Cruelty Is The Point: Texas Immigrant Drownings

 

The vicious right-wing regime of  Texas Governor Greg Abbott has done some cruel things on the border with Mexico (while ignoring the root cause of school and church massacres in his state). His approach to immigrants trying to cross the border from Mexico into the U.S. is punitive and racist. Those that do make it into Texas may find themselves bused to cities led by Democrats: Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, New York City, and Washington, D.C., so that hyper-partisan Abbott can score political points at home. Recently, Abbott has made a show of trying to take over border management from the U.S. Border Patrol, a function of the Federal Government under the Constitution, something that the Government is suing Abbott over.

Less than two days ago, however, Abbott's disregard for human life was put back into the spotlight as three migrants -- a woman and two children -- drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to cross, and who were blocked from being assisted by the Border Patrol by the Texas National Guard put there by Abbott. From the Washington Post's coverage:

"U.S. Border Patrol agents attempting to investigate reports of drowning migrants Friday night were denied access to a strip of the Rio Grande by Texas National Guard members, federal authorities said, the latest in a string of disputes between federal and state officials over access to the border area.

On Saturday, the bodies of three migrants, a woman and two children, were found in the river by Mexican authorities, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) said in a statement, which the Department of Homeland Security later confirmed.

After Border Patrol learned Friday evening that a group of six migrants were in distress while trying to cross the river near Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, they contacted the Texas Military Department and the Texas National Guard, according to Cuellar.

The Texas Military Department told Border Patrol that it would not allow federal agents into the area, even in the case of an emergency, but that it would send a soldier to investigate the situation, Cuellar said."  (our emphasis)

The action by Abbott's National Guard to block assistance for three drowning immigrants is nothing short of homicide, whether they were immigrants or not. This comes on the heels of a statement that Abbott made that Texas isn't shooting immigrants trying to cross the border, because "the Biden Administration would charge us with murder."  Indeed, as they should in this case, after Federal officials were denied the ability to save drowning immigrants by his State goons.