Special Guest Post by Connie Vasquez

This post was submitted to me by a good friend and an inspiration to me. Thank you Connie.



ILLEGAL MIGRATION BY Connie Vasquez – May 19, 2010

Emotions today ran very high for me as I finally understood the whole picture.

I am not supportive of Illegal aliens and I have never hired one, no matter how great the need. Why? Because I think it is exploiting them and if I am not part of the solution, I will never be a part of the problem. I think it is wrong to enter someone’s country illegally. But having said that, I know that circumstances are different for many people. As a Child I lived illegally in Mexico, not my choosing but I was a child and had to do what my parents chose for me. So I know how it is to live with fear that someone in authority could find out. I therefore understand the constant fear that these people live under.

Living in the border, I know the conditions that poor people live in. Having lived and traveled throughout most of Mexico I know conditions are only getting worse. Being a member of the El Paso/ Ciudad Juarez area, I know the danger and the worsening conditions and violence that we are living in the border. So, if I had a family to support and I could not feed them, I feared for their and my life and I could not find a job in my own country, I would possibly also take the treacherous path of an illegal alien.

I know I look like an illegal, I am brown, I speak Spanish, I have a Spanish surname. But I am also a Texan and my family has been in this country even before it was part of the USA. I am an American, I am not Mexican even though in culture I can and have passed for one. My roots are Hispanic, European (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Norwegian), Native American (Apache- no I am not an Aztec nor Tigua) and Mexican.

I do not know what the answer to this problem of illegal immigration is. I don’t like the fact that our desert is being trashed. I don’t like the fact that our resources have to be shared with uninvited guests but I am also a human being and a practicing Catholic and I cannot see a person hurt and bewildered and turn my back on them. I have helped many illegals in my area whose employers did not pay them, I have paid them for them, I have bought them clothes, I have personally driven them back to their homes in Cd. Juarez so that they did not have to take buses or taxis with what they were given. To me it is normal and humane to help them. You do not beat a dying horse!

So how is this law affecting me? I don’t like the rhetoric, people saying that the US or one party hates immigrants when in reality that is a blatant lie. We don’t like illegal migration not legal migration. There is a tremendous difference and using the term for both is a dishonest assessment of the situation.

Are there racists? Of course and anti-immigrant behavior has occurred to all immigrants in the USA but those immigrants wanted to stay here and made this their home. This is part of the History of the US, this situation is not unique and we survived all the other immigration challenges.

The majority of illegal migrants do no have those ties, they want to go back to Mexico once they have achieved their financial dreams. But reality is that many end up not ever going back and end up not participating in the system yet they want all the benefits of being a citizen. This is a double edged sword.

They come to this country to work, not to abuse the system nor to steal anything from anyone. They are mostly looking for work. So if we hire them, why are we surprised as a nation that they are here? We create a market and they fill it. IN every city there is a corner, a church, a parking lot where they gather and the locals come to hire them. Why do the authorities permit this? They could or could not get paid. Who aids them if they are abused? We, as a nation, cannot create this problem and then turn around and criminalize these people because they are not committing a crime, they are only trying to survive, is that a crime?

What is happening in Arizona is not faring well to all Hispanics regardless of whether we are from here as I am or we immigrated as many have. So what is happening? This law is not as offensive all by itself but it is giving power to entities that by following the constitution should not have. Protection of the home land and acceptance into our country is the responsibility of the federal government, not of local entities. It is an illegal law simple and true.

However the anger of Hispanics in Arizona stems from a continuous assault on our culture, our language and us as a people.

In 2002 a law was passed that ended bilingual education in Arizona where 30% of the population in from Mexican descent and bilingual.

In 2004 even though no proof that illegals were voting was ever supplied or proven, the population had to start presenting IDs in order to vote.

In 2006 English Language learners were segregated, how on earth can they learn the language if they are not allowed to mingle with English speakers?

In that same year, Chicano History in School was prohibited. We study European history but the people of the Southwest were denied the right to know who and what they are.

Just recently teachers with accents may not be permitted to teach children in public schools. Since when does an accent dictate or is a gage to knowledge or ability to teach?

