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IMMIGRATION
COMMISSIONERS
Staying for work
Dialysis clinic still pending
Obama policy to spare many youths from deportation By ALICIA A. CALDWELL AND JIM KUHNHENN ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama eased enforcement of immigration laws Friday, offering a chance for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to stay in the country and work. Immediately embraced by Hispanics, the extraordinary step touched off an election-year confrontation with congressional Republicans. “Let’s be clear, this is not amnesty, this is not immunity, this is not a path to citizenship, this is not a permanent fix,” Obama
said from the White House Rose Garden. “This is the right thing to do.” The policy change will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the “DREAM Act,” congressional legislation that would establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who attend college or join the military. Under the administration plan, illegal immigrants will be immune from deportation if they
were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed. Obama said the change would become effective immediately to “lift the shadow of deportation from these young people.” The move comes in an election year in which the Hispanic vote
could be critical in swing states like Colorado, Nevada and Florida. While Obama enjoys support from a majority of Hispanic voters, Latino enthusiasm for the president has been tempered by the slow economic recovery, his inability to win congressional support for a broad overhaul of immigration laws and by his administration’s aggressive deportation policy. The step, to be carried out by the Department of Homeland Security, comes one week before Obama plans to address the Na-
See IMMIGRATION PAGE 10A
ZAPATA RISING
PLANNING THE TOWN’S FAMILY REUNION
Officials say details are still being worked out with dialysis firm By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
No action was taken during the Zapata County Commissioners Court meeting on Monday to approve construction of a kidney dialysis clinic in the county, as details of the plan are still being worked on, county officials said. Commissioner Jose E. Vela said county officials received an email Sunday from a representative of DaVita, a kidney dialysis corporation, saying the agreement had yet to be finalized. Vela said he was told the agreement would be ready by the next regular meeting in July.
Next meeting “We’ll wait to see what he comes up with, and we’ll take a look at it before the meeting,” Vela said. Bringing a dialysis center has been on the county’s agenda for some time. Months ago, the court appointed Vela to be the point man on the project. Jeff Boroczky, a DaVita representative, made a presentation at a Commissioners Court meeting in May. Boroczky asked the county for an incentive to operate here because the county’s roughly 35 patients on dialysis would not provide a strong enough clientele to make the business financially viable. The county has offered to build the structure that will house the dialysis clinic.
Occupy 2 acres
Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times
Roberto O. Montes, left, presents ideas for the upcoming Zapata Rising family reunion event Thursday afteroon at the Holiday Restaurant. Jose L. Elizondo, center, ponders Montes’ ideas. The old townsite was covered by water after Falcon Dam created the lake in 1953. The reunion is scheduled for 2013.
The proposed structure is believed to cost upwards of $65,000, depending on the size of the clinic. Among the plans the county is considering is a 6,500square-foot structure that would be located on about 2 acres of land on Rathmell Street. County officials hope the clinic will ease the travel burden of its dialysis-receiving residents, who travel two to three times a week to Laredo or San Antonio for treatment. The court’s next regular meeting is scheduled for July 9. (JJ Velasquez may be reached at 728-2579 or jjvelasquez@lmtonline.com)