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.)

  • Shrike502@lemmygrad.ml
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    8 months ago

    So what is this “operation lone star”? Terribly pretentious name, by the way. Is it the base, mentioned in the article? And what are those troops? Police? National guard? Greg’s own PMC?

      • Shrike502@lemmygrad.ml
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        8 months ago

        How does it differ from everything else going on? Saw blades in Rio Grande, armed patrols, all that?

        • Anarcho-Bolshevik@lemmygrad.mlOP
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          8 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]

  • Honestly, I am shocked the showdown has not happened yet. Biden if he was half way compitent should have done literaly anything the week after Texas and the other states decided to all go down and … you know inflict more suffering, at the US boarder, aganst the SCOTUS and Federal Government order… I am not saying I love the feds by any means, but this show has gone on much longer without any significant and public pushback from the federal government.

    I would have expected at this point the Army to have been sent down atleast in a small number as a “show of force” or better yet Federalise the guard… If someone has additional insite please let me know what I am missing… other than the obvious, the feds are not actualy opposed to this

    • MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml
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      8 months ago

      or better yet Federalise the guard

      It’s right there! With the built-in advantage of a Republican president last doing it, and the precedent being to integrate public schools! It’s a win across the board for libs with no downside!