In Operation Lone Star, the cruelty is the point
For Immediate Release: August 3, 2023
EAGLE PASS, TEXAS – Today, the Dallas Morning News reported that two people, including a Honduran child, have been found dead near the buoy barrier Greg Abbott installed in the Rio Grande. This is the latest in a series of brutal encounters at the border, where migrants have been severely injured by razor wire and the Texas Department of Public Safety have been instructed to push migrants into the river.
“These buoys are death traps that don’t stop migration and they don’t keep us safe. Republican policies are continuing to kill children, separate families, and cause devastating injuries to migrants. This cruel, corrupt governor has spent $4.5 billion of our tax dollars to drown children at the border. Why doesn’t he use that money to improve education for Texas children and keep them safe in schools,” said Senator Roland Gutierrez.
“This is not border security. This is insanity, it is cruelty. Texas has the ability to do so much more, but the small-minded men in power continue to hold our great state back.”
Senator Gutierrez has strongly opposed the human rights crisis that is Operation Lone Star. Last year, Gutierrez visited the Briscoe Unit in Dilley, Texas, where he witnessed firsthand a shocking lack of due process.
Operation Lone Star has grown in size and chaos in the two years since its launch. Morale is low and Guardsmen have faced extended pay issues, isolated posts without portable toilets, and equipment shortages. At least ten Guardsmen have died over the course of the operation, with at least five suspected to have died by suicide.
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