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ZAPATA COUNTY
Human smuggling charges Two men indicted for transporting 13 undocumented people via Falcon Lake By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Two men who smuggled 13 people via Falcon Lake were indicted this week, according to court documents. On Tuesday, Benito Cruz and Jesus Eleazar GarciaBautista were charged with one count of conspir-
acy to transport undocumented people and two counts of attempt to transport undocumented people for money. Each man could spend up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Garcia-Bautista allegedly agreed to talk to Home-
See FALCON LAKE PAGE 12A
Harlingen man attempted to transport immigrants in San Ygnacio By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A man from Harlingen could serve up to 10 years in federal prison if he’s convicted for smuggling people in the San Ygnacio area, records state. On Tuesday, a grand jury charged Steve Casas with one count of con-
spiracy to transport undocumented immigrants within the United States and two counts of attempt to transport undocumented people for financial gain. Casas allegedly admitted to the smuggling attempt.
See SAN YGNACIO PAGE 12A
Grand jury indicts couple, both face 10 year sentences for immigrants By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A couple was indicted Tuesday for transporting people who had entered the country illegally, court records state. A grand jury charged Jacob Casares and Viviana Yvette Gonzalez with one count of conspiracy
to transport undocumented people within the United States and two counts of transport undocumented people for financial gain. If convicted, the couple could face up to 10 years in prison. Casares and Gonzalez
See COUPLE PAGE 12A
UNITED NATIONS
BORDER PATROL
REFUGEES FLOCK TO HOUSTON
5,000 more agents needed
County takes more than any other By ANDREW KRAGIE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
HOUSTON — Ali Al Sudani did not know who wanted to kill him. In the chaos of southern Iraq in 2004, anyone could become a target: translators, journalists, teachers. Al Sudani even knew a barber who was assassinated. So when he started to receive anonymous threats, he knew he had to leave his job translating for the British army. A mechanical engineer by training, Al Sudani signed up to translate for the British in Maysan, his hometown about 120 miles north of Basra. Locals working with coalition forces became targets for assassination. After several years translating for the British and for the Coalition Provisional Authority, Al Sudani took a transla-
See REFUGEES PAGE 12A
Union head says threat persists By JULIÁN AGUILAR THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
addition of 3,200 positions in the construction industry, and the decline in the unemployment rate to the lowest point in 14 years, demonstrates the resilience and strength of the Texas economy,” said Andres Alcantar, commission chairman.
More boots on the ground and fewer supervisors to oversee them: That’s what the head of the United States Border Patrol Union told a congressional committee is needed for the understaffed and outgunned federal agency grappling with the threat that violence south of the Rio Grande will spread north. Some advocacy groups aren’t so sure. They point to the increase in alleged abuse and corruption at the hands of Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection agents when their numbers were nearly doubled from about 10,800 in 2004 to 21,400 in 2013. About 18,160 agents are stationed on the Southwest border from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, including about 1,785 in the Laredo sector and 3,065 in the Rio Grande Valley sector, according to statistics from the Department of Homeland Security. The El Paso Sector, which includes New Mexico, is staffed with about 2,520, while the Del Rio and Big Bend sectors have 1,540 and 590, respectively. The agency doesn’t need to redouble its ranks, Na-
See UNEMPLOYMENT PAGE 12A
See BORDER PAGE 12A
Photo by Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle | AP
Giup Nguyen, far right, sells rau muong, a common Vietnamese vegetable, and other food items in the parking lot at the Thai Xuan Village on Aug. 2 in Houston. The state health services department reports that nearly 40 percent of Texas’ refugees land in Harris County. A Catholic priest and Vietnamese refugee sought to create a refuge for Vietnamese escapees in the 1970s and with community support, purchased this complex in the 1980s creating a Vietnamese village where about 1,000 Vietnamese residents live.
TEXAS
Unemployment lowers to 4.1 percent ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN The unemployment rate for Texas slipped to 4.1 percent in August — the state’s lowest jobless level since January 2001, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday. Last month’s jobless rate compares to a nationwide unemploy-
ment figure of 5.1 percent. Statewide unemployment held steady in June and July at 4.2 percent, according to commission figures. The Austin-Round Rock and Midland areas had the lowest unemployment in Texas last month at 3.2 percent. The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission region had the state’s highest jobless rate at 7.9
percent, a TWC statement said. Leisure and hospitality led all major industries in Texas with an expansion of 5,900 jobs in August. The professional and business services industry added 4,000 positions over the month, the commission said. “The increase in jobs for key industries in August, such as the