Texas Building Military ‘Base Camp’ At Eagle Pass Amid Showdown With Border Patrol
web.archive.org
Gov. Greg Abbott is doubling down on Texas’ border security efforts amid an ongoing standoff with the Biden Administration.

In a development on which, frankly, it's wild there hasn't been more reporting, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is helming the construction of a military base in Eagle Pass, Texas, in support of the deadly $10 billion dollar political stunt Operation Lone Star. We've covered Eagle Pass before—it's the town whose residents have been saying that their own governor has been using them as pawns, and have been calling on the National Guard to get out. It's also where two migrants drowned recently, specifically because the Texas National Guard prevented federal emergency response from arriving in time to save them.

Now Abbott, instead of heeding his own constituents or the Supreme Court's mandate for him to allow CBP to remove razor wire from the area, has announced that he's building a giant military base there. The base will hold up to 2,300 troops. Abbott refuses to give any specific numbers regarding the cost of this base, but says it will pay for itself in the long run and allow him to "amass a large army" to fight the migrant "invasion."

Besides the deliberate disregard for human life and human flourishing, this move seems deliberately provocative, as if Abbott wants to force a showdown—with the federal government as much as with vulnerable children and adults seeking a better life. How fascist.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)

    • Anarcho-Bolshevik@lemmygrad.ml
      ·
      9 months ago

      Per Walmartipedia:

      Starting with "Operation Linebacker" by former governor Rick Perry, the State of Texas has been launching border security operations with increasing escalation since 2005.[9] These operations were limited in scope due to the exclusive authority of federal immigration agents to deport migrants.[11] Operation Lone Star was launched in 2021 to respond to the surge in border crossings, which Governor Abbott attributed to the Biden Administration's policies on immigration.

      In fiscal year 2021, enforcement actions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including detentions and arrests of migrants, rose to over 1.9 million, a 202% increase from fiscal year 2020. Meanwhile, a 278% increase in migrant encounters was seen at the southwest border from fiscal year 2020 to 2021, which continued rising into 2022.[8] Operation Lone Star differed from previous border operations due to the authority granted to state law enforcement officials to arrest migrants in border counties for offenses such as criminal trespassing and human smuggling.[11]