PHOTO: Karel Riley
FORT WORTH, TEXAS – Authorities in Fort Worth say federal immigration agents arrested 26 parolees living in the country illegally, as they performed community service.
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn tells KXAS-TV his office participated in Sunday morning’s operation at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Waybourn says those arrested were convicted of high-level misdemeanors or low-level felonies and were released from jail by mistake. — ASSOCIATED PRESS.
HOUSTON, TX – Rumors are rumors, but when you’re undocumented and living in the United States, they have a terrorizing effect.
“I finished high school and started going too college. I have started a family also. My family lives in fear even of being stopped, even for a traffic violation. If we don’t have a Texas driver’s license or insurance, they will immediately take you to a detention facility and from there you get deported.” — A Dreamer account.
AUSTIN, TX – Some people in Austin were arrested at their homes. Some who came to the Travis County courthouse to take care of unrelated legal matters were arrested by ICE at the courthouse as they left.
One woman whose husband was arrested at the courthouse told the Texas Tribune, “He didn’t even get to say goodbye to me, or to his son, because now we don’t even know where he is going to be.”
She also said that her husband was arrested with their rent money in his wallet, totaling $1,300. When agents returned his belongings to her, the money was missing.
AUSTIN, TX – From what I see, many Anglos, a lot of them young, are participating in these rallies and workshops, getting training on going out when ICE agents go to someone’s home – to record and witness and help protect.
Our newly elected sheriff gets high praise for standing up to ICE and for refusing to cooperate in most cases. The governor has cut some funding to the sheriff’s department because of her stand. A fund has been set up for people to contribute to for making up some of the lost funds.
ICE is going into the county courthouse and looking to get people in any way. People I know are suddenly energized and wanting to get involved in political activity. Some of them I didn’t even know had any political interests.
So many people I see around town are so horrified by Trump administration policies and the policies being pushed by the Texas governor and the Republican-dominated legislature that they feel compelled to DO something. — Tribuno reader
Editor’s note
What’s happening in Forth Worth, Houston and Austin is the same thing that is happening across the country. Churches, unions, community groups, and individuals of every nationality, documented and undocumented, are coming together with immigrants.
The immigrant workers are part of our working class, and the attack on them is and attack on every worker. Deporting immigrants will not create the jobs we need. We, the people, are in a fight with the billionaires and corporations over who will run this country and who the government will serve. We cannot allow the billionaires to divide us if we hope to win that fight.
