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ZAPATA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Border Security Expo Law enforcement officials provided training By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S
Zapata County Sheriff’s Office Chief Raymundo Del Bosque Jr. was among many law enforcement officials who went to the Border Security Expo in San Antonio. He stated the expo provided great training. “(I’m) proud to represent Sheriff Alonso M. Lopez and The Zapata County Sheriff’s Office at the 2018 Border Security Expo working alongside
Sheriff Martin Cuellar, Chief Deputy Federico Garza, and Cmdr. Dennis D. Garcia of The Webb County Sheriff’s Office,” Del Bosque said in a statement. For Cuellar, the expo served as an opportunity to show Washington officials the work being done in southern Texas. “We’re going the right direction on how to protect the border,” Cuellar said. He also served as a panelist.
“It is through these types of conferences that we are able to represent Webb County and, at the same time, learn more about different equipment and training that we need to keep our community safe. Border security is a very important matter and we don't take it for granted,” the sheriff said. Garza added, “Our federal partners are listening to us to make sure that we get the equipment to help the commu-
nity.” Strategies in place include partnerships with local, state and federal law enforcement officials. Working together in the south can prevent the contraband from reaching the north, he said. “Our strategy is to deter the crime that is happening in our cities because whatever happens in our city of Laredo, it affects also the city of San Antonio,” Garza said.
Courtesy photo / Zapata County Sheriff’s Office
Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar, Zapata County Sheriff’s Office Chief Raymundo Del Bosque Jr. and Webb County Sheriff’s Office Chief Fred Garza went to the Border Security Expo that took place in San Antonio this week.
IBC BANK-ZAPATA
CBP
CLAY FOR KIDS TOURNAMENT
Facial recognition will get border test By Jeremy Schwartz COX NEWSPAPERS
Courtesy photo
Almost 40 shooting teams, totaling 300 participants, took part on a 12-station sporting clay course of 100 clay targets with 12-gauge, or smaller, shotguns.
Event proceeds benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Zapata S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S
IBC Bank-Zapata hosted the 11th annual Clay for Kids tournament and cook-off on Saturday, Jan. 27. All proceeds directly benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Zapata, serving more than 400 children of all ages. This year, IBC Bank-Zapata helped raise over $22,000 for the organization. This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Boys & Girls Club of Zapata County. Clays for Kids took place on the Ramirez Family Ranch. Local residents, business and community volunteers came together to support the organization. “Supporting organizations like the Boys & Girls Club
and bringing communities together is part of IBC’s “We Do More” philosophy,” said Ricardo Ramirez, IBC BankZapata president and CEO. “This fundraiser has exceeded our expectations and it could not have been done without the help of our neighbors, local businesses, and those who take the time to join us year after year.” About 40 registered shooting teams were formed this year, totaling 300 participants taking action on a 12station sporting clay course of 100 clay targets with 12gauge, or smaller, shotguns. In addition, 17 cook-off teams competed to prepare the best fajitas, chicken, and pork ribs, with the side favorites, ‘pan de campo’ and beans.
SAN ANTONIO — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has long sought a way to identify the millions of travelers who leave the country each year through land border crossings into Mexico and Canada. The logistical hurdles have been monumental: At the U.S.-Mexico border in particular, setting up an exit checkpoint could cause disastrous traffic backups and disrupt trade. When Congress ordered the agency to use biometrics to identify travelers leaving the country, the technology was in its infancy. But thanks to quantum leaps in facial recognition technology, especially over the past year, the future is arriving sooner than most Americans realize. As early as this summer, CBP will set up a pilot program to digitally scan the faces of drivers and passengers — while they are in moving vehicles — at the busy Anzalduas Port of Entry outside of McAllen, Texas, the agency announced this week. The agency will use the results of the South Texas effort to set the stage for a wider rollout along the southern and northern borders, where the technology someday could be used to identify fugitives or wanted terror suspects. Customs and Border Protection already operates facial recognition exit programs at nearly a dozen international airports, including Houston’s, aimed at making sure travelers are who they say they are. “Traveler acceptance is really high, and we can thank the Apples and the Googles for that,” said Colleen Manaher, CBP executive director of planning, program analysis and evaluation, in an interview at the Border Security Expo in San Antonio, where she revealed the Anzalduas project Thursday. “It’s a game-changer.” While agency officials say facial recognition technology has the potential to transform how we travel, possibly doing away with the need for passports, boarding passes and other travel documents, some critics foresee more dystopian outcomes. Analysts at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy and Technology have argued the program could lead to “mission creep” in the form of additional, unauthorized government scanning. At least two members of Congress have questioned whether the agency’s program illegally spies on American citizens. In a December letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, U.S. Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, requested that the program’s expansion be halted until the agency can demonstrate its legality. “While Congress has repeatedly voted to authorize biometric entry-exit scanning of foreign nationals, it has never authorized biometric exit scanning for U.S. citizens,” the senators wrote. “In fact, Congress has pointedly neglected to authorize biometric exit scanning for U.S. citizens.”