ICYMI: TEXAS TRIBUNE ON BETO’S BORDER WOES
“Texas Democrats, though, cannot even agree there is a problem on the border — and if there is, the extent of it.” – Texas Tribune
Beto O’Rourke Carefully Threads Needle On Border Policy As Democrats Grapple With The Issue
By James Barragán And Patrick Svitek
Texas Tribune
April 18, 2022
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Beto O’Rourke had called for an end to Title 42 for months.
He said the emergency health order from the federal government, which allows officials to turn away migrants at the border to control spread of COVID-19, was ineffective and has led to mass repeat crossings which overwhelm an already overworked Border Patrol staff.
But earlier this week, O’Rourke raised some eyebrows. He called on the White House not to end the health order until it had laid out a plan to help border communities deal with the increase of migrants expected after its end in May.
O’Rourke’s comment confused and confounded some immigrant advocates who are typically on his side.
“[Beto O’Rourke], buddy, Border Patrol processed 10,000 Ukrainians in a week!” tweeted RAICES, the Texas nonprofit that provides immigration legal services. “Should they have waited in Mexico while you try and figure out a plan for them?”
Mario Carrillo, the campaigns manager for the progressive pro-immigration group America’s Voice, said it sounded like O’Rourke wanted to keep Title 42 in place.
“If his position is that we should eliminate Title 42 — and he has expressed that before … we certainly support him in that,” Carrillo said. “I think it’s important that Democrats are clear on the fact that Title 42 has not worked and it, in fact, has led to more chaos.”
O’Rourke has since clarified that he firmly supports ending the pandemic-era health order, even as his opponents have cast him as a flip-flopper. But the responses to his position illustrate the challenge O’Rourke faces as he tries to take on the issues of border security and immigration, which have taken center stage throughout his run for Texas governor.
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Republicans scoff at the idea that O’Rourke can gain anything politically from the border in the current environment. Those Republicans include former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd of Helotes, a moderate who went on a famous road trip with O’Rourke in 2017. When he was in Congress, Hurd represented a district that covered hundreds of miles of Texas-Mexico border.
Hurd flatly said no Tuesday when asked after an appearance in San Antonio whether Abbott was giving O’Rourke an opening to compete on border issues due to some of Abbott’s policies.
“The Republicans are going to have near — if not record — turnout in Latino communities because Democrats have been absolutely idiotic when it comes to border security,” Hurd said.
Hurd said that after the midterms, Republicans could control as many as four out of the five congressional seats on the Texas-Mexico border. One of them is already held by a Republican, Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio, while national Republicans are targeting three more in November.
“It’s unprecedented,” Hurd said, “and so no Democratic official at any level in this next cycle is going to be able to use the issue of border security in their favor.”
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Some South Texas Democrats, like U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, had urged Biden to keep Title 42 in place. State Rep. Eddie Morales of Eagle Pass — a Democrat who represents the largest stretch of the border in the House — also opposes the end of Title 42.
In the top Democratic primary runoff this May in South Texas — for the 15th Congressional District — the candidates disagree on Title 42. Michelle Vallejo has advocated against it, while Ruben Ramirez has said it is “premature” to end it.
O’Rourke has emphasized he is listening to local leaders when it comes to border issues. But what about the South Texas Democrats who disagree with him on Title 42?
“I’m reaching out to them,” O’Rourke said in a recent interview, naming Morales as one of the people he was talking to. “Even though he and I are both from border communities, there’s a lot I can learn from him about Eagle Pass and about Del Rio … and we may not agree on every given policy proposal, but we both agree that we want to see border rule of law, people who come to this country following our laws and then we would love to see the country take the lead in rewriting our laws” on immigration.
Texas Democrats, though, cannot even agree there is a problem on the border — and if there is, the extent of it.
“There was no ‘border crisis’ until Governor Abbott went and created one himself,” state Rep. Erin Zwiener of Dripping Springs said in a tweet Thursday that was later deleted.
Ramirez, the congressional candidate, told a local media outlet that “we have an immigration crisis and we need to be honest with ourselves and call it what it is.”
O’Rourke himself has avoided labeling the situation a “crisis” and has said National Guard troops are being sent to address “a solution in search of a problem.” Abbott’s campaign has highlighted that comment in near-daily news releases this month under the headline, “Beto’s Big Border Denial.”
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Original source can be found here.
