Texas Governor Greg Abbott (TX-R) threatened last week to send busloads of migrants from the border to the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Those buses began arriving in the capital on Wednesday. The question being asked by human rights activists and other concerned parties is, can Abbott be disciplined for such a move?
The fact that Abbott could play with the lives of disadvantaged human beings in such a manner is outrageous. It is remarkable that such actions by the governor have garnered so little media attention and more needs to be done to raise awareness and prevent Abbott from continuing this shameful political stunt, as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki described it.
In addition to Abbott's games in Washington, D.C., the governor has now instituted new safety inspections to crack down on border smuggling. However, industry groups say this move is stifling trade.
According to a New York Times report on Tuesday, "with delays stretching up to 14 hours, some drivers have diverted to Arizona and New Mexico."
The report quoted Abbott as saying the safety checks were needed to increase oversight at the border in order to "curtail the flow of drugs, human traffickers, illegal immigrants, weapons and other contraband into Texas."
The number of migrants arriving in the US is expected to increase next month when the Biden administration will end an emergency public health order known as Title 42. This order was used to turn away unauthorised migrants at the border during the Trump administration.
Abbott's blatant efforts to demonstrate his opposition to the Biden administration's policies will fail.
His caravans to the capital and his efforts at the border are nothing but his own efforts to gain political points
Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate for governor has mocked Abbott, saying "If Abbott focused on solutions instead of stunts, then Texas could have made some real progress on this issue over the last seven years."
There are two issues here. One, Abbott seems to believe his political future depends on how he handles the migrant situation. Two, the migrants themselves have become nothing more than pawns in this ridiculous political game.
Unfortunately for Abbott (and fortunately for everyone else), his political future is likely doomed thanks to the migrant issue. On top of that, it is hoped that the Democratic party will beat Abbott in the upcoming midterm elections.
Abbott faces O'Rourke after both easily won their party's nomination for governor. While Abbott campaigns on a strongly conservative platform in a large Republican state, O'Rourke may be able to overcome the obstacles he faces and oust Abbott.
Abbott needs to recognize that he is playing with fire and his cynical use of migrants for his own political game will backfire and boomerang.
Ali Noorani, writing in the Daily Beast last week, said Abbott may have "mastered the art of performative border politics" but the problem is his policies are "great for the cartels, good for his reelection efforts, and terrible for America."
The cartels benefited by charging as much as they wanted as they sold migrants the opportunity to attempt to enter the US multiple times. The cartels are making money while the migrants are risking their lives and the lives of their families.
At the same time, border officials are completely distracted as they need to deal with the illegal influx of migrants as opposed to dealing with the illegal trafficking of drugs that crosses the border in troves.
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