So this law is just the last drop in a series of unfair and anti-Mexican targeted laws that discriminate.

I know that it is obvious that the Arizona State government is overwhelmed, Ranchers, environmentalists are having a fit over the state of the lands where these people travail. Schools and hospitals cannot support this extra activity of taking care of non-citizens.

But if we hire them and create this stream of illegal migration, how can we respond to this problem by criminalizing and further endangering their lives. Aren’t we the nation that helps others? So, why do we send millions to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and forget that we are part of this continent called America? Do we forget that we took or if it makes us feel better bought in conditions that will always be in infamy half of Mexico’s territory. Do we have a moral obligation to aid them now?

How we treat these illegal immigrants and how we solve this challenge will define this country and is a situation that is in peril to create civilian unrest and this bickering amongst parties and people does not solve the problem, it only adds wood to the fire.


Is the solution to our problem a wall that can be jumped, militarization, more guns and equipment, more border patrol or is it a comprehensive package to help our neighbor be in parity with us, the most powerful nation that has ever existed in the history of the earth.

If we hire them out of the radar, why can’t we find a way to let them enter the country legally for work. The present visa system is not filling the need, regardless of what the Department of Labor and State may say or think.

States cannot take the role that belongs to the Federal Government in order to put a band aid on a bleeding wound.

Let’s think creatively and lets take this challenge as the Americans whose values made us the beacon for the whole world.

Total Disregard For Public Safety

On Friday May 14th I was driving northbound on Horizon Blvd when I witnessed a Texas State Trooper loose her composure and pulled something straight out of a Dukes of Hazzard episode.

At about 1:30 pm I saw a female Trooper pull over a car heading southbound on Horizon Blvd. It was nothing out of the ordinary, that female trooper is infamous for pulling people over on that stretch of road. We have seen her leave a man who was stranded without any gas on the side of the road one day and watched her as she sped away to pull another car over to give them a ticket.

Back to yesterday's event. I saw the Trooper start walking back to her vehicle and saw her signaling to the oncoming traffic to move over as if saying give the queen her space. I had passed her position by this time but continued to watch from my rear view mirror.

Well it seemed that someone did not move over enough to her liking. The Trooper jumped into her vehicle and slammed it into drive. The squad car fishtailed throwing up rocks and dirt on the car she had already pulled over. It was watching like watching Roscoe P Coltrane go after those darn Duke boys.

If that wasn't bad enough, the Trooper actually went on the right side of the pulled over car. Yeah, the female Trooper was already on the shoulder when she went into the dirt to pass the parked car then cut off all traffic to pursue the vehicle that didn't give my prima donna her space. That showed complete disregard for public safety. She put people's lives on the line to harass someone for questioning her authority.

I didn't witness any wrong doing by anyone. I didn't see anyone speeding or breaking any law. Now, I'm no expert but as far as I know it is not against the law to drive to the left of the shoulder. That's called the street for those who didn't get it.

I was tempted to to follow in the Troopers footsteps and bust a U-turn in the middle of traffic, weave in and out of traffic, bump a couple cars out of the way like they do in the movies and have absolutely no damage to my ride. But then I realized that was not a very good idea. My stunt double had taken the day off so if I would have been pulled over I would be the one in jail, again, and not my stunt double.

I'm tired of seeing this kind of stuff happen over and over so I called in to make a complaint as soon as I saw it happen. I was told that a Sergeant would call me shortly. I asked the person on the phone for their name to have as a point of contact. The male on the phone told me not to worry that a Sergeant would call me. He was talking to me in in one of those demeaning "I said it was going to get done" tones of voice. I just love it when they do that, don't you? It just gives me more to write about.

Four hours later and still no call. I called back again to follow up on my report. The first hing they asked me was "Who did you talk to?". Yeah, you saw that one coming. With no point of contact and with no refrence number I was spinning my wheels like a trooper on Horizon Blvd. I was transferred to a sergeant Ramos but was only able to talk to his voicemail. It is Saturday morning and still no call. It is a Saturday so I won't wait by my phone because the call probably won't be coming in.

