Who Said I'M Not a United State Citizen?

Friends,

As some of you may know, I have be a firm defender of individual civil right as a member of LULAC and the American Federation of Government Employees regardless of there race, creed or religious preferences.

For sometime now we have had an unacceptable situation within the State Department in that they have refused to issue US passport to citizens of the United States.

The reason for this denial?

Although these individual had provided all the required documentation such as valid birth records, school records, medical records and affidavits from independent sources proving that they were born in the US, the Stated Department had decided that this was irrelevant.

In short the State Department decided that regardless of what evidence was presented because these individuals had audacity to have been born of parent who were poor or had been born in a location where hospital were not available and these birth were attended by midwives they were not worth of a US Passport.

Further, when these denials were issued the State Department would accuse these individual of fraud but would fail to provide the evidence of the allege fraud. In some cases the individual were referred to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service to report for possible deportation.

As a result of these questionable practices several questions were raised and subsequent a class action lawsuit was filed by the ACLU. (I point out that this police was establish under the Bush Administration)

The Houston Chronicle Reports that the American Civil Liberties Union and the US State Department have reach a settlement agreement regrading a class action lawsuit that was filed by passport applicants whose birth were attended by midwives. (Friday, June 26, 2009 edition)

Under this agreement individual will be able to reapply of a US passport and if denied, the application will automatic review by a three member panel. Further, the settlement also requires that the government reviews its list of midwives suspected of birth certificate fraud to ensure there is a "reasonable belief" that they were involved in wrongdoing.

I must applaud the current administration in recognizing the importance of this issues and their quick action. I remind all my readers that as citizens of the United States, we must protect the rights of all individuals in this great country.

As always I welcome your comments.

Joe Montemayor

Ed Gonzalez Congratulation

I wish to congratulate my friend Ed Gonzalez in election victory for District H this past Saturday.

Being and alumni of District H (Denver Harbor) I am delighted to see that the district will continue to have strong leadership on the Houston city council that will address the issues of today.

Ed well done.

Joe Montemayor

Where Have All the Latinos Gone

Dear Friends

Yesterday, I receive a call from my friend and fellow activist Marina Hernandez-Quiroz from the eastside inner loop area. As many of you know, Marina was East End Field Organizer with the Democratic Coordinated Campaign in the last election cycle and faced a huge challenge in the general election due to a large block of Clinton supporters in the East End.

As we talk to catch up on what we had both been doing since the election and what our future plan were, we found our self discussing the very issued that has been worrying every person that worked the November 4th General Election.

Where have all the Latino gone?

We both agree that the voter turn out in the historical Latino precincts were below expectation also we agreed that the false allegation that a Latino voter would not support an African American on the ticket was not the result of the low voter turn out.

This is a perplexing problem and in order to try to understand what may have contributed to this situation, I decided to conduct my own non-scientific poll. (I invite my readers and friends to do the same poll and send me your results)

The poll is simple:

1. On a sheet of paper list 12 (One Dozen) persons that you grew up with. In my case, I grew up in the Denver Harbor area on the east side of the inner loop.
2. Then, list where these folks live now (What part of the city/county/state).
3. Asked these individuals if they voted in the last primary or general election. (You don’t have to ask who they voted for just if they voted).

The result may surprise you. In my case all the folks listed attended and/or graduated from schools in the Denver Harbor Area and hear are the results:

James- lives in Friendswood and voted in both the Primary and General Elections.
Joel- lives in Baytown and voted in both the Primary and General Election
Toni-lives in the outer loop (Eastside) and voted in both the Primary and General Election
Julie – lives in Atascocita/Humble Area and voted in both the Primary and General Election
Junior-lives in Katy and didn’t vote at all
Marcella-lives on the east end and voted in the Primary only.
Bellia-lives in Humble and voted in both the Primary and General Elections
Anna-lives in Aldine and didn’t vote
Tina-lives in Channelview and voted in both the Primary and General Election
Ismael-lives in Channelview and voted in both the Primary and General Elections.

What this small snapshot tells us, is due to a once growing economy and a more that generous mortgage market in past years, the generation of voting Latino that supported the candidacies of Ben Reyes, Felix Frada, Henry Cisneros and Lionel Castillo have now move to suburban neighborhoods.

My hope is that the participants of the Houston Area Latino Summit that will be held from 10 am to 1 pm, Saturday, February 14, 2009 in the Champions Pavilion at Minute Maid Park, will recognized this trend and plan according for the 2010 election cycle.

With the growing population of Latino residents in our community both in the inner city and in the suburbs it is vital that we all do our part to ensure our voices and the voice of all are children be they black, brown, white, yellow or purple be truly heard.

As always, I welcome your comments.


Joe A. Montemayor

Dear Friends,

To begin, I apologize for not getting with all of you sooner. In truth I have been busy with the repairs to my home (Yes my insurance check finally arrived) and I find myself with more work than time.

There is so much going on in our community that we should all be concern with that I don’t see where to start.

