Posted on 06/05/2011 12:04:10 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
SAN JUAN - With the 2011 hurricane season now underway, Bishop of Brownsville Daniel Flores has called on Border Patrol to tell the public it will not check residency status during an evacuation.
Flores is concerned that tens of thousands of undocumented families in the Rio Grande Valley will not heed a call to evacuate for fear of being detained when they get to the Falfurrias checkpoint. U.S. 281 is the official route for evacuations during a hurricane.
“If we go over to a disaster situation clearly we want people to know that you will not be detained because you are trying to save your life or your grandmother’s life,” Flores said, at a meeting with reporters at the San Juan Basilica.
Flores said the Diocese of Brownsville was in communication with Border Patrol and county officials about what would happen during a hurricane evacuation.
“If a disaster is imminent, there is a great deal of uncertainty and one of the great dangers that happens in those times is you get all kinds of different information. People end up confused and sometimes not knowing what to do,” Flores said.
“The church would earnestly and sincerely insist… (That it be made) very clear that the priority is the safety of the whole community and the whole community does not mean simply those who are documented. The whole community is the community of men and women and children who live in the Rio Grande Valley.”
In previous years, Border Patrol has held mock evacuation exercises with other emergency service agencies in the Valley. During those exercises they have asked “evacuees” to give their names and addresses when boarding a bus.
Flores said the Diocese wants a clear message to be sent out that nobody should feel they need to ignore an evacuation “because they are afraid they can lose everything they have.”
Flores added that lives could be lost if a clear message is not sent that residency status will not be checked. “Otherwise, what happens is that people who should get out, out of fear will not and you lose lives that way,” he said.
On Wednesday, the Equal Voice for America’s Families network held a protest outside Border Patrol’s HQ in Edinburg. Coinciding with the first day of the hurricane season, the group asked Border Patrol to save lives by allowing all Valley residents to evacuate safely and efficiently through the checkpoints. They asked local officials to demand the same.
Among the groups represented at the protest were La Unión del Pueblo Entero, Project ARISE, Proyecto Azteca, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, and South Texas Civil Rights Project.
In response to the protest, Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector spokesman Rosendo Hinojosa put out this statement:
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector has over 2,400 Border Patrol agents and several hundred support staff assigned to the local area. We not only work in the Rio Grande Valley but are members of the community.
“We have worked with state and local governments to enhance our Nation's ability to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. The Border Patrol has conducted an extensive review of preparedness and response efforts, and actions are being taken at every level to improve communications and coordination and strengthen emergency response capabilities.
“The Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector is fully supportive of our state and local law enforcement partners and their efforts during emergency response situations.
“The Border Patrol will not hinder a safe and expedited evacuation from the Valley nor will there be pre-screening of individuals during an emergency evacuation.
“The Border Patrol is a law enforcement agency and we will not abandon our law enforcement duties. If there is a time when we have to unite with our emergency preparedness partners to evacuate community members, I can assure you that we will act quickly ensuring that the safety of those requiring evacuation remains paramount.”
Tough. That's the life you choose when you decide to be a criminal.
They’ll let illegales go on the buses, but they won’t let citizens take their dogs or cats.
Exactly!! If you are a criminal then you should be afraid of being detained.
How many criminals is he aiding and abetting. Throw his rear in jail.
Tough....
Tough on all the law abiding US citizens as well - the ICE checkpoints regularly generate traffic delays. In the event of an evacuation there is likely to be very heavy traffic. Common sense would seem to dictate that in such a case the need to get US citizens to safety would override the desire to round up illegal aliens.
Personally, I'd be pretty mad if I was stuck sitting in traffic in the process of trying to escape death from a hurricane because some government official was busy checking everyone's paperwork. There is plenty of time on other days to get to work and enforce the immigration laws.
I suspect that the ICE checkpoints are a bit like the checkpoints in airports - more theater than actual results.
Plenty of room at the S. Texas ICE facility.
Decline in detainee numbers results in layoffs at ICE facility in Raymondville
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2727962/posts
What kind of stupidity is this? By all means check citizenship status! If this is a deterrent to to illegals’ evacuating then let the floods sweep them away.
I agree with the Bishop of Brownsville. Saving lives and a quick getaway from the Hurricanes is the priority here.
Check them when they come back and have the bus’s ready to haul them back across the border.
I wonder if the bishop is more concerned with coming up with any reason to allow his bretheren the illegals to stay in the U.S. than being truly worried about saving lives. Many in the catholic hierarchy have considered themselves above immigration law in the past.
I take it you don’t remember a few years ago when it looked like Hurricane Rita was going to hit the Houston area. People were trapped on roads and Interstates for as much as 24 hours. People died in the traffic jams.
You do not want to do anything to slow the traffic going OUT.
You just check everyone as they filter back IN.
Gee, a liberal Roman Catholic Bishop.
Who’d have thunk it?
This is nothing more than a Jessy Jackson style hyperbole to weaken the current system.
Decline? There’s more coming over every day. There’s more anchors being dropped every day. Obviously, someone isn’t doing their job properly. But we knew that already.
To be clear, the checkpoints are not ICE, they are Border Patrol.
BP comes under CBP. ICE is different agency.
BP Agents are good at recognizing illegals, as are most all people not blinded by PC.
You do not want to do anything to slow the traffic going OUT.
You just check everyone as they filter back IN.
I agree. This sounds like a more sensible way of doing things.
I have an even better idea. Let them start evacuating back over the border now.
Isn't that kinda redundant?
Yes, I concur, one’s criminal status should always be dependent upon the weather.
“I am but a felon north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a crime from a crouton...”
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