Abbott Must Decide Whether He Will Back
the Blue in Texas or Florida Gov DeSantis

Capitol Inside
September 19, 2022

Governor Greg Abbott finds himself in a precarious position in light of a criminal probe that Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar launched on Monday night into a scheme that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has taken credit for hatching with migrants flown from Texas to an island off the coast of Massachusetts last week.

Salazar, who's a Democrat, is looking into allegations by immigration attorneys who represent four dozen migrants who say they were duped into boarding planes amid promises of jobs and other benefits that failed to materialize after they were dropped off in Martha's Vineyard and abandoned there.

"I have officially opened a criminal investigation against the individual(s) who lured and transported 48 migrants from the Migrant Resource Center in San Antonio, TX to Martha's Vineyard," Salazar tweeted tonight. "If you or someone you know has been impacted, please email bcsotips@bexar.org."

DeSantis - the consensus choice among Republicans for the presidential nomination in 2024 if Donald Trump doesn't run - made fun of California Governor Gavin Newsom's hair after he called for a Department of Justice inquiry into the migrant flights into the island resort in Massachusetts. DeSantis will have to reach into his bag of bald jokes if he hopes to insult Salazar in the same personal fashion in the wake of his announcement on the alleged migrant hustle in the Alamo City.

But Abbott may be squirming as a consequence of the way the law enforcement investigation into a potential rival in the presidential competition in 2024 will reflect on him as the true father of migrant transportation to sanctuary cities as the most radioactive feature of his controversial border mission Operation Lone Star.

Abbott faces some critical decision in light of the Bexar sheriff's intervention in the DeSantis copycat plan. The Texas investigation for example will give the governor an opportunity to show if he's really serious about his campaign slogan "Back the Blue" or simply blowing smoke.

But Abbott's office gave the DeSantis initiative a meager endorsement last week even though he'd been left out of the decision that culminated in the con job that's under the official scrutiny of the top elected law enforcement official in the second largest city that the Texas governor represents.

If Abbott really thinks he can compete with DeSantis in a fight for the top spot on the next GOP national ticket, would he condemn the governor from Florida in the event of evidence that prompted an indictment for fraudulent behavior here in the Lone Star State.

more to come ...