In his first week in office, President Obama is working with congress to have his stimulus plan approve and signed before February 16th. What would this mean to our community? Well from what I have been able to find out public school grades K-12 would received fund to help with the budget short fall that is causing a number of school to close. Collage and Universities would have a second program that would assist with their needs and concerns. (Not a bad start if you ask me.)

Stace “Dos Centavos” Medellin tells us of the Houston Area Latino Summit that will be held from 10 am to 1 pm, Saturday, February 14, 2009 in the Champions Pavilion at Minute Maid Park. With the growing population of Latino residents in our community (myself included) this summit will provide an opportunity to discuss issues and policies that will greatly affect all residents in Houston.

Charles Kuffner of “Off the Kuff” tell us of the continued battle over the CHIPS program with his article,” IT’S 2009 and we're still arguing about CHIP “He is clear that certain state representatives (members of the GOP) continue an on going debate for a program that provides medical care for low income Texas children (which by the way, is also matched dollar for dollar by the federal government.)

This arrogances stance is being lead by Gov. Perry and Lt. Dewherst and to be frank this is the same GOP leadership ideology has put our country into a rescission.

As you all know I believe that CHIP is desperately need to assist our children and can not except the position that the GOP has taken regarding this issue. Today with the economy faltering, job lost at a record number and the market in a decline programs to assist our struggling families are needed.

The fact is that the GOP state leadership practice of party politics are completely in appropriate.

As some of you may know I am a member of several organization one of which is the Hispanic Executive Society International (HESI). This organization main goal is to promote education and community awareness and I have been honored to be a member of the organization since the beginning.

Mr. Joe Ramirez the president of HESI announce that at their monthly meeting on February 3rd their guess speaker will be newly elected Sheriff Adrian Garcia. I look forward to speaking with Sheriff Garcia and discussing issues such as juvenile crime, the red light camera program, patrol officer for the community and the future of the Harris County Sheriff office.

Congratulation to him and his family, may they continue to have great success.

As always, I welcome your comments.


Joe A. Montemayor

Dear Friends

As we close out 2008, it is only natural that we take time to reflect on the issued that have affected our lives. In my case I recall that:

• We set a new record for voter turns out in both the Primary and General election.


• That although our community is still attempting to recover from the effects of hurricane IKE we came together as a community to assist neighbors and friends in a time of need.


• The election of the first African American President to the United States and I had the honor of being on the same ballot with President elect Obama.


• That we are in an economic recession (Some reports claim that we are in a depression) that is now dictating the role that our government has with industry (Banking, Housing and Auto), the education of our children, the security of our country and the credibility of our word as a nation. But I also see that we the people still believe in the future for our children and refuse to accept these situations.


• The numerous sandaled by our elected official in both parities has tarnished the respect given to our leaders. I as a candidate felt some of the effects of these scandals. I now vow to honor the trust given to me by the voters and will strive to be the representative that they all can respect at all times.


• The fact that a majority of the communities with in the House District 127 had to face a tax increase due to the economic recession and the lack of action by the State Legislators.

I believe that we in HD 127 agree that the challenges we face in 2008 were enough for anyone to deal with and that we look forward to a brighter future in 2009.


As always I welcome you thought and comments.

Joe A. Montemayor

Merry Christmas

To My Family and Friends,

May the magic to the holiday season fill your home and hearts every day of the year. I hope that the New Year bring us all health, happiness and daily joys.

God Bless you all,

Joe, Noemi and the Kids.

Around the Blog

Dear Friends & Neighbors,

Today, while checking the Bloggers world I found the following:

Stace “Dos Centavos” Medellin tells us of mayor White quick trip to the Rio Grand Valley to meet with supporter for this newly announce bid for US Senate.
From what Stace report, mayor White has his work cut out for him to win over individual that are fearful of NAFTA reform but we here in Harris County know what a fighter the mayor is and his commitment to job creation, economic expansions and environmental commitment. In short, he is more that up to the task at hand.

Also he lets us know of the wise decision of the Denton County Democratic Party for appointing my good friend, supporter and mentor, Maria Antonia “Toni” Medellin to the Diversity Chair for Denton County. Toni is a long time organizer and will bring a wealth of knowledge to the party so I expect big things in Denton County.

Blogger Patty of “Texas Education” tells us of the states decision to suspend the school bond guarantees that have been provided for the past 25 years. What effect will this decision have on our school and institution of higher learning is unknown but I question the wisdom of this decision.

Finally Charles Kuffner of “Off the Kuff” gives his out look of the 2010 election as thing stand at this point.

The Houston Chronicle announces that Antonio “Tony” Leal has been appointed a chief of the Texas Rangers. I met Trooper Leal when he was with the DPS and I was with ICE 15 years ago in the Richmond/ Sugerland area. He is a great assist to the state and I know that he will continue to serve the state well.

Congratulation to him and his family, may they continue to have great success.

As always, I welcome your comments.


Joe A. Montemayor