San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
In seeking to evict migrant kids, Abbott hits new low
There is no bottom to Gov. Greg Abbott’s cynical brand of politics, just as there appears to be no place in his heart for innocent migrant children. And if Abbott gets his way, there will be no place for these children in Texas.
By now, it’s clear Abbott will play the ugly politics of immigration for all it is worth, even at the expense of children.
In his stunning June 1 “disaster declaration in response to the border crisis in Texas,” Abbott has sought to shutter by Aug. 30 more than 50 statelicensed facilities that house more than 4,000 migrant children.
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The Biden administration is now threatening legal action. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials have called the proclamation “a direct attack” on the immigration system and the Office of Refugee Resettlement that runs a network of more than 200 facilities and programs in 22 states. HHS officials have said they have no plans to close facilities.
This isn’t the first time Abbott has leveraged children to posture politically about immigration. In April, Abbott held a dramatic news conference in which he made serious and unfounded claims of sexual abuse of unaccompanied migrants housed at the temporary emergency site at the Freeman Coliseum. Those allegations were never proven.
In March, Abbott created and expanded Operation Lone Star, directing Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers to conduct interviews of unaccompanied minors. So far, he has deployed more than 1,000 DPS troopers and hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers to the border.
We wonder, what will he do next?
Regarding his declaration, Abbott told Fox News: “Texas is going to start arresting everybody that comes across the border.” He vowed to charge them with aggravated trespass, with up to a year in jail.
And Thursday evening, Abbott held a Border Security Summit in Del Rio, outlining his disaster declaration and efforts to beef up law enforcement and jails; a new interstate compact and a call to other states for resources; and the building of “border barriers” and even a border wall. Abbott tends to regard the border as either a federal or state issue when it politically suits him.
What’s particularly sad about Abbott is he is smart, politically astute and so capable of modeling a better way. This isn’t Sid Miller, king of cupcakes in schools, or indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton. This is a former state Texas Supreme Court justice and attorney general. He should be better.
He knows the unaccompanied migrant children he’s trying to evict are innocent victims — asylumseekers fleeing the violence ravaging the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
Progress also takes time and will require investment in the Northern Triangle, reforming the asylum process and genuine bipartisan work on immigration. The Biden administration is committed to investing $4 billion in four years to address the root causes of migration from Central America while trying to ensure immigrants are treated with dignity.
But back to Abbott, who has contributed nothing to reform. In his proclamation, Abbott declared the federal government used to take seriously its responsibility to enforce federal immigration laws and accused the Biden administration of failing to “meaningfully partner” with Texas.
A meaningful partnership begins with meaningful policies and mutual respect, and is bolstered by humanity. Punishing immigrant children? That’s a particularly mean-spirited and ugly brand of politics.