Category: Government & Politics

By Steve Huerta This weekend we will celebrate America’s veterans. That celebration and what it means to be a veteran has changed throughout time. It’s the celebration of a sacred promise that Abraham Lincoln said was our national duty “to care for him who shall have borne battle and for his widow and his orphan”. Our social contract with our veterans has changed since the beginning of our nation. At first America offered little to its veterans and some might argue it still does. That aside, all that changed after the Civil War. Veterans groups in the north and...

“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize,” wrote French enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. A thought-provoking concept given that May 3rd was World Free Press Day, significant for Americans boasting a U.S. Constitution that guarantees free speech and press, whose role it is to monitor centers of power and keep the public informed. Freedom of speech, the right to speak freely and express our thoughts while alive represent the very dignity of what being a human being is. And without free, independent journalism as the foundation of our society, democracy is crippled....

By Steve Huerta In every community in San Antonio, there is someone who has had contact with the justice system. They live in one of the poorest cities in America. This amplifies poverty for many because we are already locked out of the economy and living in a poor city doesn’t help. It means little opportunity for real security and growth and It means our children will also have to struggle. The problem continues as intergenerational poverty with no end in sight. It doesn’t matter if its a misdemeanor or felony or if you’ve been convicted or not, society...

Hello Bexar County, Welcome to the first edition of the newsletter for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. We look forward to utilizing this as another way to connect with our community and to show you the great work being done by the men and women of the BCSO. As an agency, we have much to be thankful for and I can’t wait to tell you all about our new developments. One of the most important things we do is answer 911 calls. I am proud to say that we are answering emergency calls 12% faster than we did in...

Wed. April 24, 2019, about 30 people gathered at the YWCA Olga Madrid Center on Castroville road to observe a panel of professionals who work in some facet of immigration. The city prepared a proclamation of April 24 as the day to stand against racism in San Antonio. This was presented and signed by Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales in addition to many of the people in attendance. Her opening remarks painted a picture of an evening at the Mennonite church 2 years ago when a surge of immigrants needed assistance and many San Antonians stepped up to the charge by...

Although there are dozens of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement in Texas, a party must have 5 percent of the vote in their county. Herb Gonzales, a volunteer with the Bexar County Green Party group, said that 5 percent of registered voters in San Antonio is 90,000 people. That is a lot of people. Gonzales said that all of those signatures must be collected in person with physical signatures within 75 days. The Green...

Castro was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Maria “Rosie” Castro and Jessie Guzman. He is the identical twin brother of current United States Representative Joaquin Castro; Julián is one minute older than Joaquin: they were born at 2:40 and 2:41 am. Their mother was a Chicana political activist who helped establish the Chicano political party La Raza Unida, and who ran unsuccessfully for the San Antonio City Council in 1971. Castro once stated, “My mother is probably the biggest reason that my brother and I are in public service. Growing up, she would take us to...

In Julian Castro’s announcement as a presidential candidate for the 2020 election, the former San Antonio mayor and cabinet member under President Obama promised to support a Medicare-for-all health-care system, universal prekindergarten, and new citizenship pathways in his “comprehensive” immigration policy. Castro has also expressed support for several other policy ideas, according to the Washington Post “that have become increasingly popular among the Democratic Party’s base — including a higher minimum wage, a ‘Green New Deal’ to combat climate change and a push for criminal justice reform and reduction in police violence.” For Castro, many of these policy ideas...

By David Conde It is pretty well documented that Mexico is running out of labor that it can export to the United States. After all, one-fifth of Mexico is already here and other than relatives coming to be with their families in the United States, there are few expectations that our southern neighbor can continue to export and supply the labor force that has enriched America’s rural and urban economic bottom-line. Mexico’s birth rate stands at around 2.2 per couple that is barely enough to replace mom and dad. Masking this fact is the political drama created by an...

On January 29, The League of United Latin American Citizens sued the Texas attorney general and secretary of state over attempts to suppress the Latino vote in the upcoming May 2019 election. The official lawsuit document reads, “Full-fledged United States citizens, legally participating in Texas’s election system, particularly those who are part of the Latino community across the State, are being illegally targeted for voter intimidation. This lawsuit seeks to stop such intimidation. The pretextual facade of concern about voter fraud provides no cover for the voter intimidation at work here.” David Whitley is the Texas Secretary of State...

By Rogelio Sáenz Ever since Donald Trump campaigned for the presiden- cy, he has had that dastardly wall that he wants to erect on our southern border as a major priority. He has used a litany of people as pawns in his machination to build the wall. At the outset, Trump set his aim outside of the country as he boasted that Mexicans would pay the exorbitant sum of money to build what he described as a “beauti- ful” wall. That pretty much was a non-starter, as it was extremely unlikely that the Mexican government would pay for the...