Hinojosa Calls on Abbott to Stop Facilitating Fatal ICE Operations

Austin, TX — In the wake of multiple fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis and reports of legal refugees, including children, being illegally detained and flown to Texas facilities, gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa is calling on Governor Greg Abbott to demand accountability from the Trump administration and stop enabling ICE operations that are terrorizing communities and violating the law.

“Greg Abbott is facilitating all of this,” said Hinojosa. “These ICE raids are being driven by private prisons owned by Abbott’s donors, which are receiving those targeted and detained by ICE. Abbott has also ordered state officials to assist ICE as federal law enforcement officials have detained children, and now have killed U.S. citizens. Abbott must lead with responsibility and decency by refusing to provide state resources until DHS stops killing U.S. citizens and detaining our children.

“Unfortunately, this won’t happen because this is straight out of Abbott’s private prison playbook of making money for his donors, no matter the human cost. These tactics are making us less safe, and many Texans are reasonably fearful of these indiscriminate attacks on Americans. Time and time again, Abbott has made it clear that he will put his donors and his puppeteers in Washington first. It is past time for us to return to decency in this country.”

Abbott has provided Texas land and state resources to support Trump’s immigration crackdown, making the state a central hub for what legal advocates are calling an illegal operation. Children are being held in unthinkable conditions, including being fed contaminated food and denied adequate medical care, right here in Texas, with the help of state officials. Abbott has defended ICE operations and offered the federal government thousands of beds in Texas prisons, and continues to facilitate political theater and fatal tactics at the expense of the rights and safety of Texans.

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