VP Kamala Harris Says Texas Border Actions are ‘Un-American – On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris described Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s actions at the border with Mexico as “outrageous and un-American.”
Harris was speaking at the UnidosUS Annual Conference, when she took aim at Abbott’s calls to place razor wire along the banks of Rio Grande as well as setting out a line of floating buoys warning that both could serve to put migrants in immediate danger.
The “wrecking-sized” buoys were part of Governor Abbot’s measures to keep migrants from entering the United States illegally. The vice president took direct aim at the Republican governor and suggested it was an example of extremists demonizing and attacking immigrants, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“In Texas, we see reports that authorities have pushed children and pregnant women who crossed the Rio Grande back into the river, people who refuse to provide water to other human beings who are in deadly 100-degree heat,” Harris said in reference to Hearst Newspapers recent reports. “Inhumane, outrageous and un-American.”
Abbott and his administration have countered that the actions aren’t meant to harm migrants.
“No orders or directions have been given under Operation Lone Star that would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally,” Abbott’s office said via a statement earlier this month following a Hearst Newspapers report that a Texas state trooper had raised concerns about “inhumane” treatment of migrants.
Strengthening the Border?
The Lone Star State’s governor, who won a third term in November has promised tougher border crackdowns and has also blamed the White House for the immigrant problems.
“The Biden-Harris Administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years,” Abbott said last year. “Our supposed Border Czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to even visit the border to see firsthand the impact of the open border policies she has helped implement, even going so far as to claim the border is ‘secure.'”
Border Troubles – Will it Result in Legal Troubles?
VP Harris is not alone in criticizing the decision to place the buoys and wire along sections of the Texas-Mexico border.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection warned internally that the use of razor wire along the border could make it harder to reach at-risk migrants while it could also increase the risk of drowning, and the International Boundary of Water Commission said it was not notified of the plan to place the buoys on the border.
“There are so many ways that what Texas is doing right now is just flagrantly illegal,” David Donatti, an attorney for the Texas American Civil Liberties Union, told the Associated Press on Monday.
The Department of Justice has agreed and sued Texas this week over the controversial floating barrier in the Rio Grande. The DOJ has said the barrier violates federal law and presents “serious risks to public safety and the environment.”
However, Abbott has already sent a letter to the White House that defended Texas’ right to install the barrier, and the governor further accused Biden of putting migrants at risk by not doing more to deter them from making the journey to the U.S.
This is just the latest controversial move that Abbott has made in confronting the border crisis, which he claims the White House is largely responsible for.
Last year, Texas began a controversial program that bused migrants to New York City.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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