Category Archives: La Migra

Treasury Department opens investigation into Abbott’s use of federal funds for border mission

Good, though I have a hard time believing there will be any real consequences. Gov. Greg Abbott’s use of COVID-19 relief dollars to support his border security mission has come under scrutiny in Washington this week as questions grow about … Continue reading

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Federal lawsuit filed over Abbott’s border arrest fiasco

Meant to post this last week. Three private defense attorneys, representing 15 migrant men arrested under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border operation, have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to end the governor’s policy of arresting migrants on criminal trespass charges, which … Continue reading

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Abbott sees another opportunity to hurt children

He is definitely making this a habit. Gov. Greg Abbott wants to “resurrect” a court challenge over a 1975 Texas law withholding state funds from school districts for kids who were not “legally admitted” into the United States. That law … Continue reading

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A roundup of border and lawsuit stories

Too much news, not enough time… New federal lawsuit seeks to halt Texas’ border trespassing arrests, give more than $5 million to illegally detained migrants. In a new challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial border security crackdown, a lawsuit filed … Continue reading

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Looks like Texas didn’t even have to sue to keep Title 42 from ending

A different Trump judge already put it in the bag for them. A federal judge in Louisiana plans to temporarily block the Biden administration from ending Title 42, a pandemic-era health order used by federal immigration officials to expel migrants, … Continue reading

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Texas sues to stop the end of Title 42

Just another day at the office of destruction for Ken Paxton. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Friday to halt the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from lifting Title 42, a pandemic-era … Continue reading

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Abbott’s migrant roundup order still blocked

Good. A federal judge in El Paso on Friday extended her order blocking Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to state troopers to pull over drivers transporting migrants “who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19.” U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone lengthened her … Continue reading

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Another lawsuit filed against Abbott’s migrant transport order

Bring them on. Immigrant rights groups backed by the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott over his executive order restricting the transportation of migrants, claiming it goes against federal law and amounts to racial profiling at the … Continue reading

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Judge halts Abbott’s “pull over migrants” executive order

For now, anyway. A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Texas from ordering state troopers to pull over drivers transporting migrants “who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19.” U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone granted … Continue reading

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Justice Department sues over Abbott’s anti-migrant executive order

Good. The Biden administration sued Texas on Friday, asking a federal judge to block Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that state troopers pull over drivers transporting migrants who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19 as a way to prevent the spread … Continue reading

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The DACA ruling

Ugh. A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that allows certain immigrants to temporarily avoid deportation and receive renewable work permits, is illegal and ordered the Biden administration to stop granting new … Continue reading

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P Bush files a Paxton-style lawsuit

What a wannabe. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, claiming the president is illegally preventing the construction of a wall on the Texas-Mexico border. Bush announced the lawsuit Wednesday, saying his office … Continue reading

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You can’t use that money for your stupid wall

So say Democratic members of Congress from Texas, and they’re asking the Treasury Department to back them up. Texas Democrats in Congress are irate that Gov. Greg Abbott can divert federal funds intended for COVID-19 relief to build a border … Continue reading

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ACLU warns counties to stay away from the Abbott wall

From the inbox: The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas sent letters today to 34 counties informing top officials that implementing Gov. Greg Abbott’s unlawful plan to engage in immigration enforcement would violate the U.S. Constitution. The letters, sent to … Continue reading

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We do agree that “Greg Abbott” and “disaster” go together well

I just have one question about this. Over the past year, Gov. Greg Abbott has issued disaster declarations across the state for a number of tragedies: the coronavirus pandemic that killed more than 50,000 Texans, a winter storm that left … Continue reading

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It’s just the next GoFundMe for “border security”, with more grifting and human rights abuses

Have I made my opinion sufficiently clear, or do I need to spell it out for you? Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said Texas will spend $250 million to begin building a wall along the Mexico border, picking up … Continue reading

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Abbott’s border wall

I have many questions about this, but for this post I will limit myself to three. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that Texas will build a border wall along the state’s boundary with Mexico — but provided no details on … Continue reading

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How about we sue you for a change?

The state of Texas has sued the federal government more times than I can count in recent years. There may be examples of the reverse happening, but offhand I can’t think of any. As such, this may be a first. … Continue reading

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Sheriff Gonzalez nominated to lead ICE

Wow. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will nominate Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a vocal skeptic of cooperating with federal immigration authorities in certain circumstances, to serve as director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As head of … Continue reading

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Deportation freeze still on hold

Grrrrrrrr. A federal judge in Texas has put an indefinite halt to President Joe Biden’s 100-day ban on deportations after issuing a preliminary injunction late Tuesday. The ruling by Judge Drew Tipton comes after he had already temporarily paused the … Continue reading

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Deportation pause still on hold

Another pause for the pause, which is as dumb and annoying as it sounds. A federal judge in Texas has extended the block on President Joe Biden’s deportation moratorium for two more weeks as the case continues to play out … Continue reading

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Federal judge blocks the deportation pause

Infuriating, but possibly less than it appears. A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the Biden administration from moving forward with a 100-day pause on many deportations across the US, saying Tuesday that it was not adequately reasoned or explained … Continue reading

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Paxton sues over deportation pause

That didn’t take long. Three days into the Biden administration, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed his first lawsuit against the federal government. The lawsuit seeks an halt to one of the president’s executive actions on immigration, a 100-day … Continue reading

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If we finally get immigration reform…

It would have a big effect in Texas, for obvious reasons. Just after being sworn in on Wednesday, President-elect Joe Biden plans to propose a major immigration overhaul that would offer a pathway to citizenship to up to 1.7 million … Continue reading

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More heat on Abbott over his anti-refugee action

Good. Keep it up. “This is not a Democrat versus Republican issue. It’s not an immigrant versus native-born issue … it is not a religious versus secular issue,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo during a press conference with elected … Continue reading

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Bishops condemn Abbott’s refugee refusal

Good. Texas’ Catholic bishops issued a sharp rebuke of Gov. Greg Abbott, a fellow Catholic, following his decision Friday to ban refugees from initially settling in Texas. In a joint statement by the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, which includes … Continue reading

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Abbott opts out of accepting refugees

Sadly, not a surprise. Gov. Greg Abbott informed the U.S. State Department that Texas will not participate in the refugee resettlement program this fiscal year. The decision comes after more than 40 other governors, including several Republicans, said they would … Continue reading

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Abbott and refugees

The moral choice is clear. It’s also clear for a variety of other reasons. I don’t expect Greg Abbott to make it, because he’s Greg Abbott. For years, more refugees have resettled in Houston and Texas than any other city … Continue reading

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The local response (so far) to the ICE raids

This is good. Houston’s top elected and law-enforcement officials sharply criticized federal authorities’ plans to arrest large numbers of immigrant families living without legal permission in major U.S. cities, contending that the raids targeting groups of recent arrivals would harm … Continue reading

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We need a coordinated strategy to fight these immoral immigration raids

I feel such despair about this. Federal authorities are expected to try to arrest thousands of immigrant families in at least 10 cities, including Houston, beginning as early as Sunday, rattling communities across the country who faced a similar scare … Continue reading

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“I’m haunted by their eyes”

We should all be haunted, and outraged, by this. Immigrants held in a McAllen-area U.S. Customs and Border Patrol processing center for migrants — the largest such center in America — are living in overcrowded spaces and sometimes are forced … Continue reading

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Paxton asks for summary judgement to end DACA

Not much coverage of this, and I’m not sure what that means. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday asked a federal judge to strike down Obama-era deportation protections for immigrants whose parents brought them to the United States illegally … Continue reading

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What if he does it anyway?

That’s my question. Gov. Greg Abbott, the state’s two Republican U.S. senators and a bipartisan group of 20 U.S. House members released a letter stating their staunch opposition to raiding Texas’ hard-fought Harvey money. “Recent reports have indicated that your … Continue reading

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It’s always possible to make a border wall proposal stupider

Here’s Exhibit A. An emergency Trump administration plan to tap storm protection funds to pay for a border wall was slammed Friday by Houston lawmakers who said it could endanger the city’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey and jeopardize the region’s … Continue reading

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