Texas Governor Greg Abbott is facing the same dilemma facing law enforcement advocates across the country. He promised a crackdown on border crime several weeks ago, but local Democrat prosecutors and a poorly coordinated response from state officials have thwarted the efforts.
In April 2021, 24 south Texas counties were declared “border disasters.” One thousand state troopers were deployed to the area and prepared the Dilley detention center with a thousand beds to hold the arrested illegal aliens.
However, as of July 23, only 10 illegal aliens were held there. Unfortunately, Texas law enforcement officers can arrest illegal aliens for offenses such as trespassing and criminal mischief, with charges upgraded to require up to a year in jail. Still, prosecutions have been few, particularly in the Democrat-dominated counties.
For example, the three largest counties in the Rio Grande Valley, all Democrat-dominated, have refused to issue disaster declarations. As a result, Democrat County District attorneys in those counties have pursued few cases against illegal aliens.
This situation is like that seen in Democrat-dominated cities, where liberal/leftist elected officials are more interested in “social justice” but undermine the law enforcement with the anti-police policies. For example, in south Texas, the federal Democrats excuse and reward criminal illegal aliens with “catch and release.” Yet, at the same time, the local Democrats fail to prosecute them for state or local crimes.
As for the lack of coordinated response, state officials seem more interested in protecting their agency missions than protecting the counties and citizens under siege. Governor must get the bureaucracies to be more flexible in this crisis.
Unless liberal/leftist Democrats are voted out of local, state, and federal offices, criminals, diseases, and terrorists will continue to cross the border and endanger American and Texas citizens. Therefore, we must secure the border, and all illegal aliens must be deported regardless of age.