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Gov. Perry Says Mexican Drug Cartels Active in Texas, Possibly Responsible for DA's Murders (+video)

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday raised the issue of border security in regard to the recent murders of two state prosecutors.

When asked about the possible involvement of the Aryan Brotherhood in the killings, the Republican governor said it is too early to speculate about who was behind the killings, but added that it also wouldn’t be wise to overlook any angle.

We know the drug cartels are very, very active in our country now. It goes back … to the whole issue of border security and the failure of the federal government . . .

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‘Gang of 8’ Senators on Tour of Mexican Border See Illegal Climb Fence Right in Front of Them (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Four of the U.S. senators leading the charge on immigration reform got more than they expected today when they came to Nogales, Ariz., to check on border security.

Just a few steps away from where they stood with Customs and Border Patrol officials, the problem facing the nation unfolded before their eyes: A young woman was sprinting her way out of Mexico, then climbing a security fence, only to be caught by the border patrol within seconds.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., soon tweeted about the event, saying: “Just witnessed a woman successfully climb an 18-ft bollard fence a few yards from us in Nogales. And Border Patrol successfully apprehended her, but incident is another reminder that threats to our border security are real.”

Arizona’s Senate delegation, McCain and Sen. Jeff Flake, both Republicans, hosted Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., for a tour along the border in Nogales, part of the Tucson sector. All four senators are members of the so-called “Gang of Eight” that is working on a solution to the nation’s immigration issues.

ABC News was at the scene of the apprehension exclusively and later asked the senators from out of state what they thought of the experience.

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U.S. Border Patrol Uniforms Manufactured In Mexico

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Photo Credit: Gerald L. Nino

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has granted uniform contracts to VF Imagewear, Inc., an apparel company that relies on manufacturing sites in Mexico for a “significant percentage” of its occupational garments.

The latest contract with the company was awarded on Dec. 20, 2012, to make “uniform and insignia items” for the CBP at an estimated cost of $6,157,997.57, and a ceiling of $8 million.

The CBP, which is responsible for protecting America’s borders, told CNSNews.com that items from VF Imagewear, a subsidiary of VF Corporation, are manufactured in a number of locations, “including Mexico.”

“There are no domestic preference regulations or statutes applicable to DHS/CBP that would prohibit the manufacture of uniform items in Mexico,” the CBP said. “In fact, United States obligations under International Agreements require that the Agency accept items manufactured in Mexico.”

“Consistent with the foregoing, VF is permitted to provide items manufactured in Mexico under the current contract,” the agency said. According to the company’s 2012 annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), “VF operates manufacturing facilities in Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.”

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Sen. Sessions Presses USDA For More Info On Mexican Food Stamp Use, Participation Rates

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

After an effort to defund the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food stamp outreach partnership with the Mexican government went down in committee Thursday, Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions continued to press the agency for more information about non-citizen participation in the food stamp program.

In a Friday letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack obtained by The Daily Caller, Sessions — who has been exchanging letters with Vilsack about USDA’s partnership with Mexico since last summer — requested additional information about the people the USDA has been enrolling in nutrition assistance programs and the agency’s program goals.

Last month, in a letter recently obtained by TheDC, Vilsack revealed that the share of overall Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamp, benefits going to legal non-citizens has accounted for between 3.5–4.0 percent of the total caseload since 2004.

The agriculture secretary further addressed the fact that those non-citizens who enroll in SNAP are not considered to be government-reliant under the current policies governing immigrant inadmissibility under the public charge statue. He additionally noted that the agency has provided guidance to this effect — pointing to a February 2010 letter from USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon to all state commissioners.

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American Student Punished For Refusing To Recite Mexican Pledge Of Allegiance?

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Photo Credit: Dario Lopez-Mills A Texas high school student has filed a federal lawsuit against her school after her Spanish teacher allegedly gave her a failing grade for refusing to recite the Mexican pledge of allegiance.

