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ILLEGAL GAMBLING INVESTIGATION
SOUTH TEXAS
Judge rules $1.7M must be returned Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News
Antonia Florinda Lopez Ixmata, 20, sits with her children, Erik Lopez, 2, and Aymer Damian Lopez, 4, on the Mexican side of the Roma-Ciudad Miguel Aleman International Bridge by Roma, Texas on Tuesday.
STUCK IN LIMBO Immigrants seeking asylum wait for CBP processing and shelter By Silvia Foster-Frau
“You can’t leave, you
SAN ANT ONIO EXPRE SS-NEWS
During an 11-day journey from Honduras, Adalid Rubi said he and his 7-year-old daughter, Jensy, rode dangerous buses at night, escaped a kidnapping and had half of their money stolen. Now, just yards from their quest, he said they’ve been stuck for four days with no money on a bridge over the Rio Grande, a limbo zone where immigration officers have delayed their entry into the U.S. to seek asylum because of a backlog in processing immigrants and obtaining open beds for them in detention centers, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. “You can’t leave, you can’t do anything,” Rubi said. “I barely sleep, I worry about her.” The father and daughter are camping out on thin, donated padding along the pedestrian walkway of the McAllenHidalgo International Bridge with about 40 other asylum-seekers. The same scene is unfolding upriver at the bridge in Roma, where 60 immigrants are camping out. Dozens also have been reported in El Paso, as well as at crossings in Arizona and California. They’ve moved forward only a few feet in that time. They eat, sleep, live on the bridge. They can’t afford to move and give up their space. And they’re scared to go back into Mexico to relive the dangers they faced there. Others at the Roma bridge said they have been waiting as long as two weeks. Most of the immigrants have already
Courtesy photo
A district judge ruled Wednesday that Webb County DA has five days to return items seized in raids, including $1.7 million.
DA contests decision, plans to appeal ruling
can’t do anything. I By Joana Santillana
barely sleep, I worry about (my daughter).” Adalid Rubi, Honduran immigrant
run out of money. Most have small children. They all survive on donations from passersby. In a crackdown announced in May, the U.S. now is charging immigrants who cross the border illegally with a crime and separating children from their parents. Those who seek asylum at a legal crossing are treated differently. “The only distinction is, if you jump the river, they will incarcerate you for a criminal act of illegal entry — a misdemeanor — and separate you from your family. If you show up at the bridge and claim asylum, they’ll incarcerate you with your family, to a detention center, while they adjudicate your asylum claim.” said Ricardo De Anda, a Laredo immigration lawyer. More than a hundred asylum-seekers have been stranded at the crossings. Intake of them has slowed to about handful allowed entry a day at the Roma and McAllen bridges, the families report. Limbo continues on A5
ZAPATA TIME S
The presiding judge in the forfeiture case involving the alleged leader of an illegal maquinita operation running out of Zapata, whose arrest yielded over $1 million in property and cash, has ordered the Webb County District Attorney’s Office to return all the seized items and money. A combined $1.9 million was seized in January after authorities raided Hilda Villarreal’s home in Zapata as well as six 8-liner establishments in Laredo, Zapata and Falcon Heights. Villarreal’s daughter, Rebecca Villarreal Lopez, along with Miriam Sanchez and Lucio Saldivar, were also arrested in connection to the illegal gambling case. Villarreal was charged with money laundering and could face up to life in prison if convicted. The rest are all facing charges of gambling promotion and engaging in organized criminal activity. Villarreal Lopez is also charged with keeping a gambling place. On Wednesday, District Judge Susan Reed ruled that the court did not have juris-
diction to hear the case. She also gave the Webb County District Attorney’s Office five days to return all Villarreal the seized items belonging to Villarreal, including $1.7 million, a watch, a rope necklace, a bracelet, two costume jewelry rings and five silver bars. Reed was assigned to preside over the case in Zapata County due to a conflict of interest involving the only judge who hears cases in Zapata, 49th District Court Judge Joe Lopez. Villarreal Lopez is married to the judge’s brother, Joel Lopez. In an October letter to San Antonio Judge Sid Harle, the presiding judge of the 4th Administrative Judicial Region, Webb and Zapata County District Attorney Isidro “Chilo” Alaniz asked him to appoint a special judge in light of the situation. “We do not believe, or even imagine, that (Judge Lopez) would compromise the investigation or in any way exerJudge continues on A5
WEBB COUNTY
Planning begins on L.I.F.E. renovations By Julia Wallace ZAPATA TIME S
Courtesy photo
Webb County intends to turn the Laredo International Fair and Exposition, otherwise known as LIFE Downs, into a multi-purpose arena that will be able to host an array of events. This composite of photos provided by Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina’s office shows what the facility could look like.
On Thursday evening, Webb County Commissioners Court kicked off their first public workshop regarding the redesign of the county fairgrounds — so beginning the master plan process. No details are yet certain about the future fair-
grounds, even the cost or location. But within a few weeks, Naismith/Hanson Engineering, which is leading the county’s master plan process, will begin meeting with local stakeholders to hear about their wants and needs for the revamped fairgrounds. And John Michael, board chairman for Nais-
mith, made clear that these stakeholders will be more than representatives from livestock and agricultural organizations. The future Webb County fairgrounds will be a true multipurpose facility, built to be operational 365 days a year, Michael said. Animal shows, gun shows, arts and craft Webb continues on A5