Greg Abbott Claims Murder Charges Are the Sole Obstacle for Texas in Shooting Migrants - Vanity Fair

Written By Bess Levin

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has an appalling history in terms of his immigration policies. This includes actions like dispatching over 100 immigrants to freezing DC on Christmas Eve and implementing a "hold-the-line" strategy at the border, potentially leading to increased incidences of drowning. Despite this, he still insists that he deserves recognition for not permitting local authorities to shoot immigrants crossing into Texas, motivated by a desire to avoid accusations of murder.

Abbott made this statement on The Dana Show just last week: "We are using all possible methods, from constructing a border wall to establishing border barriers, and passing a law that I signed leading to another lawsuit by the Biden administration where I signed a law making it a crime for anyone to enter Texas from another country.... The sole thing we have refrained from doing is shooting people who cross the border because, of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder.”

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As expected, Abbott's comments have been met with significant backlash. “Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans have repeated shown they lack morality or humanity,” stated Gilberto Hinojosa, the Texas Democratic Party chair. Additionally, Representative Veronica Escobar posted on X: “It's astonishing that I have to clarify 'murdering people is unacceptable.' @GregAbbott_TX. Your sort of language led to 23 deaths and 22 injuries in El Paso.” (This statement references the 2019 El Paso mass shooting which saw 23 fatalities and was carried out by a gunman who denounced a “Hispanic invasion.” On the previous day, Abbott's campaign had warned of a "plan to transform Texas—and our entire country—through illegal immigration" in a fundraising mailer.)

During the same interview, Abbott justified his decision of deploying razor wire barriers on the border, which the Biden administration is trying to get the Supreme Court's approval to remove. “Has America ever seen a president trying to hinder a state from ensuring its own safety?” he queried. “We placed this razor wire, covering hundreds of miles, which effectively deterred and kept migrants from entering Texas. And because it worked so well, Biden instructed the Border Patrol to either cut it or remove it.”