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BORDER PATROL CHECKPOINTS
FOOD BANK
‘La jaula de oro’
‘The need continues to grow’ Zapata County residents get a helping hand ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Kirsten Luce | New York Times
Angel Lopez, 5, with his mother, Elizabeth, are seen at their home in Brownsville. Lopez wants Angel to undergo surgery beyond Border Patrol checkpoints, but she cannot pass through because she is an undocumented immigrant. The Border Patrol has traffic checkpoints up to 100 miles north of Mexico, confining undocumented immigrants to a small world.
Immigrants confined to a narrow sliver By MANNY FERNANDEZ NEW YORK TIMES
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Elizabeth Lopez swam across the Rio Grande 19 years ago to come to America, where she began cleaning houses and raising three daughters in this city of swaying palm trees at the southern tip of Texas. It did not matter to her that her life was confined to a narrow sliver of the country — a zone north of the Mexican border but south of traffic checkpoints that the Border Patrol operates within Texas. Everything changed in 2010 when her fourth child, Angel, was born with Down syndrome and colon and heart problems. Living in what some call “la jaula de oro” — the golden cage — suddenly took on a whole new meaning. For decades, these interior checkpoints up to 100 miles north of the border have left thousands of undocumented immigrants and their families
Photo by Kirsten Luce | The New York Times
Angel Lopez, 5, who was born with Down syndrome and colon and heart problems, is shown at his home in Brownsville. Lopez’s mother wants him to undergo surgery beyond Border Patrol checkpoints, but she cannot pass through because she is an undocumented immigrant. The Border Patrol has traffic checkpoints up to 100 miles north of Mexico, confining undocumented immigrants to a small world. in the Rio Grande Valley in something of a twilight zone. Their isolation has only intensified as border security has tightened. And though neither side of the debate about immigration has focused on the issue so far, that may be changing. Those stuck here have little choice but to stay put. They cannot go north for fear of ei-
ther being caught while trying to cross the checkpoints by car or dying in the vast expanses of brush while trying to walk around them. And they will not go south for the same reasons they left Mexico in the first place. The economic opportunities here are better for the immigrants and their children, many of them American citi-
zens, and some fled threats of violence. The inability to travel north complicates their lives in myriad ways. For Lopez and Angel, it hinders medical care. Immigrants here have also missed relatives’ funerals, refused to evacuate as hurricanes approached, narrowed
See CHECKPOINTS PAGE 11A
The South Texas Food Bank distributed almost 300,000 pounds of product during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 to the needy of Zapata County. The total was 285,934 pounds, less than last year’s 360,471 pounds. The figures were released by the Laredobased South Texas Food Bank, which is celebrating its 26th anniversary of serving the community. The wholesale value is $491,340.42. Elia Solis, a native of San Ygnacio and Zapata High School graduate, is the agency relations coordinator for the food bank. The Zapata County food is distributed via three agencies. The largest is Helping Hands, located on 8th and Del Mar. The coordinator is Brian Martinez. More than 325,000 pounds were distributed by Helping Hands. The other sites are Shepherd’s Pantry, 305 Hawk St., where Mary Pulido is the contact person, and Zapata Boys and Girls Club, 302 West 6th Ave.. Ramiro Hernandez is the coordinator. Patrons must call to get the hours of distribution. The South Texas Food Bank is located at 1907 Freight in Laredo. The phone number is 956-726-3120, the website southtexasfoodbank.org. Alma Boubel is the executive director. The food bank’s mission statement is “to alleviate hunger in all the eight counties the Food Bank serves by collecting and distributing food through partner agencies and programs while creating awareness and educating the community on the realities of hunger.” The other seven counties served are Webb (Laredo), Starr (Rio Grande City-Roma), Jim Hogg (Hebbronville), Dimmit (Carrizo Springs), Maverick (Eagle Pass), Val Verde (Del Rio) and Kinney (Brackettville). The South Texas Food Bank distributed 9.91 million pounds in 2014. “The figures are higher than from one year ago, 9.464 million pounds, because our economy is still not at what it should be. The need continues to grow,” Boubel said. “The poverty rate in our area is at 30-plus percent, meaning food insecurity for our friends, family and neighbors. “The South Texas Food Bank is that safety net for families trying to make ends meet.” The food bank serves an average of 27,000 families, 7,000-plus children, 7,000-plus elderly and 500-plus veterans and their widows per month. Tax deductible donations can be mailed to South Texas Food Bank, PO Box 2007, Laredo, Texas, 78044.
LAREDO PORT OF ENTRY
Syrians classified as asylum seekers By DYLAN BADDOUR HOUSTON CHRONICLE
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Sunday that another Syrian family had presented themselves at a Laredo port of entry. It follows widely misinformed reports in recent days that two other Syrian families, reported to have arrived in Laredo on Nov. 18, had sought illegal entry into the country. Currently, state and national lawmakers are em-
Currently, state and national lawmakers are embroiled in debate over whether to close the country’s door to refugees from Syria. broiled in debate over whether to close the country’s door to refugees from Syria, where four years of an internationally backed civil war have left up to 13 million people homeless and more than 200,000 dead. Gov. Greg Abbott was among more than 30 state governors who asserted that Syrian refugees will be
barred from Texas. His office did not immediately respond to queries Sunday morning over any possible efforts to block the most recent arrivals from entering the state. The highly publicized Syrian arrivals of the recent week are classified as asylum seekers, not refugees. It is typical for asylum
seekers to present themselves at ports of entry and ask to have their case heard. In a statement, DHS said “the officers took the group into custody and as standard procedure, checked their identities against numerous law enforcement and national security related databases. Records
checks revealed no derogatory information.” The group, including two men and a family — a man, woman and child — were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further processing, DHS said. Per procedure, the men will go to one detention center and the woman and
child will go to another. There they will face months of interviews from federal officials to evaluate their case to stay in the United States. People are granted asylum when they can demonstrate a legitimate fear of imminent harm in their home country. On Nov. 18, two Syrian families — two men, two women and four children — presented themselves at the Juarez-Lincoln Interna-
See SYRIANS PAGE 11A