El Paso Politics

El Paso Family Court Judge Marlene Gonzalez is facing a formal effort to remove her from cases involving unaccompanied immigrant children, following allegations of what attorneys describe as a “pattern and practice of cruelty” toward some of the most vulnerable individuals appearing in her courtroom. The motion to recuse, filed by attorneys funded through Estrella del Paso, a ministry of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, asks that Judge Gonzalez be disqualified from all pending and future cases involving unaccompanied noncitizen minors. The document can be found at this link .  “Since she took office on January 1, 2021, Judge Marlene Gonzalez has engaged in a pattern and practice of cruelty towards unaccompanied noncitizen children who appear before her court,” the filing states, adding that the conduct “has escalated over the years.” According to the motion, Judge Gonzalez has repeatedly shamed minors in court, including accusing children of having “abandoned” their parents - ...

Before we begin, let me repeat my annual public-service announcement, the one I give every election season like a Tía warning you not to trust gas station ceviche: Endorsements almost never matter. The only time they matter is when they come with: • Money (and by money I mean more than $500, not “here’s gas money, good luck mijo”) • Labor (real labor—doors knocked, phones called, repeatedly, not one Saturday cameo) • Advertising (for you, not a group photo where you’re buried between six other names and an organization chair nobody remembers) Other than that, endorsements are political Pokémon cards. Cute. Collectible. Utterly useless in a general election. They exist mostly to make first-time candidates feel like they unlocked a side quest: ✨ Achievement Unlocked: Local Club Endorsement ✨ Anywho—back to the regularly scheduled dragging. ⸻ Ay Monica Terán… Monica Terán is running for her old job again and keeps saying “the proof is in the pudding.” Oka...

Let me start by saying this: being right doesn’t always feel good - especially when being right gets you dragged, cursed out, and labeled a   vendido   by people who think “Chicano” has a silent Q. But here we are. Seventeen. Years. Later. And once again,  su servidor  was right. Back in the prehistoric era of El Paso politics - when Facebook still required a college email and people pretended the courthouse was holy ground - I warned the El Paso Democratic Party about one of   our  candidates for a judicial seat: Manny Barraza. And whew. You would have thought I slapped the Virgen de Guadalupe with a voter registration card. The establishment and Old Guard wanted to tar and feather me. Run me out of the party. Burn my D card like it was confiscated contraband. Why? Because I committed the ultimate political sin:   I told the truth about someone on our own team. See, one thing I pride myself on is holding   my   party accountable. I do it bet...