Latest news with #Aboud
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigrant advocates gather in Downtown El Paso in ‘solidarity' with Los Angeles protests
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Immigrant advocate organization, the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), is gathering Tuesday evening, June 10 in Downtown El Paso at the San Jacinto Plaza in 'solidarity' with communities in Los Angeles who took to the streets over the weekend to protest immigration raids being carried out by ICE. What to know about Trump's deployment of the Marines and National Guard to LA's immigration protests The protests in Los Angeles made national headlines as they escalated this past Sunday with protesters blocking a major freeway and vandalizing self-driving cars and law-enforcement vehicles. President Donald Trump also announced that he was deploying National Guard and Marines to quell the protests. The initial 2,000 National Guard troops arrived Sunday. On Monday, the president announced he was sending an additional 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines. In El Paso, the BNHR calls Tuesday evening's demonstration a 'peaceful vigil,' in which they will also call for an end to ICE's 'terrorizing' immigration enforcement tactics and for the immediate withdrawal of military forces from Los Angeles and the border. 'What we're seeing in Los Angeles is not new. It's the amplification of a strategy we've endured at the border for years,' said Fernando Garcia, the executive director for BNHR, in a news release. 'ICE has become a political weapon used to terrorize our communities,' Garcia said. 'This administration is exploiting law enforcement and military personnel, placing them at the center of an anti-democratic agenda that undermines the very freedoms they swore to defend. We're not here to vilify individuals in uniform. We're here to demand accountability from the leadership that is weaponizing them against our people.' Meanwhile, Michael Aboud, chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, said that while people have the right to protest, he condemned the vandalism that transpired over the weekend. 'If you come here illegally, you're not allowed to stay, period. The ones that are destroying property, they're burning the U.S. flag and they're flying foreign flags. That's what's concerning. You want to protest in peace? We've allowed that since the beginning of our country, OK. But the ones that are the problem are the ones that are doing all the destruction. You can have a wrong opinion and be able to speak about it,' Aboud said. Aboud praised the Trump administration's immigration efforts and shared a message for El Pasoans who will demonstrate Tuesday evening. 'They don't get to decide what the law is. They don't get to decide that. They go to any foreign country and go there illegally and stay and then tell those people what the foreigner's wishes are. Listen to what law enforcement says to you. Cooperate and go home peacefully,' Aboud said. Alan Lizarraga, communications manager for the BNHR, stressed the importance of El Pasoans demonstrating in light of what occurred at Los Angeles. 'What has been unfolding in Los Angeles was an intended provocation. It is a manufactured crisis for the government to be able to excuse what they're doing in our communities. If we don't stand up against what's happening in L.A., what guarantees that tomorrow they're not going to start doing the same here in El Paso.' Lizarraga said. 'What we have to understand is that El Paso has been the center point to the policies that we're seeing nationwide. We have seen militarization of our border. We've seen how immigration enforcement has turned into a paramilitary operation now. So what communities in Los Angeles saw over the weekend was just that. It was armed soldiers and armed vehicles going after hard-working individuals,' Lizarraga added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBC
25-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
How a 1.5-km stretch of industrial park captures key campaign issues
Sometimes gritty, sometimes glossy — the Canotek industrial park in Ottawa's east end is home to dozens of sprawling commercial buildings housing hundreds of tenants, from sole proprietors to businesses with hundreds of employees. Along this 1.5-km stretch, a wide variety of industries are represented, including automotive garages, construction companies, HVAC and plumbing outfits, metal fabricators and a popular brewery. CBC dropped by to ask what folks on Canotek Road have to say about Monday's election. Furniture refinisher Eric Schiemann voted for change, marking his ballot at an advance poll. "I don't like the way things have been going," Schiemann said. "We're getting too far into debt as a country. And the prices of everything are just skyrocketing because of it." Schiemann is painstakingly restoring a small table that has been handed down from a client's great-great-great-grandmother. He describes furniture refinishing as a dying field, in part because people are unwilling to pay for his labour when relatively cheap replacements are so plentiful. "When we started this business back in the 90s, there was 12 refinishers down here on Canotek. I think there may be three of us left. Maybe two." Samantha Csontos Robertson is looking forward to casting a ballot. Like Schiemann, she's looking for change. The manager of M&R School Transportation, which provides rides for children with disabilities, is struggling with the cost of living. We're living on peanut butter sandwiches and ground beef. - Samantha Csontos Robertson "We're living on peanut butter sandwiches and ground beef," Csontos Robertson said. "We have to go Conservative. It's the only way this country is going to get any better." Joyce Aboud volunteers at her daughter's soap business, Zoe's Corner, which sells skin care and bath products. Some of the small business's raw materials are imported, and Aboud worries about rising costs. Patchouli oil, for example, has tripled in price. But when Aboud voted at an advance poll, she was thinking about leadership. "I just wanted someone who is eloquent. Someone that is not a bully," Aboud said. "Someone who would protect Canada." Josh McJannett is co-founder of Dominion City Brewing Co. The company is already affected by the aluminum and steel tariffs and is worried about a big purchase of Idaho hops this fall. "A lot of the things we thought we could count on, we no longer can — principle among them is a steady trading partner south of the border, an America that we recognize," McJannett said. "We're pinched. And I think it's going to be a challenge for a lot of small businesses." Like Aboud, McJannett has already voted. So has cabinetmaker Andrew de la Ronde, of DH Designs. He's among the record number of 7.3 million people who cast a ballot during advance polls. De la Ronde wanted to vote early so his 12-year-old son could accompany him and learn about the voting process, but his ballot box issue was about health-care. The family is without a family doctor. "We thought we had a nurse practitioner and then just after Christmas we found out that she was leaving. So now we're back to square one," de la Ronde said. "I'm … of an age where things are starting to hurt more and you question why they're hurting." Housing affordability is top of mind for voter Marina Schneider, an office manager at Alco Janitorial. Her 31-year-old daughter is a teacher who has moved back in with her mom to save up for a down payment on a home. "I love her being at home, and at the same time I'm sad for her," Schneider said. "She was paying $2,500. They increased the rent, so she said 'mom, I can't afford it.'" Schneider, who emigrated from Honduras "40 winters ago," also wants the government to tackle homelessness. "Coming from a third-world country and for me to see this in Ottawa? It is a big thing," said Schneider, who volunteers weekly with SOS Street Outreach Society, helping hand out donated food. Mechanic Phong Tran is a first-time voter and is looking forward to casting a ballot on April 28. He and his family immigrated from Vietnam in 1999 and operate Tran's Auto Repair. He's under pressure from family members to vote for the Green Party. "All my brothers and my family are texting me," he said. The extended clan will mark 11 ballots on Monday.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
El Pasoans gather to protest Elon Musk, Tesla
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — About 60 people gathered for a peaceful protest at a Tesla dealership and showroom on Saturday, March 29 in Northwest El Paso. The protest was part of a nationwide effort to protest billionaire Elon Musk, his Department of Government Efficiency, which is not an official part of the federal government, and large-scale layoffs of federal government employees. The protest, which was being held at Tesla dealerships all over the country, was organized by the Action Network, which was calling the protests part of a 'Global Day of Action.' In El Paso, the protest was held at the Tesla dealership, at 7825 Helen of Troy Dr. Action Network said it was calling on people to sell their Tesla cars, dump the company's stock and join a protest. 'Elon Musk is destroying our democracy, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it. We are taking action at Tesla to stop Musk's illegal coup,' the Action Network said on its website. The Action Network said that the event is meant to be a 'peaceful protest.' 'We oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of our First Amendment right to peaceful assembly,' the Action Network said on its website. Michael Aboud, the chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, said the protest is an 'overreaction' and the protesters are making 'something out of nothing.' 'The only thing that DOGE has been tasked to do is find waste and fraud in the government and refer it to the proper authorities, which so far has been Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio,' Aboud said. 'Why anyone one would want the government to spend money in a wasteful manner is beyond me. 'The American public works way to hard for every dollar it earns and sends to the government. Every government official has a fiduciary responsibility to make sure tax dollars are being spent in a responsible manner,' Aboud added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Shafaq News
27-02-2025
- Business
- Shafaq News
Iraq fuel e-payments exceed $566 million in January
Shafaq News/ Iraqi fuel sales through the electronic payment system skyrocketed in January 2025, with revenues exceeding 742 billion dinars (about $566 million), the Iraqi Oil Products Distribution Company announced on Thursday. Company Director Hussein Talib Aboud reaffirmed the company's commitment to automating operations in line with the government's digitalization strategy. He highlighted the success of the e-payment system, launched in April 2023, positioning the company as the first government entity to implement the initiative. 'The project is being rolled out in two phases: the first ensures full fuel supply to all sectors, while the second focuses on consumer access through distribution outlets. The complete transition to digital payments is expected by June,' Aboud said. He noted that the e-payment system now covers government and private fuel stations, gas and white oil vendors, generators, agricultural machinery, gas depots, fuel ration cards, bakeries, laundries, and collection services, including the private sector. On March 22, 2024, the Distribution Company began supplying vehicles with "super" and "enhanced" fuel exclusively through POS-based e-payment across all provinces.
