February HCCTDW Meeting

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Check in at the Kroc 11:15 a.m.

Meal served at 11:30 a.m.

Beef Lasagna, Garden Salad, Fresh Vegetables,

Cheese Manicotti, Garlic Bread & Dessert

Don’t forget your masks!

Reservations for the luncheon should be made with Julie Sentell by emailing to jmsentell@icloud.com no later than Wednesday, January 26, 2022. The cost of the meal is $16.00 per person. TDW pays for each reservation.

Attorney General Candidate Rochelle Garza to Speak on Civil Rights

Rochelle Garza, noted Rio Grande Valley attorney, will address both her candidacy for Texas Attorney General and her experience as an ACLU attorney during her presentation to the February 1, 2022 luncheon meeting of HCCTDW. Garza will be the first Democratic Primary candidate to speak to our group in 2022.

Garza’s career as a civil rights lawyer representing teenage girls in federal immigration detention touches a primary focus of local Democratic Women, who have been involved in a project to assist asylum seekers in transit through San Antonio for several years.“Garza is one of many Latina attorneys who are having an impact on Texas through the courts as both lawyers and judges. We are especially proud of Chief Justice Rebeca Martinez and the Democratic majority on the 4th Court of Appeals.

In a federal case filed for a migrant “Jane Doe” in 2017, Garza eventually won the right of pregnant teens in federal detention to choose whether or not to have an abortion. Garza’s opponent in the case was current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Rochelle Garza was born in Brownsville, Texas and currently lives in her birth city with her husband. She practices in her own law firm after working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) following law school at the University of Houston. Garza will speak about her civil rights work on behalf of Texans in the Rio Grande Valley as proof of her dedication and ability to protect the rights of all Texans.Retiring Democratic Congressman Philemon Vela of Brownsville stated that “we can trust Rochelle to never forget where she came from and never stop fighting for us.” Addressing her decision to run for statewide office, Garza says that she believes that change in Texas will have to come at the State level, where the Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General have damaged the State and harmed the people of Texas through their actions.

Garza is one of five candidates competing in the March 1, 2022 Democratic Primary to become the Party’s candidate for Attorney General in the General Election in November, 2022. Her opponents include Joe Jaworski, former Mayor of Galveston and Lee Merritt, civil rights attorney from Dallas. Less known opponents are Mike Fields, a former Republican Criminal Court judge from Harris County and S. T-Bone Raynor. Currently, we plan to hold the February meeting in person with a luncheon beginning at 11:15 a.m. at the Kroc Community Center on Holdsworth Drive in Kerrville. Make reservations for the $16 per person luncheon by email to jmsentell@icloud.com preferably by Wednesday, January 26, 2022. Any change from meeting in person (due to COVID) will be reported through a follow-up newsletter and on the website: hillcountrytxdemocraticwomen.org