A woman holds a child on her back as migrants walk near concertina wire in the water along the Rio Grande border with Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sunday. Suzanne Cordeiro / AFP – Getty Images
The shocking cruelty of Operation Lone Star, Governor Greg Abbott’s militarization of the border, has come to light in the past week.
“I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane.”
~ DPS paramedic Nicholas Wingate’s email
On Monday, the San Antonio Express-News reported that a DPS trooper and paramedic working along the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass had emailed superiors with horrific claims: that in temperatures well over 100 degrees, troopers were instructed to deny water to immigrants; that razor wire strung across the river was trapping asylum seekers and causing significant injuries, lacerations and broken bones; that an officer in command told troopers to push exhausted families, including children and small babies, into the river. Read about it here, and read the DPS paramedic’s whistle-blowing email here.
“Forcing refugees to cross back into Mexico vs getting them to Border Patrol is putting them back in the hands of the Cartels where they are assaulted robbed and raped.”
~ DPS paramedic Nicholas Wingate’s email
This must end now. Operation Lone Star is costing the lives of the most vulnerable.
We ask you to make one call to Governor Greg Abbot to voice your outrage at the gross, irresponsible, and deadly misuse of our taxpayer money in the name of border security to make a political statement.
Please call the governor’s office at 512.463.1782. Leave your name, city, and phone number.
Say this (or use your own words):
- “The inhumane treatment of migrants at the Rio Grande must end. Operation Lone Star must end now. We read the DPS paramedic’s report saying DPS officers were ordered to push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande. I quote and support the Medic’s statement: “We need to recognize that these are people who are made in the image of God and need to be treated as such.”
Then let us know you took action by emailing here with “I called Governor Abbott” in the subject line.
Thank you for taking action and speaking up for the most vulnerable of our fellow human beings! And please forward this email to like-minded friends, family, and church members, asking them to do the same.