The lawsuit says the McAllen Independent School District violated 15-year-old girl Brenda Brinsdon’s constitutional rights, saying that the “Supreme Court forbids teachers from compelling schoolchildren to pledge their allegiance to a country.”

The complaint also states that the student was not allowed to recite the American Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish in front of the class as an alternative assignment. The teacher, Reyna Santos, gave her a different assignment on the Independence of Mexico to which she received 13 out of 100 points.

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USDA/Mexican Consulates To Immigrants: Don’t Worry, Food Stamps Won’t Affect Citizenship Chances

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller The United States Department of Agriculture has been working to dispel immigrants’ concerns that getting on Food Stamps will harm their chances of becoming U.S. citizens.

The USDA addresses those fears in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp, brochures it distributes to Mexican consulates as part of its “partnership” with the Mexican government “to help educate eligible Mexican nationals living in the United States about available nutrition assistance.”

In one portion of the brochure, USDA’s text asks, “If I get on SNAP benefits, will I be a “public charge?’” The brochure then answers: “No. You and your family can apply for and receive SNAP benefits without hurting your chance of becoming U.S. citizens.”

The brochure further advises immigrants that members of their family could qualify for food stamps, even if they don’t.

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Grenade Attack At U.S. Consulate In Mexico

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Photo Credit: diarioimagen.net Three grenades exploded Thursday evening in Nuevo Laredo, just feet from the U.S. Consulate office, sources in the Mexican border city said.

No injuries were reported, but the explosions rattled the neighborhood, as locals scurried for cover amid a firefight between what’s believed to be members of the Zetas criminal group and their former allies, the Gulf cartel, which is making a push to reclaim the territory.

The two groups appear to be battling, leaving a trail of killings and burned houses. In recent days, sources said, seven people have been killed — three of them Americans — and five homes torched.

The U.S. Consulate issued an alert, and Mexican soldiers were deployed to guard the building.

This is the second time in three years, an explosion has rocked the U.S. facility.

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Hezbollah Joining Cartels in Mexico’s War

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The Mexican Drug War has killed an estimated 60,000 people since 2006, but the violence has stayed out of the minds of most US citizens. That is about to change as Islamic extremist groups setting up shop in Mexico.

The House Committee on Homeland Security released a November 2012 report that reveals Islamic terror organizations and networks are indeed exploiting profits from narcotics, and the ease of weapons attainment, and the vast technological abilities of Mexican and other southern cartels that are thriving in Mexico’s lawlessness, along with other southern regions. The report, titled A Line In The Sand: Countering Crime, Violence, and Terror at the Southwest Border, details the growing involvement of Iran and Hezbollah in Mexico and other countries south of the southern US border.

“In 2006, the Subcommittee reported on the presence of both Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America. Since then, that presence has continued to grow with Iran now having embassies in 11 Latin American countries that include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua and Uruguay.

This unsettling trend was the reason for a Subcommittee-led Congressional Delegation to Latin America in August 2012. The Delegation traveled to Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina, as well as the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, for a first- hand assessment of the increasing threat posed by Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America.”

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Jon Hammar, Marine Jailed in Mexico, Released From Prison (+video)

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The ordeal for Jon Hammar Jr., who languished under deplorable conditions in a violent Mexican prison for four months, is finally over.

Jon Hammar Sr. has confirmed that his 27-year-old son, a Marine combat veteran, is back on U.S. soil and with him in a rented car in Brownsville, Texas.

Hammar Sr. said his son was released from the notorious CEDES prison at 8 p.m. local time and made it back across the bridge between Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville, Texas by around 8:30 p.m.

The ex-Marine, who was arrested at the same border crossing Aug. 13 after attempting to declare an antique shotgun, was suffering from a stomach virus, his father told Fox News as he and his son drove from the border looking for a hotel to spend the night.

“We’re both tired and at our wits end,” Hammar Sr. said. “We’re glad he’s out of there.”

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