San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg did not hold back in criticizing Texas Governor Greg Abbott's handling of the migrant crisis at the border. During a recent interview with NBC, he called Abbott's policies racist and xenophobic, particularly Senate Bill 4, which allows an officer to arrest anyone suspected of illegally entering the state from Mexico.
It's Abbott's version of “stop and frisk.” The “suspicion” usually begins with the color of the skin.
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LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports, and living life in America.
“We know it's an open door to racial discrimination,” Nirenberg said. He noted that his city has managed to process 600,000 migrants since 2021 without resorting to such dehumanizing policies.
That's because Nirenberg is not the kind of Texan who would refer to the victims of a mass shooting as “illegal immigrants,” as Abbott did less than a year ago. He would not include water breaks for construction workers as part of his immigration policy, as Abbott did. And Nirenberg certainly wouldn't regret not being able to shoot migrants seeking refuge. Or having the state National Guard prevent Border Patrol agents from helping migrants drowning in the Rio Grande. (The Supreme Court ended that effort on Monday and ruled that the state must allow the feds to patrol.)
A mother and her two children recently lost their lives trying to enter the United States near the border town of Eagle Pass, which is about three hours south of San Antonio. Their deaths sparked a new round of criticism of Abbott's immigration policies (including Nirenberg's), but I doubt he cares.
Abbott was the first governor to weaponize immigrants by busing them to other states. He was the governor who spent three hours at a fundraiser the night of the Uvalde shooting. He was the governor who did not attend any funeral of any of the 21 Uvalde victims, some as young as 9 years old.
Why would you care about the people who died near Eagle Pass, when selflessness has won you the election? Which brings us here: who votes for someone as cruel as Abbott?
The short answer is: most Texas voters, because he has been in office since 2015. The economy is strong and the cost of living is relatively low. Most importantly, the same traits that make him famous throughout blue America keep him in power here in the Lone Star State.
Now, if the term “racism” comes to mind, you are not entirely wrong.
But that's not the whole story. And that's where progressives tend to go wrong.
Abbott has a sense of urgency about the immigration crisis felt by impartial Texans that cannot be underestimated. Of course, much of this is political theater. But it was a very good show. President Biden has added to the drama with his conspicuous absence.
“Where is?” asked Eagle Pass native Homer Squiveli. “Biden needs to see what is happening here in Texas.
“I'm not saying he doesn't care. What I'm saying is that she needs to act like she's more important than what we've seen.”
The 27-year-old works near the park where the mother and children drowned trying to reach the United States. Like many of the people I spoke to in the city's business district this week, he expresses a lot of empathy for those living in such desperate conditions. who risk their lives to escape.
That reflects an awareness that is woven into the fabric of this city of 28,000 residents. Several churches near that site, Shelby Park, offer services to newly arrived needy families. There are as many law firms in the area as there are places to eat. Locals talk about the familiar sound of low-flying helicopters patrolling the skies at night.
Still, the number of immigrants is unprecedented, and that brings unease even among some empathetic locals.
As much as Squiveli said he cares, he also reports hearing from family and friends about an increase in crime in the area. She said that in a supermarket parking lot, immigrants approached her sister near her car asking for money. She said her mother's neighbor was robbed.
And the weapon he carries is visible. But that doesn't mean he supports what Abbott is doing.
“I think what the governor is doing is inhumane,” he said. “We welcome people here all the time. As long as you don't mess with people or their things, everything is fine.”
What's not entirely good for him is the lack of scrutiny in terms of who can get in, which is why, despite not liking what Abbott is doing, he said the governor “has to try to do something.” That's a sentiment I also heard recently from other people in Eagle Pass.
In my experience living in Texas and Arizona, what keeps cruel conservatives like Abbott in office is not just prejudice. It also seems to solve an important problem that many left-wing politicians do not consider essential to their platforms. When border cities like Eagle Pass and El Paso face a surge of migrants, residents appreciate a politician who seems to take it seriously, even if they don't agree with the way he's handling it.
The approval of SB4 has generated a lawsuit from the Department of Justice stating that “states cannot adopt immigration laws that interfere with the framework enacted by Congress.” Of course, Texas' fight against the Biden administration in court began in 2020, when the Texas attorney general sued to have the election results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin overturned. The Supreme Court dismissed that frivolous lawsuit.
“I really don't like how cruel the governor is being,” a store employee in Eagle Pass told me. “It's like I keep forgetting that there are desperate people coming to us for help.”
And yet…
“Something has to be done,” he said. “I live a little far away and it can be scary not knowing if there are people out there, you know?”
And these concerns keep Abbott in office. It doesn't matter whether his attempts are constitutional or cruel. This month he announced that more than 100,000 immigrants had been relocated to other states, in “sanctuary cities.” That's no kind of solution to our broken immigration system, but for many voters in Texas, it's better than nothing.