Instead of waiting I took the complaint to the world wide web. I went to the texas Department of Public Safety website and put in my complaint. Now I have a complaint number. #20100120

I'll keep you guys posted on the outcome.

Just A Crazy Observation

The Truth





















The Feminine Makeovers
























The Demeanor













The Experience






Does anyone know if a State Representative Elect has any pull in getting a warrant out on someone who blogged about them? Cuz if they do I'm pulling this post down. I'm getting tired of being arrested for posting things on my blog. What ever happened to freedom of speech? What happened to our Constitutional rights? What ever happened to the law of the land?


Freedom of speech has costed me about $3250 in the last two years! Each time the officer said, O.K. your bail has been paid, you are "Free" to go.

I tried putting it on my tax return as a deduction this year and the tax preparer told me to shut the F up! There we go again back to step one.


I have a dream...... where one day a little brown boy will be able to speak his mind without fearing retaliation......I have a dream!!!

What A Coincidence

I was minding my own business taking care of some errands this morning when the most unexpected thing happened. I was driving up Mesa from downtown when I see a cop in the middle of the road. No siren blaring, no lights no warning signs, just in the middle of the road like road kill.

I'm not going to lie, I was on my cell phone and threw it on the passenger seat as soon as I saw the squad car. Don't judge me, there are alot of you who do the same thing. Having something in my ear as I drive is just so uncomfortable for me.

So I get pulled over and the officer says I have a warrant for my arrest. "Are you kidding me?" O.K. I might have used another word. I told him there was no way there could be a warrant for my arrest. I told him I had a couple tickets but my lawyer was taking care of them. The cop was actually being nice, even though I didn't agree with him parking in the middle of the road impeding traffic for hours at a time, but that's a different post all in itself.

The cop tells me that there is an active warrant for my arrest for a traffic violation and that he had to take me in to take care of the warrant. I told him that I had just checked the status of my tickets a few weeks ago and that everything was clear.

So he puts me in the back of the police car, I must have left my persuasion skills in my other pants, and I do what any grown man would do.....I called my dad. "Mijo estas bien?" and I called my wife. The cop actually let me use my phone all the way to the station.

On the way I tell the cop I thought that there was something fishy about the warrant. I told him that I had just written a post on my blog about a politician who was being investigated by ICE and all of a sudden I have a warrant for my arrest. He tried to assure me that me being arrested was not politically motivated. That he was just doing his job. Then he asked me who I wrote about. We had a little talk about public corruption.

I was in and out in about 45 minutes. The officer was nice enough to talk to my wife on the cell phone, no he wasn't driving, and walked her through the process of paying my bail. I have to publicly thank him for that. I could have been in there for hours.

But on the way out I pulled him aside and asked him a few question. I actually interviewed him for a story I am working on. But I also asked him if he could tell me what day the ticket became a warrant. He said it might have been in January but not to quote him.(so why do you quote him? you'll see) I wasn't happy with his answer so I did some research after walking back to my car from the downtown police station to the Wells Fargo Bank on Mesa by Cincinnati Street. The cop was nice but not nice enough to give me a ride back. That hill kicked my butt!

I go online to check out the warrant. It was gone since I had already paid it. So I called the police department and talk to somebody in their warrants division. I gave the young lady the warrant number and I am just shocked by what she tells me. I really wasn't, she told me what I had suspected.

My ticket turned into a warrant on May 10th. I wrote about Larry Medina late Saturday night and by Monday morning I had warrant for my arrest. WoW! Now that's fast. I wish we could get elected officials to work that fast on important issues. Now its all speculation but it sure makes you wonder.

Someone posted a comment on the post about Larry and I responded by saying that Larry could do two things, he could take the high road, acknowledge he made a mistake, pay the fine or make payment arrangements and move on or...... he can retaliate against me. I checked in the papers and on the 10o'clock news today, no comment by Larry Medina and no payment arrangements with Ice. Oh yeah and I ended up in jail.

But of-coarse it is all speculation.

