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Bill Clinton pays visit
Zapata County Fair events
Campaigns for Hillary at TAMIU By KENDRA ABLAZA THE ZAPATA TIMES
Former President Bill Clinton visited Laredo on Monday to campaign for his wife, telling a crowd at TAMIU that she wants to build “ladders of opportunity and empowerment,” not walls. “We don’t need somebody to build walls. We need somebody to tear down barriers and build ladders of opportunity,” Clinton told about 1,200 to 1,500 people at a get-out-thevote rally for Hillary Clinton at Texas A&M International University. Infrastructure, quality of life and job growth were among the topics that Bill Clinton focused on when he spoke at TAMIU. He said Hillary Clinton is the ideal choice for U.S. president because her policies on those topics are good for both Republicans and Democrats. He said his wife, a demo-
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Trail ride, parade take place in March
We don’t need somebody to build walls. We need somebody to tear down barriers and build ladders of opportunity.”
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Sunday, Feb. 28 2 p.m.: Zapata County Fair Queens Contest at the Zapata High School Auditorium
Saturday, March 5
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON cratic presidential candidate, would take care of the country’s infrastructure needs, especially when it
See CLINTON PAGE 11A
Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times
Former President Bill Clinton greets supporters of his wife, democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, on Monday afternoon after speaking about several political points such as immigration, college tuition and debt at Texas A&M International University’s Kinesiology Convocation Building.
Zapata County Fair Association Trail Ride: 7 a.m.: Trail ride breakfast for riders at Bustamante Roping Arena 8 a.m.: Trail ride starts from Bustamante Roping Arena 9 a.m.: Books open for Annual ZCFA Roping at Zapata County Roping
See FAIR PAGE 11A
TEXAS
CRIME RATES GO DOWN Border communities safer than big cities By JULIÁN AGUILAR AND ALEXA URA TEXAS TRIBUNE
Photo by Victor Strife | The Zapata Times file
A pedestrian crosses the street in downtown Laredo in this November 2015 file photo. Border communities like Laredo, El Paso, Edinburg and Brownsville all saw fewer than 400 crimes for every 100,000 residents in 2014.
It’s a scene repeated often in Texas towns along the Rio Grande: a white U.S. Border Patrol van sporting the agency’s trademark green stripe competing with a Laredo Police Department car at a busy Stripes convenience store. Just two miles away, a nondescript orange building tucked between a bus stop and the Mariscos El Pescador restaurant houses divisions of the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Across the
street, dozens of Border Patrol SUVS and trucks fill a block-long parking lot. If nothing else, the money and manpower being deployed to keep unauthorized immigrants, terrorists and drugs out of the country have flooded Texas border counties with law enforcement. Crime has dropped, and the Texas side of the border apparently is now safer than the state’s larger cities. But a political tug-of-war about the security needs of the re-
See CRIME PAGE 11A
ZAPATA COUNTY
Two men indicted on human smuggling charges By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Two men were recently indicted on human smuggling charges, according to court documents released last week. Authorities alleged that Carlos Antonio Puente and Alberto Armando Lucio picked up 12 illegal im-
migrants in Zapata County. On Feb. 17, a grand jury in Laredo charged the men with conspiracy to transport undocumented people within the United States and attempt to transport undocumented people for financial gain. If convicted, the men could face a maximum of
10 years in federal prison. The incident unfolded Jan. 29, when U.S. Border Patrol agents patrolling the Dolores Creek area received reports of suspicious activity, states the criminal complaint filed Feb. 1. An older model gray Dodge Ram and a Chevrolet Equinox were loading
several people south of the Webb and Zapata County line, court documents state. Records show air support spotted the suspect vehicles exiting U.S. 83 onto Espejo Molina Road toward the City of Rio Bravo. Agents said the Equinox pulled over to the side
of the road and five people ran to the brush area. However, all were detained, according to court documents. A second bailout was reported moments later, when authorities said seven people got out of the Dodge Ram on Rio Nilo in Rio Bravo. Agents who responded to the area appre-
hended the group. A Texas Department of Traffic Safety trooper then pulled over the Dodge Ram for a traffic violation. Lucio was identified as the driver, records state. He was turned over to federal authorities. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)