Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Goons Blocked Border Patrol From Accessing Border While Woman, Two Children Drowned

Like any good sociopath, Abbott blames anyone but himself.

Jan 16, 2024

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s less-than-cold war against the federal government has claimed more lives. Texas installed a 1000-foot jacklegged border barrier down the middle of the Rio Grande between the US and Mexico. The Department of Justice sued Texas, arguing that “this floating barrier poses a risk to navigation, as well as public safety, in the Rio Grande River, and it presents humanitarian concerns.”

Any governor who ships migrants to his political opponents’ homes as a Christmas gag gift is hardly a “humanitarian,” so Abbott ignored both the DOJ and international law. Escalating the armed rebellion against the US government, the Texas National Guard “deployed armed soldiers and vehicles to block federal gov from accessing” the Rio Grande River.

And now three people are dead.

Friday night, a woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande as they were attempting to cross the southern border. If you are tempted to say, “well, they shouldn’t have broken the law,” then you are a monster and not one of the interesting ones we enjoy from Universal movies. Humanity is not dependent on one’s immigration status. This hard-line appeal to the “law” also rings hollow from people who consider January 6 rioters “hostages” of the Department of Justice.

This woman and those children didn’t have to die. That was a deliberate, homicidal choice. The Border Patrol saw that they were in distress and wanted to assist, like people with human souls, but Texas troops, part of Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star,” blocked them from entering Shelby Park near the Rio Grande.

Earlier on Friday, Abbott had boasted about his seditious actions at a campaign stop in Houston.

“We are not allowing Border Patrol on that property anymore,” he said as his law-and-order supporters applauded. “We said, ‘We’ve had it. We’re not going to let this happen anymore.”

Now Abbott blames Joe Biden for the deaths, which is not what anyone would call a “surprise.”

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who was briefed on the matter, said that Border Patrol learned about the situation from Mexican authorities. They tried to call the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard, but couldn’t reach them — maybe the Border Patrol is classified as “Spam” in their caller ID — so they drove over to Shelby Park, which Texas has effectively seized.

“Border Patrol agents then made physical contact with the Texas Military Department and the Texas National Guard at the Shelby Park Entrance Gate and verbally relayed the information,” Cuellar said. “However, Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant access to the migrants—even in the event of an emergency —and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation.”

It’s possible that “Operation Lone Star” sent a soldier to “investigate the situation,” but it seems like they simply stood and watched as the woman and two children were swept away by the river and drowned. Mexican authorities eventually recovered the bodies. If this is what Greg Abbott and other Republicans believe is necessary to “secure” the border, then there is no “America” worth defending from their imagined “invasion.”

The Texas Military Department released a statement to Texas Public Radio about the “migrant distress situation” on Friday.

“TMD had a unit in the vicinity of the boat ramp and actively searched the river with lights and night vision goggles. No migrants were observed," the statement said. "At approximately 9:45 pm, TMD observed a group of Mexican authorities responding to an incident on the Mexico side of the river bank. TMD reported their observations back to Border Patrol, and they confirmed that the Mexican authorities required no additional assistance. At that time, TMD ceased search operations.”

TMD doesn’t deny that it blocked the Border Patrol’s access, but Abbott insists that the three migrants were already goners before the Border Patrol contacted them. That is certainly a legally convenient position, if morally questionable. The White House is reportedly “gathering facts about the circumstances of these tragic deaths,” but one fact is obvious: The Border Patrol requires unrestricted access to the border to do its job. Otherwise, more people will die.

Last July, the Houston Chronicle reported on Abbott’s callous brutality disguised as vigilance. Texas troopers were reportedly ordered to “push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande, and have been told not to give water to asylum seekers even in extreme heat.” Abbott said just last week that the only reason his troops aren’t summarily executing migrants at the border is because the federal government might “charge us with murder,” which is usually the response when you willfully commit homicide.

A White House spokesperson said, “Governor Abbott’s political stunts are cruel, inhumane, and dangerous.” However, this actually undersells the scope of Abbott’s Fort Sumter stand. The Border Patrol is responsible for enforcing border security. Abbott is actively defying the authority of the duly elected federal government. The hammer needs to fall, and Abbott needs to meet a pair of snug-fitting handcuffs.

[Mother Jones / Houston Chronicle / TPR]

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