We got a win! This Tuesday, a federal judge ordered that Pamela Rivas be given back her land, which was seized for the border wall in Los Ebanos, TX. This is the end of a condemnation fight that began under Pres. Bush in 2008.
Rivas said that "going up against all the power of the federal government was intimidating, but this land has been in my family for generations." Before he died, she promised her father that she would "fight to keep the land that belongs to us." texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/sto…
Over THIRTEEN YEARS after Pres. Bush condemned her land for construction (and nearly a year into the Biden Administration), our client's land has finally been returned, along with payment for the years the federal government took her land without compensation.
Los Ebanos is home to the last international hand-pulled ferry connecting the United States and Mexico. Before border militarization of the Los Ebanos Port of Entry, the Rivas family had a small souvenir store with customers on both sides of the border. texashillcountry.com/los-ebanos-fer…
Attorney @RickyAGarza: "Pamela Rivas never gave up and we shouldn't either. This would not have been possible without the work of countless advocates who never stopped fighting the racist border wall. We welcome the revestment of this land but know the fight isn't over."
Advocate @RobertoAleLopez: "President Biden is eight months late, and there are nearly 100 condemnations still being pursued in the courts while active wall construction continues in the Rio Grande Valley." politico.com/news/2021/04/1…
Advocate @RobertoAleLopez: "If the Biden Admin can return this land, there is no reason why it can't do the same for the Cavazos family and the dozens of others facing border wall construction across the Valley." texasstandard.org/stories/a-texa…
Join us in celebrating this victory for Pamela Rivas! It's important to enjoy the wins, because the fight against the racist border wall is far from over. #CancelTheWall
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🚨BREAKING: we just sent a letter to the Texas Secretary of State demanding answers to some basic questions re: this "audit." We request a response by close of business on September 28th. 🧵👇
1. What is the legal & factual basis for this review? The Press Release claims “existing Texas laws” grant Secretary of State “the authority to conduct a full & comprehensive forensic audit of any election,” yet the Press Release noticeably fails to cite any source of law.
2. What procedures will govern the review? The Press Release fails to describe any of the standards that the Secretary of State will use to conduct the review. Please lay out all of the procedures that your office will use to conduct this “audit.”
HAPPENING NOW: Senate Redistricting hearings! Click here to watch your fellow Texans speak out against gerrymandering: tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.ph…
Right now, @Domingotexas of @LULAC speaks on the intentional discrimination that Latinx Texans have faced through voter purges, literacy tests, and—you guessed it—redistricting maps.
Today's hearing is the first of two Texas Senate hearings on the Senate map (SB4) and the State Board of Education map (SB7). Photos below are from 9/18 and 9/20 respectively.
‼️ TODAY ‼️ TCRP and members of the Rio Grande Valley Welcoming Committee will meet with Department of Homeland Security Secretary @SecMayorkas at 3 pm.
The Committee issued the following statement in advance of the meeting:
“Today, we are sitting down with @SecMayorkas so that he hears what people in the Valley actually need. Leaders from our communities are the ones doing the work day-in-and-day-out to build back better, as @POTUS has promised to do after the cruelty Trump left at our border."
"We hope that Secretary Mayorkas sees today’s meeting as the beginning of a partnership and two-way dialogue in which DHS...meaningfully consults with us to develop policies that accurately reflect the vision and needs of migrants and border communities."
After more than five years of court battles, a settlement has been reached in our litigation against the state of Texas for violation of the National Voter Registration Act, commonly known as the ‘motor voter’ law.
With this settlement, current & future Texans now have permanent protections safeguarding their right to register to vote any time they renew or update their driver's license ONLINE. This is an important step toward chipping away at the state's effort to suppress the vote.
In just ten months since the lawsuit forced a fix in September, over one million voters in Texas have taken advantage of this new option and registered online while updating their driver's licenses. That's an average of 100,000 Texans per month using this method to register.
We're working with partners and allies to monitor things on the ground. Check out this thread from @FairDefense for a full update on where things stand 👇
BREAKING: we just sued a mob of Trump supporters-alongside @protctdemocracy & @WillkieFarr-who tried to drive a Biden campaign bus off the road in TX last fall. We must take action to deter this kind of #PoliticalViolence before it destroys our democracy
A mob of Trump supporters in TX used fear, intimidation, and threat of violence to silence their political opponents last fall, but this is not an isolated incident. #VoterIntimidation#TrumpTrainTXAttack