going to set us back maybe 20, 25 years," said Deralyn Riles Davis, a black political activist from Tarrant County. "The people are going to be discouraged." Attorneys for the state say Republican legislative leaders were trying to craft a congressional map for partisan gain, and that race was not a predominant factor. They dispute claims by Democrats and...