Protect Houston: With Unity, Anything is Possible

PROTECT HOUSTON--COMMUNITY MEETING
Report and Guest Post by Toni Medellin

When I arrived at the CWA, a small crowd had already gathered and was awaiting the start of the meeting. As the room started filling, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride; this community meeting was a reflection of the overall diversity that is Houston: Latino, Anglo, African American, Asians, South Asians, young, old, rich, poor, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish--it was a beautiful site. The Chronicle estimated 200 persons, but it seemed like lots more.

The meeting was called to order by Councilwoman Alvarado and she asked the various organizations in attendance to briefly introduce themselves. I was writing as fast as I could, so I’m sure I missed a few, but here goes: Anti Defamation League, LULAC, AFL-CIO, Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Greater Houston Partnership, The Metropolitan Organization, Casa Juan Diego, CRECEN, ACORN, Catholic Charities, Urban League, New Black Panther Party, Justice for Janitors, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Harris County Democratic Party, Bay Area New Democrats, Kingwood Area Democrats, Tejano Democrats, and the ACLU. There were plenty of current and former elected officials in attendance, as well.

Councilwoman Alvarado then introduced Houston Police Department Chief, Harold Hurtt. The Chief gave a brief overview of the Major Cities Chiefs Immigration Committee Recommendations, a copy of which can be found at http://www.houstontx.gov/police/pdfs/mcc_position.pdf . Chief Hurtt then introduced another HPD Officer to give an overview of the city’s current policy. In a nutshell, the policy states that HPD officers will “not make inquiries into the citizenship status of any person”, nor will they “arrest persons solely on the belief that they are in the country illegally.” Officers will contact ICE “only if that person is arrested on a separate criminal charge (other than a class C misdemeanor) and the officer knows the prisoner is an illegal alien.”

A city attorney spoke about the use of the term “sanctuary city” and how it has been misapplied to HPD policy. Houston is not a sanctuary city; HPD is an equal opportunity law enforcement agency. He went on to talk about the process for amending the city charter, which is mandated by state law.

Next on the agenda was Massey Villarreal to talk about his role as treasurer of the organization, Protect Houston, and how it has been formed as a Special Purpose Committee. After acknowledging that he was very pleased by the fact that he had not been booed, he commented about his concern over the Republican Party’s apparently negative view of the Hispanic community and their failure to recognize that immigrants contribute a great deal to our society. He also reflected on how some elected officials, both Republican and Democrat, were using the topic of immigration as a political tool.

Finally, there was a call to action. The organizers of this evening’s meeting asked the representatives of every organization in attendance to go back to their members and ask them to support a resolution opposing the ongoing petition drive. The full text of the resolution can be found at http://protecthouston.com/resolution.html . Several Houston organizations have already passed the resolution, including the Greater Houston Partnership, LULAC, and the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

I'm sure there will be many other community meetings and that this measure will be defeated.

DC NOTE: If your organization happens to support this resolution, please inform Dos Centavos at doscentavos@gmail.com, and especially the folks at www.protecthouston.com. Thanks to CM Alvarado for taking the lead on organizing this effort, which doesn't only serve as a tool to defeat a racist measure, but also serves as a tool to work toward unity as a community.

Coby adds his thoughts.

Marc Campos has his thoughts--don't forget to mention Kingwood Area Dems in your list, man! Our members were proud to contribute a few bucks too to this worthy cause!