3 minute read
Political
LULAC Voices Its Views on Historic Appointments
Washington, DC – The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) issued the following statements on two trending national news items. The first concerns arguments the U.S. Supreme Court heard on whether the Biden Administration can mandate which undocumented immigrants should be prioritized for deportation based upon their criminal antecedents. Opponents argue the selective deportation process is too costly and still burdens states for the care, employment, and education of undocumented immigrants who are allowed to stay while their legal case is heard in court. "We have been closely monitoring the legal case challenging the administration's policy of prioritizing deportations," says Domingo Garcia, LULAC national president. "A court ruling isn't expected until early next year. However, we are closely watching the actions of immigration officials in the meantime to ensure that every migrant has the opportunity to make a case before an immigration court and they are given just due process," he adds. "Enforcement actions can be disruptive and traumatizing to entire communities," says Lydia Guzman, LULAC Immigration Chair. "We expect every necessary enforcement action to treat migrants with dignity and respect, and also to care that families and communities, especially where there are children on the scene, to be handled with care to mitigate any emotional trauma," says Guzman. LULAC also congratulated House Democrats for several historic leadership election victories. These include Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader, the first Black politician to lead a party in either Congressional chamber. Rep. Katherine Clark, Party Whip, and Rep. Pete Aguilar, Caucus Chair. "These individuals are each worthy of their wins," says Garcia. "They are very competent, experienced, and great champions of the underserved in America, working men and women, who have historically not had a seat, much less a voice at the table of power. LULAC hopes they will find and share in the spirit of bipartisanship on the critical issues ahead, including DACA and implementation of the Vanessa Guillen Act and the Brandon Act, for which we strongly advocated," he adds.
Gutierrez Wins Lubbock Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Seat
The results for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 race in Lubbock County resulted in a close race with the outcome of Lubbock County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 at 5,447 to 5,218 (51.07% to 48,93%) vote. Gutierrez will begin training December 11th in San Marcos, Texas. Of personal interest to him is unacceptable truancy found in communities that he said 80% of cases are "OTW (Other than White)." Incumbent Democrat ChaidesHernández will complete her term at the end of December. She was the first and longest-serving Hispanic to hold judicial office in Lubbock County. She was elected in 1994 and has proudly served the residents of Lubbock County for 28 years.
The City of Lubbock announced Gilbert Quant as the new Chief Building Official. He will oversees the Building Safety Department. The position plans, directs, and supervises the City of Lubbock’s construction permitting and inspection activities as well as developing and administering public relations efforts to keep citizens informed. Quant has worked for the City of Lubbock Building Safety Department since September 2002. He began his career as a Residential and Commercial Plans Examiner before promoting to Senior Commercial Plans Examiner and later Assistant Building Official. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Engineering Technology from Texas Tech University, and possesses multiple International Code Council certifications in both the Plans Examiner and Inspector categories. He will start as the Chief Building Official on Monday, December 5, 2022.
