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ZAPATA COUNTY
406TH DISTRICT COURT IN WEBB COUNTY
Man caught guiding group
Treatment program Zapata veterans can find substance abuse help By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Man arrested for smuggling 14 immigrants By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ Photo by Cesar Rodriguez | The Zapata Times
THE ZAPATA TIMES
A Mexican citizen was arrested for guiding a group of illegal immigrants near Falcon Lake in Zapata County, according to court documents. The suspect, Uriel RamirezAlvarado, was charged with human smuggling. U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the lake area said that on Aug. 30, they discovered footprints in a desolated desert area that is teemed with ticks, scorpions, poisonous snakes and spiders. “This area is rarely used by the general public as a hiking area. Normally, groups encountered in this area have entered the United States illegally,” states the criminal complaint filed Sept. 3. Records further state the human and narcotics smugglers use the desolated area to avoid law enforcement detection. Agents said they followed the foot prints and caught up to a group of 15 people in the thick brush area near a private cemetery, west of U.S. 83. “The entire group was laying face down in the desert brush in an obvious attempt to avoid detection,” states the complaint. All people allegedly admitted to being Mexican citizens without proper documentation to be in the country. They were taken to the Zapata Border Patrol Station for processing. “A subsequent interview of the undocumented (people) revealed that Uriel Ramirez-Alvarado was the foot guide,” records state. Ramirez-Alvarado invoked his right to an attorney when federal authorities attempted to question her, according to court documents. Immigrants held as material witnesses stated to agents they crossed the Lake in a boat. Also, the immigrants allegedly identified Ramirez-Alvarado as the foot guide. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Eduardo Mauricio Treviño, a U.S. Army veteran, signs the Veterans Treatment Program board after he graduated from the program Thursday.
Veterans in Zapata County can find a helping hand in the Veterans Treatment Program that takes place in a Laredo court. “The mission of the 406th Veterans Treatment Program is to break the cycle of alcohol and substance addiction by address-
ing certain mental issues (including post-traumatic stress disorder) through court intervention, education and treatment, and by encouraging our veterans to live a more positive lifestyle,” reads a brochure of the program. The program also aims to reduce the recidivism rate of the
See HELP PAGE 12A
US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION
CUBANS FLOOD TEXAS PORTS
The Zapata Times file photo
Pedestrian and vehicle traffic is shown at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge in downtown Laredo.
About 18,520 have tried to enter through Laredo area By JULIÁN AGUILAR TEXAS TRIBUNE
Call it another immigration surge of the United States’ own making. But unlike last summer’s crisis of children and families arriving from Central America, lawmakers aren’t quick to call on this current group of refugees to go home. From October 2014 to June 2015, about 18,520 Cubans have sought entry to the United
States through Texas’ Laredo field office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes ports from Del Rio to Brownsville. That’s compared to the 18,240 unaccompanied minors that were caught or surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley from October 2014 through July of this year, according to CBP statistics. If the current trend holds, the number of Cubans seeking
entry through Laredo will be about 24,700 this fiscal year. That’s about 60 percent more than 2014’s 15,600 and nearly twice as many as 2013’s 12,445. The influx of Cubans to Texas is a result of the Obama administration’s efforts to normalize relations with the communist Castro regime, said Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of the U.S. Immigration Policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-
based think tank. “That is a jaw dropping statistic that I haven’t seen before,” Rosenblum said of the spike. “In general there is a suspicion among many Cubans that the special status that Cubans receive is in jeopardy.” The special status is a policy allowing Cubans who make it to a U.S. port of entry to enter and seek legal permanent resi-
See CUBANS PAGE 12A
ST. LOUIS
Rick Perry first to exit 2016 Republican presidential race By STEVE PEOPLES AND WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — Out of money and relegated once again to the back-of-the-pack debate, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday dropped out of the race for president, ending his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination and becoming the first major candidate of the 2016 campaign to give up on the White House. The longest-serving governor in Texas history, who had never lost an election until he started
running for president, told a group of conservative activists in St. Louis that “some things have become clear” and that it was time to suspend his campaign. “We have a tremendous field of candidates — probably the greatest group of men and women,” Perry said. “I step aside knowing our party is in good hands, as long as we listen to the grassroots, listen to that cause of conservatism. If we do that, then our party will be in good hands.” Four years ago, Perry’s first
bid for the White House essentially collapsed after a GOP debate in which he couldn’t remember the name of the third federal agency he’d wanted to close if elected — he was only able to mutter “Oops.” This time around, he couldn’t win enough support in early polls to even qualify for the party’s primetime debates, finding himself relegated instead to second-stage affairs. After formally kicking off his bid in early June, Perry an-
See PERRY PAGE 12A
Photo by Sid Hastings | AP
Republican presidential candidate and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry embraces Madeline Martin, daughter of Eagle Forum president Ed Mark, before speaking at the Eagle Council XLIV, sponsored by the Eagle Forum in St. Louis Friday. During the speech Perry said he is ending his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination.