Greg Abbott Rebuked by Texas Newspaper for 'Dangerous and Reckless' Remarks

A Texas newspaper's editorial board has rebuked Governor Greg Abbott over his "dangerous and reckless" rhetoric about the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Dallas Morning News' Thursday op-ed said Abbott's "tone-deaf words" about going to great lengths to apprehend migrants are partly to blame for the confusion surrounding the recent drowning of three migrants near Eagle Pass, Texas. The editorial board said that while Border Patrol officials have contributed to eroding public trust in the way that the border crisis is being handled, "the shame is not limited to the way federal officials have acted."

"Abbott's dangerous and reckless rhetoric prior to the drownings only served to undermine trust in the state's military department—trust that was sorely needed when the federal accusation came," the op-ed said.

Newsweek reached out to Abbott's office via email for comment.

Last Friday night, a woman and two children from Mexico drowned on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande just days after Abbott directed state troopers to block federal agents from accessing 2.5 miles of the southern border in a center of the migrant crisis, Eagle Pass. The federal government has raised questions about whether the tragedy's timing suggests that the lack of access played a role in the drowning.

The Dallas Morning News' editorial board pointed out that the events unfolded several days after Abbott's wide-ranging interview with far-right radio host Dana Loesch recirculated on social media. During the January 5 interview, Abbott said that the only thing Texas officials weren't doing was "shooting people who come across the border because, of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder."

The op-ed said, "Abbott should know better: He is the governor and he is always talking to all Texans, not just playing to the tough talk crowd that listens to Loesch. His tone-deaf words reflect a callousness inappropriate to his office."

It continued, "What's more, they undermine the very denials that his own military department was forced to make in the face of the false accusation. If Abbott, the leader of the Texas military, is willing to suggest that shooting migrants would be acceptable, why shouldn't someone believe letting them drown is too?"

The board said that while it had supported Abbott's Operation Lone Star and the need for physical barriers to address the border crisis, it expected more from the governor and reiterated its calls for Texas' law enforcement actions to be subject to scrutiny.

"We need our elected officials to do their jobs well, from Abbott curbing his rhetoric to federal authorities making certain their statements are true," the board said. "Trust was lost here on both sides. And no one is better for it."

The standoff in Eagle Pass has escalated already heightened tensions between Abbott and the federal government. The governor has increasingly exercised more and more authority as the number of migrants crossing the border has remained at record-high levels, arguing that the state had no choice given the Biden administration's inaction on the crisis.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, has portrayed Abbott's actions as inhumane. As part of the Justice Department's ongoing legal battle with Texas, the government submitted on Monday a Supreme Court filing revealing more details about what unfolded during the drowning and casting doubt on the state's account of the tragedy.

According to the filing, Mexican officials confirmed to the Border Patrol on Saturday that they had recovered three drowned bodies and rescued an additional four migrants that night. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the deaths and said that its agents were stopped from assisting at the border.

"It is impossible to say what might have happened if Border Patrol had had its former access to the area—including through its surveillance trucks that assisted in monitoring the area," Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote.

"At the very least, however, Border Patrol would have had the opportunity to take any available steps to fulfill its responsibilities and assist its counterparts in the Mexican government with undertaking the rescue mission. Texas made that impossible," Prelogar said.

The Texas Military Department (TMD) has disputed the federal accusations, saying that its security personnel did not observe any distressed migrants and did not turn back any migrants during the incident.

"Also, at no point was TMD made aware of any bodies in the area of Shelby Park, nor was TMD made aware of any bodies being discovered on the U.S. side of the border regarding this situation," the department said.