Texas governor asks US for ‘bold action’ on migrants

AUSTIN, Texas_Saying immigrants “are once again pouring across our border illegally,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday asked the federal government to assign 250 more Border Patrol agents and five additional radar-mounted blimps to the Texas-Mexico border.tmpplchld Almost 10,000 immigrant families and unaccompanied children were detained across the southern border with Mexico in August, up more than 50 percent from a year ago, Abbott said in a letter to Jeh Johnson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.tmpplchld “This distressing trend continues to threaten our nation’s sovereignty and substantially strains state resources,” Abbott wrote.tmpplchld Although the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended along the border is down 46 percent from 2014, detentions have been growing steadily since the beginning of 2015, the Border Patrol has reported.tmpplchld In addition, the increase in apprehensions during August, a typically quiet time for border activity, has raised fears that another surge in border crossings is imminent, similar to what happened last year, when government and charitable resources were overwhelmed by an unprecedented number of families and minors caught while crossing the state’s southern border.tmpplchld “I ask for your immediate and bold action to prevent this from escalating into an uncontrollable crisis,” Abbott said in his letter to Johnson.tmpplchld The immigration problem, Abbott added, is “compounded by the drug cartels” and gangs that use border crossings as camouflage to bring “drugs, human trafficking, home invasions, kidnapping and other heinous acts to Texas.”tmpplchld Abbott, who made border security a policy priority since taking office in January, earlier this year signed into law an $800 million effort that includes continued deployment of Texas National Guard troops and 250 additional Department of Public Safety troopers along the border.tmpplchld Democrats accused Abbott of exaggerating the safety concerns along the border for political gain.tmpplchld “The letter would have you believe that there’s this assault on the border,” said Democratic Rep. Poncho Nevarez, who lives in the border city of Eagle Pass. “Well, it’s women and children. Do we need to deal with that? Yes. Is it the federal government’s job? Yes.”tmpplchld Abbott’s letter, however, seemed designed to foment the same type of hysteria that prompted $800 million in unnecessary border-security spending, he said.tmpplchld “He knows better,” Nevarez said of Abbott. “The border is not a violent place. These are some of the safest communities not just in Texas, but in the U.S.”tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Austin American-Statesman, Texastmpplchld Visit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld