Crimmigration with Thousands of Legal Residents Locked up Indefinitely, Far from Home, Texas' Immigrant Detention Centers Are Boiling Over
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03 19 2010 ERVER PLUS SCHOOLHOUSE CROCK Why is Texas prosecuting adults for dropping out? by Forrest Wilder Crimmigration With thousands of legal residents locked up indefinitely, far from home, Texas' immigrant detention centers are boiling over. BY MELISSA DEL BOSQUE ON THE COVER Inside the Port Isabel Detention Center PHOTO BY JAZMINE ULLOA POINT OF NO RETURN by del Bosque With thousands of legal residents locked up indefinitely, far from home, Texas' immigrant detention centers are boiling over. Non criminal detainees held in the Alpha dorm PHOTO BY JAZMINE ULLOA II DOWN FOR THE COUNT SCHOOLHOUSE CROCK by Kevin Sieff by Forrest Wilder The profitable game of including immi- Why is Texas prosecuting adults for OBSERVER grants in the census then deporting them. dropping out? ONLINE The Texas Observer is going REGULARS DATELINE: IRON CANVAS URBAN COWGIRL on spring break, DIALOGUE NECHES RIVER Border wall makeover Twilight of the so there will not Osi POLITICAL An East Texas eco- by Super-Americans be an April 2 INTELLIGENCE system is saved by the by Ruth Pennebaker issue. But you can Oti EDITORIAL courts. Let's go paddling. STATE OF THE MEDIA keep track of the 05 BEN SARGENT'S by Dan Coke. New School Journalism PURPLE STATE latest Texas news LOON STAR STATE by Bill Minutaglio Friendly Fire on our daily Web 19 HIGHTOWER REPORT 22 CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK by Bob Moser site. Also check 23 POETRY A Houston hip-hop duo HUNGRY EYE out immigrant by Jack Myers reunites to slow down Michael Nye's exhibit at 29 EYE ON TEXAS detainee inter- SXSW. the Witte in San Antonio by Karen Rangel views online. by Josh Rosenblatt by Alan Pogue www.texasobserver.org A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES SINCE 1954 All OBSERVER VOLUME 102, NO. 6 1111.0611E FOUNDING EDITOR Ronnie Dugger Casting Stones EDITOR Bob Moser MANAGING EDITOR As an evangelical, fundamentalist, born-again Christian, I want to apologize for Chris Tomlinson ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dave Mann those that are using the name of Jesus in such an un-Christian manner ("He Who CULTURE EDITOR Michael May Casts the First Stone," March 5). This Amarillo "church" is behaving in ways that INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER Melissa del Bosque should cause embarassment to all Christians. The Bible and Jesus do not endorse STAFF WRITER Forrest Wilder ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Julia Austin terrorist actions by those that profess to follow their teachings. These people are CIRCULATION/OFFICE MANAGER Candace Carpenter dogmatic theocrats that follow a twisted version of Christianity. If their efforts were ART DIRECTION EmDash LLC put to use for evangelism (bringing people to Christ) instead of trying to terrorize MARKETING ASSISTANT Jaime Kilpatrick "sinners" they would actually accomplish the task that Jesus has sent Christians WEBMASTER Shane Pearson COPY EDITOR Rusty Todd out to do: create disciples. Instead they create enemies with their terrorist activity POETRY EDITOR Naomi Shihab Nye and actually sin themselves. Here's praying that appropriate action is taken against INTERNS Laura Burke, Robert Thomas Pawlenko Green, Lara Haase, Hudson the Repent cult. In Jesus' name, Amen. Lockett, Maddie Pelan, Jen Reel PHOENIX, ARIZ. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Emily DePrang, Lou Dubose, ALTHOUGH THERE MAY BE INCIDENTS WHERE THIS GROUP James K. Galbraith, Steven bidding? Of course there are no Gods. If there were, G. Kellman, Joe R. Lansdale, lets anger control them, overall it sounds like this idiot and his followers would be struck down Robert Leleux, James E. Repent Amarillo is doing a good job at exposing evil for assuming they know the mind of God and speak McWilliams, Char Miller, Bill in their town. Bravo! Arlen Strader for him. Of course, there is no God. Religion and Minutaglio, Ruth Pennebaker, Josh Rosenblatt, Kevin Sieff, COLLEGE STATION churches exist to enslave people. Become a real- Brad Tyer, Andrew Wheat ist and free yourself or burn in the Hell that exists CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS THIS TYPE OF INTOLERANCE IS COMPLETELY UNCALLED only in your mind and was created by your religion. Jana Birchum, Alan Pogue, for! In my opinion, this group is committing a Brett Stampf Steve Satterwhite form of domestic terrorism. Lives are being ruined POSTED AT WWW.TEXASOBSERVER.ORG CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS and, somehow, these people need to be stopped. Michael Krone, Alex Eben Meyer, Ben Sargent Evangelical Christians need to grow up, show respect I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT LOTS OF AMARILLO RESIDENTS for all living creatures and start being personally aren't kowtowing to this would-be cult leader. It TEXAS DEMOCRACY responsible. Compassion and unconditional love would be nice if the attention it gets as a result of FOUNDATION BOARD Lisa Blue, Carlton Carl, Melissa were the lessons that Jesus Christ tried to teach the this article brings out more locals who support the Jones, Susan Longley, Jim human race. It really is that simple. Stay out of other right of those who don't share one narrow world- Marston, Mary Nell Mathis, people's business. Morgan Ginther view to live free of harassment. E. Moore Gilberto Ocanas, Jesse Oliver, KILLEEN POSTED AT WWW.TEXASOBSERVER.ORG Bernard Rapoport, Geoffrey Rips, Geronimo Rodriguez, Sharron Rush, Kelly White, PERHAPS SOMEONE LOCAL SHOULD START AN AMARILLO WHILE GAYS AND LESBIANS STRUGGLE TO MARRY AND LIVE Ronnie Dugger (emeritus) Taliban site and retaliate in kind. Identify all of decent lives instead of being in the closet, swingers OUR MISSION the harassers by name and address, and particu- have chosen to commit adultery and pretend it's We will serve no group or larly identify all businesses and organizations normal. I'm no big fan of Repent Amatillo, but I de- party but will hew hard to who participate in Repent Amarillo's intolerance test swingers. The Ten Commandments tell us that the truth as we find it and by firing and blacklisting people for their private adultery is wrong, but they say nothing about gays the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole beliefs and practices. Barry Newton and lesbians or coffee houses. Steve Berthold truth, to human values above ASHTON, MD. RENO, NEV. all interests, to the rights of humankind as the foundation I THOUGHT GOD CREATED US IN HIS IMAGE. WHY IS THIS of democracy. We will take orders from none but our own group persecuting some of God's other creatures? conscience, and never will we While I feel the term "terrorist" is widely misused overlook or misrepresent the currently, I cannot think of a more appropriate ap- truth to serve the interests of Sound Off the powerful or cater to the plication for it. And if there really was an omnipo- ignoble in the human spirit. tent God, would he send these misfits out to do his r)ditorsgtexasobserver.org MARCH 19, 2010 THE TEXAS OBSERVER 1 POLITICAL INTE1.1.113 MAX GREINER AND HIS CROSS PHOTO BY LANCE ROSENFIELD DEPT. OF SYMBOLISM Kerrville's Cross to Bear IN 2003, EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN SCULPTOR MAX GREINER visible from the highway. had a godly vision of a mammoth cross sitting atop a hill The cross will be the crown of a 21-acre, hillside at the gateway to the Guadalupe River town of Kerrville. Christian-themed sculpture and prayer garden being Now Greiner's vision appears to be coming true. developed with private funds by Greiner's founda- That's thanks to the not-so-divine intervention of tion. Subdivision residents originally filed a lawsuit State District Judge Keith Williams, who on March 1 against the foundation on the grounds that erect- blessed a settlement, ending a legal dispute between ing the cross would violate deed restrictions for the Greiner's The Coming King Foundation and local 37-year-old rural neighborhood (see "A Sign From residents. The settlement means Kerrville residents God?" March 19, 2009). and Interstate 10 travelers soon will be greeted by a "This has been a long, emotional journey for 77-foot steel cross. everyone," Williams said in rendering his judgment. The giant cross was delivered surreptitiously in "Many people in this community didn't understand October—litigation kept it from being erected. It now the true nature of this dispute. This was not a free- lies atop a 400-foot hill in Lot 11 of the Mesa Vista dom of religion or speech issue, but a disagreement READ MORE about The Coming King Foundation at www. subdivision, next to a massive concrete pad that will among the parties about the enforceability of Texas thecomingkingfoundation.org support the 70-ton cross, and a portable toilet, both real estate issues." 2 1 THE TEXAS OBSERVER WWW.TEXASOBSERVER.ORG THE STATE ENCE OF TEXAS The settlement will allow the foundation to erect laborers aren't arrested and harassed by police merely its cross in exchange for privacy guarantees for resi- for looking for work, and that water and sewage pro- dents. The agreement prohibits public access to Lot viders offer service to the colonias that dot the border 11 and requires the foundation to construct a stone region. or masonry fence across the two-acre tract fronting Reyna joined the nonprofit straight out of law 2009 Mesa Vista Lane, where most of the plaintiffs reside. school in 1980. He's one of the rare advocates who inflation rate for Emma McClure, who owns a lot adjacent to knows how to needle political leaders into action— medical care: the cross site, says she's happy the issue has been then step back and let them take the credit. resolved because the trial outcome might not have "He is not someone that has ever been in the lime- been as favorable. She adds that she was "tired of light or sought the limelight," says Jose "Chito" Vela, HOUSTON having commotion going on all the time." who works in the office of State Rep.