Gov. Abbot & Left - Right Disconnect

Support for Gov. a Matter of Perception

One of the things that has stuck out and created a bit of cognitive dissonance in what we’re reading in statewide and national publications about the Border Crisis, is the ongoing narrative that Governor Greg Abbot is going out of his way to court conservative voters and shore up crumbling support in the face of rightward primary challengers like Alan West, Don Huffines, and Chad Prather.

As narratives go, it seems cogent and plausible. It’s not hard to believe. However, what one finds is that many in Kinney County at least, feel the Governor is not even coming close to doing all that he’s capable of doing to inhibit illegal immigration. It’s not hard to dredge up a modest amount of sympathy for the Governor— caught between a series of competing interests around the state.

In Kinney County, the County Attorney Brent Smith, and Sheriff Brad Coe, are perhaps the loudest voices calling for all manner of unheard of measures. At a recent gathering of Border Sheriffs at the Governor’s Office in Austin, Sheriff Coe suggested the Governor instruct DPS to begin operating “Truck Safety Inspection Stations” on Border Highways, as a way of snarling international trade and putting even greater pressure on the Mexican Government and international business interests to do more to curb illegal immigration. When asked how that was received, the Sheriff chuckled and shook his head, indicating that it wasn’t received well. One can only imagine the recoil and kickback from U.S. business interests. In the Covid - 19 economy, it’s not hard to guess that the Governor may not want to risk Texas’ comparatively strong business standing.

County Attorney Brent Smith saves some of his harshest criticism of the Governor for his inability to curb the work of various non-governmental organizations in facilitating illegal immigration. Largely made up of Protestant and Catholic Charities, the organizations are helping distribute illegal aliens throughout the interior of the United States. Most are probably harmless, but what is the level of acceptable risk? Has there been any discussion of what that is? Most illegal aliens dispose of their identification cards before crossing the border— advised to do so by their cartel-connected Coyotes. It makes it easier to overwhelm Border Patrol and other Law Enforcement agencies attempting to process mass amounts of illegal aliens. At one point, the Governor attempted to use the DPS to prevent NGO’s from transporting illegals around the state, but a federal court blocked that.

Talk to journalists and civic leaders in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso, and one gets the impression that the NGO’s are of great service— moving mass numbers of people out of overburdened areas that are unable to feed, house, and clothe them. That may be great for the individual communities and people there— but critics say the efforts by NGO’s only encourage more illegal aliens to come pouring across the border.

Governor Abbot’s discomfort with his own base and other competing interests isn’t the only instance of the Border Crisis creating strange bedfellows. Webb County, where Laredo sits, is one of the few areas in South Texas that Democrats can count on steadily voting blue. For decades, most local elections in Webb County have been decided in the Democratic primaries. Republicans don’t bother to run most of the time, and when they do they tend to take a beating. Now, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina is popping up on conservative news outlets, saying the White House is ghosting him— refusing to even begin talking about what’s to be done as one of the bluest of blue counties in Texas gets battered by illegal immigration.

For those who don’t know, County Judges in Texas are the chief executives of the County— the highest representatives of State Government at the local level. For a Webb County Democrat to pop up on Newsmax.com of all places, represents a seismic shift— a pure expression of frustration.

In other news, Texas Senators have voted in favor of the $2 Billion dollar border security bill. The Texas House has already signed off the bill, it will now go to the Governor for his signature. A number of State Democrats are being quizzed about their support for the bill.

“I have talked to many of my constituents in Cameron and Hidalgo County … and I can tell you the vast majority of those people want border security and want the wall, believe it or not,” State Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. said in the Texas Tribune.

A large portion of the bill will go to pay for a Texas-built border wall. Much of the remainder will presumably go to paying other costs associated with border security, including overtime for DPS troopers and the costs of renovating a trio of state prisons so they’re able to house illegal aliens.