Thread: TX: Minus evacuation order, Border Patrol checks for documen

Minus evacuation order, Border Patrol checks for documents
BY EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO/The Brownsville Herald
July 27, 2008 - 10:52PM

On the day that Hurricane Dolly slammed the Rio Grande Valley, civil rights groups conferred via a conference call with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security but failed to secure a commitment that the news/" class="autolink">immigration status of people fleeing a disaster would not be screened for immigration status at checkpoints.

"When it's a life or death situation and it's a natural disaster, Mother Nature makes no distinction between legal or illegal Mexicans or Americans," Texas RioGrande Legal Aid attorney Celestino A. Gallegos in Edinburg said Friday.

U.S. Border Patrol agents did check the immigration status of people going through the Sarita checkpoint on U.S. Highway 77 before Hurricane Dolly struck, spokesman Dan Doty said Friday.

Various sources have told The Brownsville Herald that agents continued to check the immigration status of people at the checkpoint- whether or not they were fleeing the Valley amid the imminent threat from Dolly.

"We did make apprehensions at the checkpoint," Doty said, making the distinction that an "evacuation order" had not been issued.

Apprehension numbers were not immediately available.

If there had been an order, Doty said that the agency would not impede an evacuation. "We will assist in it," Doty said.

Doty's statement indicates that people passing the Sarita checkpoint were processed as usual because neither Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos nor the Valley cities' mayors ordered an evacuation.

"I would ask DHS if this is the way they would treat people in Miami, New Orleans or New York in the event of a natural disaster," Gallegos said. "Why do they single out the border residents for this kind of treatment?"

The Texas RioGrande Legal Aid is one of the organizations that represents La Union Del Pueblo Entero, Proyecto Juan Diego, Proyecto Digna and San Felipe Community Church in their petition filed July 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

The groups want to take the deposition of DHS to clarify its stance on verifying the immigration status of evacuees during hurricane evacuations. This is still pending, but the groups and DHS have been communicating with the latter and proposed talking points a day before Hurricane Dolly struck.

"We're on the right track. The problem is that they are not binding," Gallegos said of the proposals. "We are just looking for a firm commitment."

Discussions continue.

Various sources have also told The Brownsville Herald that Border Patrol agents were spotted around neighborhoods in Harlingen questioning tree-cutters that were helping homeowners in the cleanup following Hurricane Dolly.

Doty said agents are not checking the immigration status of tree-cutters.

If they are performing a job, "we do not bother them," he said.

"We don't stop people from doing cleanup work nor on job sites," Doty said. "We are not stopping and asking for citizenship. We don't do site enforcement.

"We don't do inspections at job sites," added Doty, who noted that he has not heard of any such initiative from the federal division responsible for enforcement.

Gallegos said that if Broder Patrol agents are questioning tree-cutters, "again, I would ask, what is the value of doing that in the circumstances that we are facing? People are trying to clean up their homes in a natural disaster . . . and secondly, I'm not quite sure what kind of ID a tree-cutter is going to carry."

A CLOSER LOOK

Talking points dated July 22 from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol regarding guidance on emergency evacuations:

> In the event of an emergency - such as a hurricane - and the need for an officially ordered evacuation, the highest priority will be the safe evacuation of people.

>CBP and BP will not impede a safe, speedy and officially ordered evacuation.

>BP will not normally screen individuals during an officially ordered emergency evacuation.

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security

www.brownsvilleherald.com

Excuse me but why the H do people from Mexico think they must evacuate to the USA when they have a whole country to evacuate in and they had plenty of warning to do so.

The border should be CLOSED if there is an order to evacuate and that would stop any further discussion and whinning by those who think they can take advantage and use a disaster to get more IA's into the USA.

Exactly!

They evacuate here because when Disaster Relief is handed out and federal jobs are funded, they can have their hands and wallets out as if they were American.

The border should be closed during natural disasters. What if all the people from Katrina had showed up in Mexico City with their hands out?

Huh?! How would they have liked that?

I know, the federal government and DHS are supposed to jump through hoops for a piss ant Legal Aid attorney named Celestino A. Gallegos. Make me laugh.

Dixie