Fogbow

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday announced plans to build an 80-acre base to house up to 1,800 Texas National Guard members near Eagle Pass – the border city at the center of a contentious feud between the state and Biden administration over federal immigration policy.

“Before now, the Texas National Guard had been scattered across this entire region in cramped quarters, away from fellow soldiers and sometimes traveling long distances to do their job,” Abbott said during a news conference while flanked by a banner that read “Future Home of the Texas Military Department, Forward Operating Base.”

The base camp, which Abbott said would “dramatically improve conditions” for soldiers, will have the ability to expand to incorporate up to 2,300 personnel, the governor said.

Abbott, who was accompanied by the state’s border czar, Mike Banks, and Texas military department Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer, said the cost of base construction would be “minimal.” He cited savings from housing guard members for Operation Lone Star at the base rather than in hotel rooms, where many guard members are currently housed. The cost for the construction of the new base was not given during the news conference.

The camp is set to feature a dining facility, a recreation center, laundry facilities, individual rooms for troops and health care facilities, a statement from Abbott’s office says.

Judge blocks Texas law allowing police to arrest people suspected of illegally entering US
Ruling is a win for the Biden administration in its feud with the state’s Republican governor over immigration enforcement

Associated Press
Thu 29 Feb 2024 18.49 CET

A federal judge on Thursday blocked a new Texas law that gives police broad powers to arrest people suspected of illegally entering the US, dealing a victory to the Biden administration in its feud with the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, over immigration enforcement.

The preliminary injunction granted by US district judge David Ezra pauses a law that was set to take effect 5 March and came as Joe Biden and his likely Republican challenger in November, Donald Trump, were visiting Texas’s southern border to discuss immigration. Texas officials are expected to appeal.

Opponents have called the Texas measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law that opponents rebuked as a “Show Me Your Papers” bill. The US supreme court partially struck down the Arizona law, but some Texas Republican leaders want that ruling to get a second look.

Ezra cited the constitution’s supremacy clause and US supreme court decisions as factors that contributed to his ruling. He said the Texas law would conflict with federal immigration law, and the nation’s foreign relations and treaty obligations.

Ezra wrote in his decision that allowing Texas to “permanently supersede federal directives” due to an invasion would “amount to nullification of federal law and authority – a notion that is antithetical to the Constitution and has been unequivocally rejected by federal courts since the Civil War”.

The lawsuit is among several legal battles between Texas and Biden’s administration over how far the state can go to try to prevent people from crossing the border.

The measure would allow state law enforcement officers to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, they could agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the country or face a misdemeanor charge for entering the US illegally. People who don’t leave after being ordered to do so could be arrested again and charged with a more serious felony.

At a 15 February hearing, Ezra expressed skepticism as the state pleaded its case for what is known as Senate Bill 4. He also said he was somewhat sympathetic to the concerns expressed by Abbott and other state officials about the large number of illegal crossings.

Ezra, who was appointed by former president Ronald Reagan, said he feared the US could become a confederation of states enforcing their own immigration laws. “That is the same thing the civil war said you can’t do,” Ezra told the attorneys.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... l-crossing

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has suspended certain laws and regulations to aid the ongoing statewide response to massive wildfires that broke out earlier this week and have since ripped across a vast swathe of land.

Late on Thursday night, the governor's office announced that Abbott had granted temporary waivers to some environmental, motoring and public safety measures to ease the work of emergency responders tasked with dealing with the blazes.



His waivers include environmental quality legislation concerning the disposal of animal carcasses, vehicle registration permits including those traveling interstate, and rules concerning additional working hours for emergency responders.

Officials cautioned that the suspensions were limited to the duration of the disaster and restricted to the counties listed in the disaster declaration, and that the waivers were only to be used in the service of the response and recovery efforts.

Despite recent rainfall, the situation could yet worsen as dry, windy conditions return. Abbott's office warned: "Over the course of the next several days, the potential for wildfire activity will increase for the Plains."

Around 80 musicians and panelists have pulled out of the prestigious South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas and Governor Greg Abbott has told them not step foot in his state again.

They are leaving SXSW over its relationship with the U.S. Army and major defense companies.

More than 300,000 people attend the event every year, bringing an economic boon to Texas and this year has included panelists such as Meghan Markle and Selena Gomez. The 2024 festival is running from March 8 to 16 and is an internationally recognized event that showcases music, film and interactive media. It is often seen as an important launching pad for many who perform or speak there.

But due to the Army's sponsorship of the SXSW and the U.S. government's ongoing support of Israel in its military bombardment of Gaza, many artists are boycotting, including the entire Irish contingent.

Greg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX wrote: Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship.

Bye. Don’t come back.

Austin remains the HQ for the Army Futures Command.

San Antonio is Military City USA.

We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas.

If you don’t like it, don’t come here.

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/4 ... -gaza-war/

Rolodex wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:53 pm Time to buy stock in some VPN companies.

(How do you block people in a particular geographic location?)

Rolodex wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:53 pm Time to buy stock in some VPN companies.

(How do you block people in a particular geographic location?)

Greg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX wrote: We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas.

Ben-Prime wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 7:55 am

Rolodex wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:53 pm Time to buy stock in some VPN companies.

(How do you block people in a particular geographic location?)

The best part is that this is really only hurting the people stupid enough to surf porn without having or knowing how to use a VPN ... so, basically, the Abbott-Trump base.

Texas governor predicted donations would pay for busing migrants out of state. He’s collected less than 1% of that cost

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott boasted shortly after he began soliciting private donations for his controversial migrant busing program that there would likely “be no cost to the state” given the outpouring of support from concerned citizens across the country.

But after nearly two years of fundraising to offset the program’s costs, Abbott’s operation has collected less than half of 1% of the roughly $150 million spent on busing migrants to sanctuary cities, according to a review of state records. And CNN found that the largest donation – $900,000 – never made it into the state’s coffers, either because it was a mistake or a prank.

Records show that at most, around $550,000 has been raised to date.

CNN obtained a list of donors supporting migrant busing. The numbers don't add up

Rolodex wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 12:20 pm

Ben-Prime wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 7:55 am

Rolodex wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:53 pm Time to buy stock in some VPN companies.

(How do you block people in a particular geographic location?)

The best part is that this is really only hurting the people stupid enough to surf porn without having or knowing how to use a VPN ... so, basically, the Abbott-Trump base.

I'm past the age of qualifying for Medicare and I have to say a lot of my peers give me a blank stare when I ask which VPN they use. I explain what it is and I get back "Oh I don't need all that." My guess is that they are not on porn hub but still. OTOH my 24 year old isn't familiar with them either. I don't have any sites or search history I'm remotely concerned about other knowing about; my concerns are more about identity theft and financial concerns.

New hearing on Texas migrant law after appeals court freezes enforcement
Supreme court had earlier allowed strict law to take effect, letting state police arrest those suspected of crossing border illegally

Guardian staff and agency
Wed 20 Mar 2024 13.13 CET

A three-judge appeals panel will hear arguments on Wednesday in the power struggle between Texas and the federal government following a shock reversal that once again blocked a new state law allowing local police to arrest migrants at the border – just hours after the US supreme court had decided it could go ahead.

A federal appeals court late on Tuesday issued an order preventing Texas from implementing its plans to defy the Department of Justice and take the power for Texas law enforcement to arrest people suspected of entering the US illegally, which is normally the jurisdiction of the federal immigration authorities.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... f-migrants

Volkonski wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 3:47 pm We have plenty of alligators in Texas. If the upper Rio Grande was a good environment for alligators they would already be there.

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 5:59 pm Sanctuary city doesn't mean what the right wants everyone to think it means.

Rolodex wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:28 pm

Volkonski wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 3:47 pm We have plenty of alligators in Texas. If the upper Rio Grande was a good environment for alligators they would already be there.

Right? But these people are like the folks on NextDoor whose solution to every unusual activity is "lock and load." So many people so eager to kill someone.

Volkonski wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 3:47 pm We have plenty of alligators in Texas. If the upper Rio Grande was a good environment for alligators they would already be there.

Greg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX wrote: Catholic Nun sharing the truth.

Calls Biden inept and evil.

Says it would be an act of God to elect Trump.

Says voting should be limited to citizens.