Greg Abbott refused help from the Biden administration to test migrants for COVID

Governor Greg Abbott showed up this week to reject the federal government’s help to test migrants for coronavirus before they are released from federal custody, saying it is a federal responsibility to examine immigrants arriving in Texas.

The announcement came after Abbott, a Republican, repeatedly accused Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration of “freeing immigrants in southern Texas who exposed Texans to COVID”. The Biden government denied this on Thursday, and CNN reported that Abbott was “delaying” a federal offer to contribute to testing migrants.

Abbott and Biden have been fighting for days for coronavirus security protocols and whose actions endanger the health of Texans. After Abbott announced this week that he was removing the Texas state mask mandate and capacity restrictions on companies, Biden called that decision “Neanderthal thinking”. Abbott responded in several interviews and social media posts that Biden’s immigration policies were the real threat to Texans and accused the president of freeing migrants with COVID-19 in Texas.

“The Biden administration is recklessly releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants who have COVID in Texas communities,” wrote Abbott in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon.

Asked about the evidence for this claim, Abbott’s office pointed out news from NBC News, Fox News and the New York Post earlier this week that 108 migrants had tested positive since January 25 in Brownsville after being released by federal authorities. The city has been carrying out the tests since the end of January. It is not clear from the reports how many of the asylum seekers are staying in Texas. Most migrants apprehended or surrendered to federal authorities generally leave for further north.

Migrants released from custody while their asylum processes are pending receive notifications to appear in court, a document that, when issued, signals the start of the process of removing migrants if they fail to convince federal authorities that they have a right to remain. . The Customs and Border Protection office in South Texas did not respond to a request for comment seeking more information about the testing process.

The Brownsville test was reportedly administered by the city. NBC reported that 6.3% of the migrants tested were confirmed to have the coronavirus. This index is lower than the state’s positivity index, in which an average of 8.3% of the tests were positive in the last seven days. The 108 tests in the past five weeks represent a small portion of the more than 3,800 confirmed cases in Cameron County reported by the state since January 25.

After Abbott started scolding Biden for freeing migrants, CNN reported that the Department of Homeland Security tried to use Federal Emergency Management Agency dollars to help local authorities test migrants released from federal custody and isolate them if the test was positive. The grant money needed state approval to be allocated, CNN said.

Abbott appeared to make it clear on Thursday that he was not interested in the federal offer. He argued in a statement that border security is “strictly a federal responsibility” and therefore the Biden government alone should “test, track and quarantine” migrants who may have COVID-19.

“Instead of doing their job, the Biden administration suggested it did not have enough resources and, surprisingly, asked Texas to help them help with their illegal immigration program,” said Abbott. “Texas refused.”

Asked about Abbott’s statement, the White House referred to comments that press secretary Jen Psaki made on Thursday that federal policy is for coronavirus testing for migrants released from custody “to be done at the state and local level with the help of NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] and local governments. “She added that the policy states that migrants should be tested” before they are even transferred to stay with relatives or other people they may know while their cases are on trial.

Since before the 2020 elections, the number of migrants apprehended at the border has increased significantly. From October to January, more than 296,000 undocumented migrants were arrested. That’s more than half of the 458,000 seized in the entire federal fiscal year 2020, according to federal statistics.

The Biden government has also stopped adding migrants to the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols, which has forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their hearings in US courts. Some of the first MPP arrivals started entering Texas last week in Brownsville and El Paso, but are tested for COVID-19 before entering, confirmed Ruben Garcia, director of the Casa da Anunciação shelter network that is temporarily housing migrants .

Releasing asylum seekers from custody with warnings to appear has been a lightning rod for Republicans who incorrectly claim that most asylum seekers ignore the warnings and instead try to live in the shadows illegally. A 2019 study by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which uses Freedom of Information Act requests to track immigration lawsuits, found that more than 80% of all migrants attend court hearings, and that number increases to almost 100% if asylum seekers are represented.

But Abbott said on Thursday that Texas “will not help a program that makes our country a magnet for illegal immigration”.

Texas is already sending tests to border communities, however. The Texas Emergency Management Division confirmed to the Tribune that it has provided tests to “local authorities in border communities who have responded to a flow of individuals crossing the international border.”

“Since the end of January, the state has provided 40,000 COVID-19 tests to Brownsville, McAllen, Laredo and Del Rio to meet tests that do not need to be met by the federal government,” said the division’s spokesman, Seth Christensen, in a demonstration.

As to whether the state will provide more testing to border cities, Christensen said TDEM “has no pending requests from our local partners for testing resources”.

Abbott’s comments on migrants with coronavirus have generated consternation among many advocates along the border. The governor, along with other Texas politicians, has a history of describing migrants in terms that suggest they are a threat. In 2019, the day before a sniper targeting Mexicans killed 22 people in El Paso, Abbott sent a campaign direct mail asking supporters to “DEFEND” Texas at the border. He later said that “mistakes were made” about the sender.

Clara Long, associate director of the US Program at Human Rights Watch, said Abbott’s comments this week are disturbing, but not surprising, as the governor tries to distract himself from his own executive order, which critics say will put the Texans on at risk.

“The fact that this is just a political statement seems so revealed by the mask [order], “she said.” Do you care about people’s health or not? But it’s clear that it’s not about protecting Texans or migrants. It’s a matter of political gain. “