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Interfaith vigil to close Texas
prison camp - Jan 9
Faith leaders, churches and peace
and justice activists will
gather at the Willacy County Processing Center
in Raymondville on Jan. 9 to vigil and
continue to demand that the Obama Administration
shut down this prison camp and let these non-criminal
families go home to await their immigration
hearings.
Holding 3,000 detainees, the "for-profit"
Willacy Center is the US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement's (ICE) largest immigrant detention
center. Since "Ritmo" opened, detainees
have suffered sexual abuse, negligence in medical
care, unhygienic facilities, spoiled and rotten
food, inappropriate use of solitary confinement,
and inadequate access to representation and
services. Immigration detention separates families
and stands between noncitizens and the communities
that provide them emotional, spiritual, and
legal
support. In Florida, detainees' families are
fasting in non-violent opposition to ICE's inhumane
immigration enforcement system.
National student peace conference
coming to Texas
The
2010 Student Peace Alliance National Conference
will be held February 26-28 at Southwestern
University in Georgetown. The conference, whose
theme is "Extreme Makeover: Peace in the
21st Century" will bring together youth
peace leaders from throughout the nation to
"focus on evidence-based programs that
are effectively reducing and preventing violence
both at an international and domestic level."
The three days of conference speakers
and attendee collaboration will highlight effective
domestic and international peacebuilding programs;
provide grassroots organizing, community peacebuilding,
and lobbying training; and empower young people
to be citizen peacebuilders and advocates. Your
help, and donations are needed. Encourage students
in your community to attend. Sponsor scholarships
and show students of the nation a true Texas
welcome.
Texans for Peace has signed on
as a sponsor of this conference. Rob Atkinson,
a member of Texans for Peace, was instrumental
in getting SPA organized before his tragic death
in December 2008.
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New Ways of Looking at Water
Peace, social justice and environmental
activists in San Antonio will hold a "New
Ways of Looking at Water" conference
February 14-16 at Trinity University. The conference
is for the entire community to "explore
The science, politics, law, history, poetry,
music, art, spirituality, architecture, fashion,
use, misuse, past, present, future, here, there
and everywhere of water." It is free and
open to the public.
Iraqi refugees in Texas
The first wave of Iraqi refugees,
like war refugees before them, has come to Texas.
As
many as 100 Iraqi families have already relocated
to Texas, most to big cities and are struggling
to make a new life here. They generally
find themselves living in low-rent apartments
competing for jobs with immigrants from other
countries.
They are generally ignored by
the media, and those who wreaked havoc on their
country. However, social service agencies and
non-profits work to assist them, as they do
to support anyone in need. More to come.
FB for Texas News
More and more, those interested
in peace and social justice are turning to social
media - particularly Facebook - to keep up with
activities and the latest information. Texans
for Peace invites you to join one of several
FB pages used to communicate throughout the
state:
Texans
for Peace FB Main
Texans
for Peace - Austin Area
Texans
for Peace - Corpus Christi and the Valley
Texans
for Peace - DFW and North Texas
Texans
for Peace - Houston Area
Texans
for Peace - San Antonio Area
You can also keep up with news
via
Twitter
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Houthis ready to negotiate peace deal -
Yemen Becoming New Front On "War On Terror"
11900 Metric Blvd., Ste. J-163, Austin, TX 78758