Thread: Houston Latinos divided on border fence

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spe ... 71180.html

Dec. 1, 2006, 12:14AM
Houston Latinos divided on border fence
Leaders summit stirs debate over immigration and national security


By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Plans to build 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border is an "insult" to Latinos, some Houston Hispanics said Thursday.

"I am deeply offended," said Helen Cavazos, a Houston businesswoman who attended an immigration workshop at the 2006 Latino Leaders Summit on Thursday morning.

Cavazos, president of a human resources consulting company, said her grandparents brought her mother across the border illegally as a baby, in the days before there was a fence.

"It's an insult, but we stand here and take it and take it," she said. "We have to come together on this issue. We're empowered now, and we can make a difference. This is our country."

The summit, sponsored by Latino Leaders Magazine, was held at the Houston Marriott Westchase Hotel. The immigration workshop underscored divisions among some local business and community leaders on the immigration issue. When the moderator asked whether anyone was offended by plans to add new fencing to the border, a little over half raised their hands.

Sarah Toombs, a U.S. citizen who lived in Mexico for 42 years, said she isn't offended by the fence, saying it is up to the U.S. government to decide how it controls its borders.

"I'm 100 percent in favor of it," said Toombs, 58, who owns a business in Mexico.

"It may sound harsh, but it's like my son says: 'This is a country of immigrants, but the immigrants came legally,' " she said.

Hipolito Acosta, a former immigration agent and one of three panelists at the workshop, said the fence proposal is "ridiculous" and amounts to little more than political posturing.

However, Acosta added, the concerns about national security and the need to reduce crime in border communities is pressing.

"What I'm saying," he said, "is that we need a balanced approach."

Originally Posted by Newmexican

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/4371180.html
"What I'm saying," he said, "is that we need a balanced approach."

what's he's really saying ...he's making a lot of money...this is big business...until he or his family are hurt, killed or raped he wants illegals to come in...