Civil Rights Group Calls for Probe on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Transport Migrant Policy

Civil rights group American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is calling for a probe on Texas Governor Greg Abbott's transport migrant policy. Abbott had signed an executive order allowing troopers to deliver migrants back to the border ports of entry.

Texas Tribune reported that Abbott authorized the practice in a July 7 executive order. But did not detail how migrants would be transported and under what authority they will be detained.

Local law enforcement authorities have previously turned over immigrants in their custody. They have traditionally held migrants at the location where the immigrants already were, such as jail or detention center.

The civil rights group also called on the federal government to stop taking migrants transported by state authorities into their custody.

ACLU staff attorneys wrote in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties that the department should decline to take custody of individuals under the said circumstances.

The letter added that it should stop the Texas state and local officials from detaining individuals pursuant to Abbott's executive order.

Civil Group ACLU on Texas' Migrant Policy

The ACLU alleged that Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) agents were overstepping their legal authority by detaining and transferring migrants to DHS custody and its Customs and Border Protection agency.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the letter asks the DHS to take "swift action" to reject migrant transfers.

Representatives of DPS in Austin had yet to comment on the matter.

The complaint letter of the ACLU said Texas DPS agents are not "bound by those same standards in their day-to-day operations."

Immigrant rights advocates noted that Greg Abbott could be preparing for another court battle that would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 2012.

It was a ruling that placed restrictions on states in immigration enforcement. Kathryn Huddleston, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Texas, noted that the Texas DPS agents do not have the authority to engage in immigration enforcement.

Huddleston added that the agents do not have standards for holding people.

Greg Abbott's Transport Migrant Policy

Texas has been sending charter buses full of migrants and refugees to Washington, D.C.'s Union Station.

The governor of Arizona has been doing the same practice since May when it comes to busing migrants, NPR reported.

Greg Abbott said he started sending buses to D.C. as the Biden administration tried to lift the pandemic-era emergency Title 42 order that allowed authorities to deny migrants entry.

Abbott's office noted that 6,100 migrants from Texas had already been bused to D.C. The Republican governor has also started sending buses to New York City.

Abbott wrote in a statement that New York City is "the ideal destination for these migrants," adding that they can receive a lot of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted.

The Washington Post reported that Adams greeted a group of migrants who arrived from Texas on Sunday.

He then lambasted Abbott for sending migrants from the border to the city. Adams accused Abbott of using innocent people as "political pawns to manufacture a crisis."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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