Unfortunately things like this happen way too often here in El Paso and are never talked about. People are scared that they will be retaliated against and prefer to remain silent. How do I know this happens, this isn't my first rodeo buddy boy. How many of you have ended up behind bars for blogging? No, really it is an honest question that I would like you to answer. Well, this is the second time it happens to me. Yes sir! I am publicly stating that this is the second time I have been behind bars for blogging about a politician. (first time was in 2006) And you know what? I am sick and tired of it. I am sick and tired of politicians using their influence to try to silence me or others. I'm tired of it, my family is tired of it and I know my lawyer is too.

Why do you think I backed my co-host so much when She who Shall Not Be Named tried to silence him? Its all making sense now, the puzzle is starting to come together.


Are we going to allow this to happen here in El Paso or are we going to do something about it?

Larry, Larry Quite Contrary

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

It seems that Larry Medina, former candidate for El Paso County Judge, may have had other reasons to try to remove his name from the ballot. I know, I was fooled just like you were by the tear jerker performance he gave and by the did it for my new born child excuse.

Recently released documents may shed some light on his attempt to withdraw from the race. The documents that have been revealed to me show that Larry Medina, owner of Pan American Insurance, was under investigation by ICE for allegedly hiring unauthorized workers. According to documents from the Department of Homeland Security the investigation was initiated March 7, 2007 after receiving some information about the business.

Larry Medina and Pan American Insurance were subjected to an extensive investigation. On July 3, 2007, ICE officers conducted and inspection of Pan American Insurance to determine compliance with Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act. After inspecting 34 I-9 forms 31 were discovered to display technical or procedural failures to meet the employment verification requirements of Section 27A(b) of the Act. The same documents do state that these technical or procedural failures are violations only if they remain uncorrected. Larry had a chance to fix the problem.

Pan American failed to correct the failures and failed to request a hearing before an administrative law judge so the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement slapped Larry with a $36,300 fine. The original fine was nearly $100,000 as each violation was going to cost him $1,100. Larry got a heck of a deal and he still blew it off.

E-mails dated September 24, 2009 show that Pan American Insurance had not paid the fine and that it was ICE's intent to let the account go to the Debt Collection Council then to Treasury if payment was not made.

There is no record of any payment or payment arrangement in the 180 page document before me. Do you know how long and tedious it is to read through that many pages?

This issue might have been brought up during the election by one of his opponents if he continued to run so he chose to, uh, do I dare say it?, chose to bow out gracefully. Well it wasn't really graceful now that I think about it. It was more like a circus act.

Larry pranced around with his silver bells and cockleshells as he had us like pretty maids all in a row believing his fables. I don't know what is worse, him breaking the law or his charades.

I don't know about you but I'm a little too old for nursery rhymes.

Say Good Bye to Manny Barraza

I will make this short and sweet. What can I say. Manny Barraza got what he deserved and this song sums it all up.

I will say this though. I remember his brother screaming "you'll see in November" on the campaign trail when Barraza was running for office. Now he will see his brother through a glass partition for the next five Novembers.

Where are our taxes going?

The economy is tough, we are all having to sacrifice certain things and pinch pennies here pinch pennies there and get rid of wasteful spending.

That should include city and county government.
Nothing bothers me more than seeing our hard earned tax dollars at work.

I was taking my family out to Album Park one Sunday but couldn't find any parking.

I went three times around the park to see this.

A police squad car parked in the middle of the street, going the wrong way, impeding traffic and to make it worse

HE WAS TAKING UP NOT ONE BUT TWO PARKING SPOTS!

I didn't have to look very far to find that the officer was enjoying a little league football game.

How many of us can take the company vehicle to a little league game, have someone else pay for the gas and still get paid like we are on the clock?




Maybe our taxes would be better off spent trying to combat dyslexia.

This sign was like this all day in front of my son's school.

Maybe the Sheriff's office was using reverse therapy on the 33% of all us Americans who suffer from dyslexia.

That's no joke, I suffer from dyslexia and actually read the sign just fine but it seemed to confuse the other 67% on the street.

I always wondered why I kept getting tickets for going 52 in a school zone. It didn't make sense at the time but.......now I see why.

Thanks to the geniuses at the Sheriff's office.