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UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
FEDERAL COURT
Trillion (it’$ a T)
Motion made to dismiss Zapata lawsuit
Dozens of trade-offs in $1.1 trillion budget bill By ANDREW TAYLOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — A massive $1.1 trillion spending bill, aimed at funding the government through October and putting to rest the bitter budget battles of last year, is getting generally positive reviews from House Republicans who are eager
to avoid another shutdown crisis with elections looming. Republicans say the favorable response to the all-encompassing spending bill reflects the desire of the rank and file to avoid a repeat of the politically damaging standoffs with the White House that led to last year’s 16day partial government
shutdown. The closure sent congressional approval numbers plummeting and roughed up Republicans in particular. Since then, they have regained support amid the troubled rollout of President Barack Obama’s health care law. “The shutdown educated — particularly our younger members who
weren’t here during our earlier shutdown — about how futile that practice is,” said House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky. “There is a real hard determination now that we will reacquire and use the power of the purse that the Congress constitutionally has
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NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO
BORDER PROMOTION
Courtesy photo
Shoppers in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, look over vendors’ wares in a city park recently. The city is planning a promotion to call attention to what it has to offer to foreign and domestic tourists.
N. Laredo plans to promote its attractions THE ZAPATA TIMES
Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, officials are planning to promote Nuevo Laredo as the place to visit this year. To help with this goal, the city’s Tourism Department has prepared information that will be available at strategic locations in Mexico and outside the country. The information will highlight tourism involving health matters,
business and hunting. “We are creating a portfolio with information about the city, such as maps, sightseeing, brochures and all that is required for both foreign and domestic tourism, for visitors to get to know Nuevo Laredo,” explained Samuel Lozano Molina, director of Tourism. The portfolios will be available in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, in cities near the border including Monterrey,
Saltillo and Monclova, and in locations in the United States. “All of these places have the potential for visitors, and we are driving the different types of tourism, as in the case of health, such as those who visit us for quality medical services at a reasonable cost,” Lozano Molina said. Veterinary tourism will also be
See NUEVO LAREDO PAGE 9A
By MARK REAGAN THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
BROWNSVILLE — In a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by parents and fellow agent of slain ICE Special Agent Jaime J. Zapata, the Department of Justice is relying on case law from the dismissal of a lawsuit that followed the torture and killing of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. In 2011, ICE special agent Jaime J. Zapata was murdered by drug cartel members in Mexico after being ordered to travel a dangerous highway with ICE special agent Victor Avila, who was seriously injured and suffered multiple gunshot wounds. His parents and Avila have filed a civil lawsuit against the government and several other defendants alleging a federal tort claim, which includes allegations of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Zapata family’s lawsuit demands $75 million over allegations that the U.S. government is inflicting emotional distress on the Zapata family and agent Avila by refusing to explain why the men were sent on the fatal mission in 2011. To fight the lawsuit, the federal government is calling upon case law established by a lawsuit filed by an acquitted suspect in Camarena’s death. In 1985, Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in Mexico. A huge investigation in Mexico netted many arrests, including that of Dr. Humberto Alvarez-Machain. In 1990, Alvarez-Machain stood trial in Los Angeles for his alleged role in the plot to murder Camarena, specifically for claims the doctor kept the agent alive for further torture. Alvarez-Machain was acquitted and sent back to Mexico. He then filed a federal tort claim against the United States alleging false arrest and imprisonment. The suit went up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was dismissed in 2004 because of a foreign-country exception that bars federal tort claims based on any injury suffered in a foreign country, according to the
ZAPATA
DOJ’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Zapata’s parents and Avila. “A federal grand jury had indicted Mexican physician Humberto Alvarez-Machain for the torture and murder of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Mexico. The DEA hired Mexican nationals to seize Alvarez from his house in Mexico and bring him to the United States to stand trial,” the motion to dismiss states. “Alvarez later brought an FTCA (Federal Tort Claims Act) action against the United States, seeking damages for false arrest. He argued that the FTCA exception did not bar his tort claim because his seizure was planned, arranged, financed, and monitored by United States officials acting in the United States.” But the Supreme Court dismissed the case “because the alleged harm occurred in Mexico.” The federal government is claiming the Zapata lawsuit is similar to the Alvarez-Machain claim that was dismissed because both occurred outside the jurisdiction of the Federal Tort Claims Act and the injuries and death in the Zapata lawsuit occurred in Mexico. According to the motion to dismiss the Alvarez-Machain case, the Supreme Court ruled that the lower court rulings that the U.S. government was liable in Alvarez-Machain’s lawsuit were wrong because they were “inconsistent with Congress’ intent in enacting the foreign country exception.” The Supreme Court ruled that where the injury occurred was more impor-
See LAWSUIT
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RIO GRANDE VALLEY
Water bill spat closes La Villa school district By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
LA VILLA — A dispute over the water bill between a one-stoplight Valley town and its school district has shuttered the schools and left students and parents scrambling. The city of La Villa shut off water and sewer service to the La Villa Independent School District in December, shortly after students started their holiday break. The city had raised a water surcharge, but the district refused to pay the increase. The district’s approximately 625 students were
supposed to return to classes Monday, but instead found this message on the school district’s website: “All La Villa I.S.D. schools will be closed until further notice.” The Office of Public Interest Counsel, a state public-interest advocacy agency, told the Texas Commission on Environmental that it should issue an emergency order to force La Villa to restore water service to its school district. In a letter dated Jan. 13, it says La Villa’s decision to shut off the water service to its school district
over a billing dispute “presents an imminent and serious threat to public health and safety.” The TCEQ is scheduled to take up the issue today in Austin. Students raising pigs at the district farm just behind the baseball field had to find new homes for their projects. The boys and girls basketball teams have had their home games converted to away games until the dispute is resolved. They beg court time for practices from other area districts. Seniors fret — perhaps pre-
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Photo by Joel Martinez/The Monitor | AP
City of La Villa Mayor Hector Elizondo reacts at the end of negotiations Saturday after learning that school district administrators adjourned without coming to an agreement over water rates.