Guard Not on Bush Valentine List
as Gov Reels Off Stats in Defense

Capitol Inside
January 14, 2022

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced on Friday that he's sending Valentine's cards to almost 1,000 veterans in the Lone Star State as Governor Greg Abbott sought to deflect attention from a border law enforcement initiative that's mired in problems with a rehashing of statistics on migrant apprehensions in the past year.

Bush - a GOP candidate for attorney general in the March primary election - said the Veterans Land Board that his office administers has earmarked Valentine's greetings for residents of nine facilities that house former U.S. armed forces members around the state.

A member of the Texas family that produced a pair of presidents and governors in two major states, Bush said nothing about chocolate or flowers in the unveiling of the Cupid Day project that he said is designed "to show these courageous men and women that they are an integral part of our communities" here.

“We are humbled and privileged to provide care to so many of our nation’s heroes," Bush said in an email today. “As we approach Valentine’s Day, I challenge all Texans to take a minute of their time to show their appreciation of these men and women by sending Valentines. I look forward to the success of this effort and the support of communities across Texas.”

The outgoing land chief's showing of love conjured memories of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick encouragement of Texans several years ago to buy police officers pieces of pie when they see them dining in a restaurant.

Bush and Abbott teamed up late last month at a press conference that unveiled the new wall that the governor and the Republicans in Austin have started building on the Rio Grande. But Abbott had higher priorities than shooting arrows at the hearts of former American soldiers.

Abbott's re-election campaign asserted in an email on Friday that 1,776,609 migrants had been arrested at the border that separates Mexico from the United States in Democratic President Joe Biden's first 12 months in office. While the word arrest has criminal connotations, the Republican governor's numbers would be relatively accurate if his camp had used the term apprehensions or encounters instead based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection data that it cited.

The number of immigrants who were detained vaulted 172 percent - according to the federal agency - during the initial six months of the Biden administration starting in February 2021. But the number of immigrant apprehensions peaked at 213,593 in July - and it dropped 23 percent over the course of the next four months based on Southwest Land Border Encounters data that the U.S. Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations has made public without totals yet for December and January.

Abbott had shown little or no concern when illegal border crossing spiked 147 percent during the first five months of 2019 when Republican Donald Trump had been the president. Federal authorities recorded 144,116 apprehensions of people who'd crossed the Rio Grande illegally in May alone that year.

Abbott hatched Operation Lone Star last year with the deployment of thousands of Texas National Guard troops to the border coupled with a surge in Department of Public Safety officers in South Texas. The state police have been focussed on arresting migrants for trespassing while it's unclear exactly what the Guard members have been doing in Operation Lone Star besides assisting the DPS in some case.

The Abbott border initiative appears to be on the brink of collapse now thanks in part to a ruling on Thursday by a state district judge who declared Operation Lone Star to be a violation of the supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution that gives the federal government superceding authority over the states.

Abbott remained silent today on the court decision that stemmed from a trespassing arrest - one of more 800 that have culminated in legal challenges from people who the state kept in detention for the same offense or other minor infractions. The governor made no attempt to defend Operation Lone Star against a scathing publicity on suicides, depression, dismal living conditions and other troubles within the ranks of the Guard members.

Publications that cover the military in the U.S. have cited reports that the Guard troops on the Texas border have had nothing to do and turned to alcohol for killing times. The state has denied the vast majority of hardship requests for Guard members who've asked for permission to return home to families that are struggling to stay financially afloat.

Abbott's camp lays all of the blame on Biden and Democratic gubernatorial contender Beto O\'Rourke to a substantial degree as well for the illegal immigration wave since the current president took over almost a year ago after ousting Trump in the 2020 election.

“The only reason why the Texas National Guard is at the border is due to the feckless leadership of President Biden and Beto O’Rourke,” Abbott communications director Mark Miner said.

Abbott's team didn't mention Operation Lone Star specifically today in the email that's stocked with stats.

more to come ...