A Mother’s Day tribute to an immigrant mom

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EL PASO —When someone is asked, “ What do you think about your mother? ” the immediate answer is “my mother is the best.”

But could one really describe a mother with all her attributes and her flaws? Personally I describe my mother as brave, with a bold attitude someone who has worked non-stop for her family and her community. Veronica Macias, 46, a single mother has sustained her children alone, and without an education for 26 years. Born and raised in Ciudad Juarez, and the youngest of 11 children she immigrated to El Paso in July, 1973.

New magazine guides Nuevos Paisanos through the American labyrinth

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EL PASO — Mario Fernandez, 45, crossed the border illegally in search of opportunity and a better life, but he found himself here without rights or guidance and countless unanswered questions. But now, a new publication is on their side. Nuevos Paisanos magazine was launched in February to help inform and aid immigrants with useful information. As of now, Nuevos Paisanos is the first immigration-oriented publication in El Paso. The inspiration came from “The tens of thousands of nuevos paisanos – hence, the name of our publication – fleeing from the dangers and harsh living conditions present in Mexico,” said editor Priscilla Portillo.

Juarez violence pushes a pastor and his flock across the border

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EL PASO – Because of a lawless environment in Juarez in which churches are forced to pay protection money to gangsters or else suffer terrible consequences, the congregation of the Centro Cristiano Familiar Vencedores church felt threatened. Gunshots would regularly disturb services and Pastor Ramiro Macias’ church didn’t know what to expect when strangers appeared at the church door. Macias recalled recently that family dinners would be interrupted by the sound of gunfire in the neighborhood and the doorbell of his house rang at 3 a.m. on a regular basis. Not knowing what they wanted or why, he wouldn’t open the door and his family endured the sleepless nights in fear. The murder of a church member was the dreadful, final act of violence that motivated him to move his family and his church to El Paso.

El Paso traffic deaths are on the rise in 2011

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EL PASO – The young woman was found lifeless, inside her Pontiac Solstice, submerged in the Franklin canal under 10 feet of icy, cold water. According to police, Corina Bejarano, 21, was driving at high speed on Saturday October 23, 2010 at approximately 1:30 a.m. with her headlights off, when she missed a curb, drove off the Cesar Chavez Highway and flew over two embankments of railroad tracks into the canal. She remained under water for more than four hours before police pulled her out. Bejarano’s death is just one of thousands of fatalities that happen every year in Texas. According to the Texas Peace Officers Crash Report (click here to download the report), 2,793 traffic accident deaths were reported in Texas in 2009.