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The Republican Party of Texas unanimously passed a resolution calling on Governor Greg Abbott to convene a special legislative session to address Colony Ridge, the massive housing development north of Houston that’s become a hub for illegal immigrants. The resolution, which passed by a vote of 61-0, says a special legislative session must be convened in order to “prevent further settlement of illegal aliens in Colony Ridge and any other areas of Texas.” The power to call a special legislative session is with Abbott, who has already been urged by the state’s Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick to do the same....

ALAMO, April 8 - The Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network is urging Hidalgo County Commissioner’s Court to pursue legal action over the 2010 Census undercount. The group, which represents numerous colonia community groups, believes tens of thousands of colonia residents were not counted last year. As a result, millions of dollars in federal funds could be lost to the region, with political representation in Washington, D.C., and Austin also suffering. “The Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network welcomes Tuesday's news of Hidalgo County's plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce,” the group said, in a...

The city of El Cenizo has received over half a million dollars in grant money for use of community development. The grant is from the Texas Community Development Block program and is usually awarded to rural cities with a population of less than 50,000. The Texas Department of Rural Affairs will present the check to El Cenizo next week.

SAN JUAN, Aug. 3 - La Unión del Pueblo Entero leaders will meet tomorrow to consider what legal options are available to stop what they believe is the harassment of colonia residents by Border Patrol. The group has invited Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and the South Texas Civil Rights Project to participate. “We are disappointed that CBP feels the need to harass local residents and make their lives even more difficult than they already are,” said Juanita Valdez-Cox, executive director of LUPE. Valdez-Cox said her organization has received dozens of calls from members reporting a heightened presence by Border Patrol...

I got this article from a colleague of mine and I found it intriguing. Hey, I’m a refugee. So I’m ever thankful for this country and the opportunity it offers. I also understand why people would flock to this country from others. And I also know my family worked hard to become American Citizens through the proper channels. It didn’t happen very quickly – only we did it. So I’m a big believer of people working to obtain citizenship or green cards through the proper channels. Others just living here and taking advantage of the system, we’ll read below and...

During the 2000 census, a combination of challenges affected how accurately the colonias were counted. Language barriers and lack of physical infrastructure were just some of the problems. "In my congressional district we lost 55 million dollars mainly federal and state money because we didn't count everybody." The Census Director and Congressman Henry Cuellar met in Washington three weeks ago to discuss the importance of outreach efforts along the border. The Census Director has an important message for the people in this Colonia and is not to be afraid when they come knocking at your door. "This is a safe...

"Twenty years after the state began to address the problems faced by colonias — a byword for poor communities that lack basic infrastructure — bad water and sewage issues continue to plague them. Roads are rutted, and some toilets are known to flush into backyards, even if a homeowner is lucky to have a septic tank instead of an outhouse. Quality drinking water can be iffy. Even as colonias along the border have received assistance from state and federal officials, colonias here — near Corpus Christi — and in other parts of the state have historically been left out by...

Subject: H.R. 2499 Believe it or not - the following is 1st a summary followed by the text of H.R. 2499. Now you ask what's this all about. Well H.R. 2499 is a bill to provide seven million dollar (that's right) to provide for the Colonias in Laredo and Webb County Texas. Note: There are approximately 3,000 Colonias found in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California What is a Colonias, you ask? It is Spanish for Colony. That's right not illegal aliens living in what should be called shanty-towns but colonies inside the US. How's them apples. Here's the web...

McALLEN — From Brownsville to San Diego, if the Mexican border region were a separate state, it would rank dead last in all things health-related. The statement, by Frank Cantu of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, took no one by surprise at the “Beyond Translation” forum Thursday. Attendees ranging from state health officials to activists clamoring for awareness of toxins and disease on both sides of the border were eager for their opportunity to network and say what they feel needs to be done. Miguel Flores, director of water quality protection for the Environmental Protection Agency in Dallas,...

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...