El Paso Republican Party defy rule; hand out constitution

Members of the El Paso Republican Party are upset after being told by the city to distribute material in designated areas following naturalization ceremonies. They were told by the city they weren’t allowed to hand out booklets in front of the the Civic Center, but the El Paso Republican Party said they were going to do it anyway.

The group says they don’t understand, and that they’re not doing anything wrong.

Following naturalization ceremonies, the group hands out this booklets with a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and voter registration information.Another naturalization ceremony was held Friday morning and the group did not back down.

Members were closely monitored by police officers and security Friday morning. The groups exchanged words but no arrests were made. The group is not banned from ceremonies, but they’re being told they can only hand out materials a hundred feet back or on a sidewalk along the building. Destination El Paso, which manages the Civic Center, says it’s not about the content. They also say the Civic Center and Plaza in front of the building are not considered public forum spaces, but the Republicans argue they’re not being disruptive, and the area is otherwise open to the public.

“We are here, to welcome these nice people who made their citizenship they came here legally, they waited all these years to make their citizenship,” Republican Party member Jo Bosely said.

“In this particular case, we have a swearing in ceremony hosting by USCIS, the party is not an affiliated group, so we’ve asked them to go into a designated area to distribute materials,” Destination El Paso’s General Manager said.

Officials with the USCIS did not respond for comment.