Free Republic

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...

Hundreds of undocumented workers in the Valley are filing income taxes in hopes of creating a paper trail. They hope that path will lead them to a legal life in the United States. Undocumented workers can't apply for a Social Security number. They can apply for an individual tax identification number or an ITIN. We were surprised to learn hundreds of illegal immigrants file taxes under an ITIN every year. For some, filling out an application is like filling in a dream. These undocumented workers say filing their income taxes is a message to the government. "So they know we...

HIDALGO COUNTY - Two men are on the run at this hour after they crashed through the international crossing at Anzalduas. It began as a traffic stop at about noon on Tuesday. Alamo police officers pulled over a SUV after the drivers were suspiciously driving around the Alamo Plaza parking lot. At first the men seemed to cooperate with the officer. At one point, the officer asked the passenger to exit the vehicle when he began fidgeting. Sgt. Lupita Valdez says the driver had a Georgia license. The passenger had a Reynosa drivers license and local identification. All their documents...

SAN JUAN — Previous attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform have collapsed under opposing demands from warring factions. But when an immigration reform bill was introduced earlier this month, it drew broad support from a wide group of parties, said Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes. Ninety-three U.S. Representatives have thrown their name behind the bill and business leaders, agriculture groups and others are in favor of reform. “There is a diversity of support that we’ve never had before” for immigration reform, the Congressman said Wednesday during a meeting with members of La Union del Pueblo Entero at the organization’s headquarters on...

WASHINTON, D.C. - Members of the nonprofit organization LUPE are in Washington lobbying for immigration reform. Members from the Alton office traveled to Washington, D.C. over the weekend and will be at the capital for the rest of the week. They will speak with lawmakers and meet with legislators to push for an immigration reform bill. Last week, the group's Alton offices were robbed. Police say thieves stole the organization's air conditioning unit for the copper and aluminum. The thieves are still wanted at this hour.

Several activist organizations called for immigration reform in front of U.S. Senator John Cornyn's office in Harlingen on Monday. La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) and several organizations told Action 4 News that they wanted to show their dissaproval to what they're calling the Republican Texas seantor's unsupportive behavior for Latino issues. Although Senator Cornyn's office was closed, the picketers called him by cell phone and chanted in unison for better representation for the Hispanic community. Marta Sanchez with LUPE said they are seeking a legislation for comprehensive immigration reform and support on several other acts in Congress up for...

EDINBURG - Community activists renewed their call Monday for federal officials to close South Texas' immigration checkpoints in the event of a mandatory hurricane evacuation. Checking the legal status of every evacuee would discourage people from leaving in advance of a storm and slow down the overall process for others, the migrant rights advocates said protesting on the first day of the 2009 hurricane season. "We think this could cause a tragedy of enormous proportions," said Corinna Spencer-Scheurich, an attorney with the South Texas Civil Rights Project. "We have been working to get a clear and safe answer to the...

LA JOYA - A local civil rights organization is urging police to avoid immigration enforcement after complaints were lodged alleging officers were targeting illegal immigrants. La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) representatives are in the midst of meetings with local police leaders in western Hidalgo County, where authorities routinely encounter human trafficking and illegal immigrants streaming across ranch lands nearly every day. "There have been comments made to us by some of our members and other members in the community that when (police) stop them for a traffic violation they were asking for legal documents," LUPE Texas Director Juanita Valdez-Cox...

SAN JUAN — A human rights organization sympathetic to undocumented immigrants celebrated the end of 100 days of collective fasting Sunday in response to the “unwelcome presence of hatred on our border” by the Minutemen, a group that aims to stop illegal border crossings. From a 78 year-old woman to a 10-year-old boy whose grandmother drowned in the Rio Grande, 165 people participated in the 3-month-long protest by taking turns not eating for 24 hours at a time. “When we are really honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us,” Juanita Valdez-Cox,...