Megan Tackett
\nVal Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, Del Rio Police Department Chief Fred Knoll, Guatemalan Consul Tekandi Paniagua, Mexican Consul Carlos Obrador and Border Network for Human Rights Founder Fernando Garcia held a forum at the Casa de la Cultura Monday afternoon.
\nAn El Paso-based nonprofit that works to educate undocumented immigrants about their civil rights visited with local officials yesterday, during the organization\u2019s caravan through Texas\u2019 border region.
\nBorder Network for Human Rights organizers stopped at Casa de la Cultura as part of their traveling education program, Together Juntos Caravan, which launched in El Paso on March 30. The organization\u2019s executive director, Fernando Garcia, met with local law enforcement leaders to explain his group\u2019s mission to educate citizens about their rights when questioned about their legal status.\u201cWe started the organization as a response to the patterns of civil right violations,\u201d said Garcia, who founded the nonprofit in 1998. \u201cEspecially committed by immigration enforcement.\u201d
\nThe organization met with Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, Del Rio Police Department Chief Fred Knoll, Mexican Consul Carlos Obrador, and Guatemalan Consul Tekandi Paniagua to discuss issues revolving around SB-4 at Casa yesterday afternoon.
\nThe trip\u2019s mission, Garcia said, also aims to protest Senate Bill 4, which bans \u201csanctuary cities\u201d in Texas. The legislation was upheld by a federal appeals court in March and allows law-enforcement agents to question detained individuals about their legal status. It also requires police chiefs and sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
\nThe organization also records and reports instances of alleged misconduct involving law enforcement agencies\u2019 contact with undocumented immigrants.
\n\u201cOur first goal was to document abuse of authority and develop education,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t enough just to educate communities but to organize them to push back collectively.\u201d
\nDuring the presentation, Garcia said speakers encourage participants to practice their right to remain silent when law enforcement questions their legal status and to not allow any law enforcement into their homes unless they have a signed warrant.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re talking about the rights of citizens to be free from abuse,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cIt\u2019s a mere accomplishment in a region that more people know how to exercise those rights.\u201d
\nGarcia said his organization also meets with law enforcement agencies to urge them to alter their best practices to respect the rights of undocumented immigrants.
\nThe caravan will continue onto Eagle Pass, Laredo, El Cenizo, San Benito, McAllen, San Juan, Rio Grande, Brownsville, Falfurrias, Corpus Christi and end in Houston, Garcia said. In the coming months, the caravan\u2019s second leg will continue through the Texas interior through San Antonio and Austin, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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