Bus was carrying 44 people hailing from Colombia, China, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, including 14 children
A fifth bus of asylum seekers from Texas arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday as part of Texas governor Greg Abbott’s plans to transport migrants away from Texas.
On Saturday, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass’s office announced that the bus – the fifth one to arrive in the city since 14 June – arrived at around 11.30am at Union Station.
Continue reading...Trooper employed by Greg Abbott’s initiative expressed concern over ‘inhumane’ actions, in email reviewed by the Guardian
Texas troopers employed by Greg Abbott’s border patrol initiative were instructed to push children into the Rio Grande and deny migrants water in extreme heat, according to emails sent by a state employee.
Nicholas Wingate, a trooper-medic from the state’s department of public safety expressed concern over “inhumane” actions towards migrants in a 3 July email to supervisors and reveals other unreported incidents involving migrants, the Houston Chronicle first reported.
Continue reading...The city found out about the bus before it arrived at Union Station, after which the migrants were directed to a nearby church
Texas governor Greg Abbott announced on Wednesday evening that his state had dropped off a busload of migrants in Los Angeles, the latest move by a rightwing governor to send people seeking help to a region run by Democrats.
Abbott claimed in a tweet that “small Texas border towns remain overrun & overwhelmed because Biden refuses to secure the border”, adding: “LA is a city migrants seek to go to, particularly now its leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary status.”
Continue reading...The governor signed the bill prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion offices in addition to another codifying tenure restrictions
Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has signed a bill that will ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices and initiatives across higher education institutions in the state.
Under SB 17, DEI offices across state colleges will close starting in January 2024 and activities that seek to promote certain groups of individuals over others based on race, ethnicity and gender will also come to an end.
Continue reading...Families of those killed in May school shooting support Democrat in race against Texas governor Greg Abbott
A small photo of Jacklyn Casarez, one of the children killed during the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, in May, graced the front of a greeting card held by Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, who visited a Rio Grande Valley park Friday morning before the one and only staged debate with incumbent governor Greg Abbott.
“Maybe you don’t consider yourself a political person,” Kimberly Rubio, whose 10-year-old daughter Lexi was also killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb elementary, said Friday during a pre-debate news conference.
Continue reading...Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, 10, was among the 19 children killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb elementary school
Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, a victim of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, was remembered at her funeral on Saturday as opinionated like her mother and athletic like her father.
The funeral took place on the same day as nationwide protests for meaningful gun reform. Her family asked mourners to wear bright colors to the funeral at First Baptist Church in Uvalde, because Lexi loved them.
Continue reading...Monique Dawson says she was fired after she joked with a man who said he’d never back governor for re-election
A video of a woman working as a door-to-door canvasser for Greg Abbott’s campaign went viral after she burst out laughing when a resident said he would “absolutely not” support the Texas governor.
“Everybody’s got to have a job,” Monique Dawson said, seemingly referring to her own position with the campaign.
Continue reading...Texas governor backs out of in-person appearance as protesters descend on gun-rights group’s event
The National Rifle Association held its annual convention in Houston on Friday, three days after 19 children and two adults were shot dead at a school in Uvalde, as protesters gathered outside and high-profile speakers, including the governor of Texas, withdrew their attendance.
The event took place under a cloud of controversy and put in stark relief America’s deep divisions on gun control. As demonstrations swelled in Houston, attendees inside the convention – including Donald Trump – continued to deny that guns were the problem and put the emphasis on school safety and mental health.
Continue reading...Bishop Evans jumped into the Rio Grande on Friday to save two people he thought were struggling to swim across
Search crews on Monday recovered the body of a Texas national guard soldier who apparently drowned three days earlier while trying to save two people he believed were struggling to swim across the Rio Grande near the US southern border.
The 22-year-old soldier, Bishop E Evans, was working in Eagle Pass as part of a border security operation under the direction of the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. Evans’ superiors hailed him as “selfless” and condemned the people he was trying to save as suspected drug traffickers attempting to enter the country without permission.
Continue reading...National guard soldier Bishop Evans, 22, attempted to save two people he believed were drowning but did not resurface
Search crews combed the Rio Grande for a third day Sunday looking for signs of a Texas national guard soldier who went missing in the water amid an attempt to save two people he believed were drowning.
For the first time Sunday, Texas officials publicly identified the missing soldier as Bishop E Evans, a 22-year-old specialist and field artilleryman.
Continue reading...Officials dismiss reports that body of soldier, who was part of a security operation overseen by governor, has been found
A Texas national guard soldier who was part of a border security operation overseen by the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, went missing on Friday amid fears the soldier might have drowned in the Rio Grande.
The Texas military department said the disappearance occurred in the river in Eagle Pass during a mission associated with Abbott’s so-called Operation Lone Star.
Continue reading...The Democratic gubernatorial candidate compared his Republican opponent to the Russian president Vladimir Putin
Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidate for Texas governor, has likened his Republican opponent to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, calling Greg Abbott an “authoritarian” and a “thug”.
As governor, Abbott has presided over draconian laws on issues including abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and voting rights. In February 2021, on his watch, a failure of the state energy grid during cold weather contributed to hundreds of deaths.
Continue reading...Congresswoman explains basic biology to Greg Abbott after he claimed six weeks was ample time to get an abortion
Democrats including New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have decried Greg Abbott’s “deep ignorance” after the Texas governor inaccurately defended his state’s new anti-abortion law, saying that it does not require victims of rape and incest to carry pregnancies to term because it provides ample time for a person to get an abortion.
The law, which took effect on 1 September, is the most extreme anti-abortion measure in the US and essentially bans most abortions, offering no exceptions for rape or incest.
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Statements are coming in from opponents of the new Texas voting law. Here are some edited versions of some of them:
Here’s where the day stands so far:
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