“Two years in the past, my hometown of El Paso was attacked by a home terrorist. He drove greater than 600 miles to, in his thoughts, stand as much as an ‘invasion’ of Latino immigrants. That’s what he wrote in his manifesto, utilizing language drawn instantly from the mouth of then-President Trump,” America’s Voice campaigns supervisor Mario Carrillo said. “At this time, Gov. Abbott appears intent on following Trump’s lead.” Specifically, that features his despicable executive order continuing the “immigrants bring disease” trope—and a despicable government order that’s now being challenged by Lawyer Basic Merrick Garland in courtroom.
It’s unhealthy sufficient that Abbott is utilizing immigrants and their households as props in his political race. He’s additionally “placing Latinos and immigrants within the crosshairs,” Carrillo stated. “He’s threatening kids who’ve come to America looking for security and freedom. He’s blaming newly-arrived asylum-seekers, most of whom have been vaccinated, for spreading COVID.” Abbott’s “message isn’t refined,” Carrillo continued. “Brown-skinned persons are a menace.”
Abbott was saying that earlier than this major, and even earlier than El Paso. Recall that simply someday previous to the El Paso assault, a fundraising letter despatched out in Abbott’s title proclaimed that “if we will defend Texas, we’ll must take issues into our personal fingers.” It additional complained that in “simply three weeks in June, 45,000 unlawful immigrants had been apprehended crossing the Mexican border into Texas! That quantities to the complete inhabitants of Galveston—each three weeks. In simply six months, we’d add the inhabitants of Arlington!”
Abbott at first refused to publicly touch upon the letter, however finally issued a non-apology claiming that “errors had been made.” By whom? Who can say! The letter offered few details, solely itemizing “Governor Greg Abbott” within the letterhead, itemizing his web site on the backside of the web page, stating “political advert paid for by Texans for Greg Abbott,” and a “Sincerely, Greg Abbott” signature.
Abbott additionally figuratively hid behind his partner in making the non-apology, stating that “my spouse is the primary Hispanic First Girl of Texas. Her household got here from Mexico. We have to deal with this assault on who we’re as Texans,” the Dallas Morning Information reported on the time. However what has Abbott executed as an alternative because the second anniversary of this white home terror assault is now right here in entrance of us?
“Abbott must keep in mind that incendiary phrases too usually include a physique rely,” Carrillo continued. “As a substitute of concentrating on Latinos and immigrants, Abbott ought to concentrate on the well being and security of all Texans. He ought to repair the state’s energy grid after outages value a whole bunch of lives. He ought to concentrate on stopping the unfold of COVID-19, a illness that has value greater than 50,000 lives. As a substitute, he’s blaming Latinos and immigrants.”
There are a number of different responsible events right here aiding the governor in his racist assaults. When Abbott prematurely lifted pandemic restrictions earlier this yr, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick similarly pointed his finger at asylum-seeking households. Patrick isn’t any stranger to this both, with his own history of racist bullcrap that goes again years. Sen. Ted Cruz has additionally made that accusation extra not too long ago, falsely claiming that circumstances in south Texas are on the rise as “a direct end result” of migrants “being launched into communities.”
Carrillo hasn’t been alone in his outrage. “2 years after Walmart mass capturing, El Paso leaders see inaction and betrayal by Texas officers,” El Paso Issues reports, particularly the truth that “rhetoric describing migrants as criminals and invaders is now espoused by Texas’ Republican management, together with Abbott.”
“They know full effectively that their xenophobic racist rhetoric feeds hatred, and so they know full effectively that that hatred fuels violence,” U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar instructed El Paso Issues. She assumed a significant function in El Paso’s therapeutic. “And who’re the victims of the violence? It’s, now we have seen in Texas, weak communities like ours,” she continued. So what does Abbott need to say for himself now? El Paso Issues stated that “[t]he governor’s workplace declined an interview, citing his busy schedule.”