Summer Sale: ONLY 25¢! |
Fire from Castro
It has become abundantly clear over these last 6 weeks that U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro is emerging as a consistent voice in countering Gov. Greg Abbott and his Operation Lone Star program at the border.
The San Antonio Democrat organized members of Congress to pressure the Biden Administration to respond more forcefully against Abbott, led a delegation to Eagle Pass to investigate Abbott's floating buoys barrier and razor wire on the Rio Grande, and went toe-to-toe with the Texas Department of Public Safety officials in meetings over our reporting about children being pushed back into the river.
After DPS officials told Castro and other members of Congress they were investigating those claims, Castro interjected: "Tell those guys if we find out that people were putting kids back in the water, we're going to encourage the Department of Justice to charge them with murder. Or attempted murder."
Castro's fire has rallied a lot of support in Congress for an issue that typically splinters Democrats. He has members of more liberal Squad, plus more moderate Democrats like U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, all signing onto his efforts to pressure the White House to join the fight. And the White House is listening. They've since sued the Abbott administration over the buoys, and Vice President Kamala Harris has publicly joined the fray by chastizing the "un-American" treatment of people at the border.
Castro has always been engaged on immigration issues, but he gave a hint in Eagle Pass earlier this week why it might be coming off a little stronger. In 1922, his grandmother first crossed into the U.S. in Eagle Pass as a 6 or 7-year-old orphan after both her parents had died.
"When I read about the bodies of children floating in the Rio Grande, it's hard not to think about the cruelty that might have awaited my grandmother were she to try to cross today," Castro said.
 | Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter |
Who's up, who's down
Up: Armed School Administrators.
The Texas Legislature passed new laws requiring all school districts to have armed security at every school now. But Scott Huddleston reports that because of a statewide police shortage and a lack of sufficient funding from the state, some districts are struggling to meet that requirement. Several districts are now trying to have school employees go through a school-safety training program from a qualified handgun instructor under the state's "guardian" model to comply with the law.
Down: Pipeline companies.
Chris Tomlinson reports on a lawsuit that has an energy expert alleging pipeline operators deliberately manipulated natural gas supplies in advance of the 2021 deadly winter storms to drive up profits. But when they did so, they accidentally triggered the blackouts that left millions of Texas without power in frigid temperatures.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
What else is going on in Texas
|
|
|
|
Pick of the day
Photo by: Nadya Hassan
We're back for another episode of the Texas Take podcast. Scott Braddock and I will have exclusive audio from Joaquin Castro's back and forth with DPS officials and the latest on the legal troubles for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.
What else I'm reading
The Texas Tribune reports on how a prison guard says she was forced to stay at her post during her labor pains. When she finally was allowed to leave, she drove herself to a nearby hospital, where doctors rushed her into emergency surgery after being unable to find a fetal heartbeat. The baby was delivered stillborn. Reporter Jolie McCullough details the resulting lawsuit and its broader implications.
|
Unsubscribe | Manage Preferences | Privacy Notice
Houston Chronicle
4747 Southwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77027
© 2023 Hearst Communications
No comments:
Post a Comment