(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Abbott says he won't lift pandemic order until state lawmakers escalate his war on migrants [1] ['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-27 What emergency pandemic order, you might be asking. By Greg “no mandates” Abbott? The same guy who tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a maskless fundraiser? The same guy who lifted restrictions and then falsely claimed it was migrant families who were superspreaders? The same guy who reportedly turned away federal funds to test migrants?That guy? Yup, and for more than 1,000 days, he’s kept in place an emergency pandemic order that’s never really been about the virus or keeping Texans safe. Rather, he’s kept it in place because it gives him vast power he normally wouldn’t have. One power allows him to toss aside procedures that officials normally must go through when handing out a state contract. You know who’s loved that? Abbott’s GOP megadonors, who’ve won hundreds of millions in barrier contracts. Abbott has been renewing this so-called emergency order on a monthly basis—which brings us back to his demand to state lawmakers. The Texas Tribune reports that he told a right-wing radio host that his order stays until state lawmakers not only act on the border, but write his pro-pandemic orders into law. “I’m going to keep that in place until the legislators codify my executive orders that ban mask mandates, that ban forced vaccines and things like that,” he said in remarks reported by The Texas Tribune. “I want to see that get passed.” What else could Abbott want on the border? Alligators? Alligators with lasers? Electric fences? Electric fences with alligators with lasers on top? You know what, let’s not give him any more ideas on top of what we do know he’d like to see. The Texas Tribune reports on at least one demand, and that’s that state lawmakers “enact a state version of a controversial Trump-era immigration declaration known as Title 42 that is currently locked in a court battle.” Texas is a part of the lawsuit that blocked the Biden administration that from lifting the debunked policy last month. “At least one bill, filed by Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, would create a program like Title 42 in state law.” Federal immigration enforcement is strictly the job of the federal government, and Abbott knows that, yet he’s repeatedly crossed this line through his border operations. The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Texas said in one complaint last year that a July order purporting to give state law enforcement the power to detain and return recently crossed migrants to the border raised “serious legal concerns.” Abbott’s Operation Lone Star scheme has reportedly been under Justice Department probe since last summer, too. The department has reportedly been reviewing whether Abbott has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a claim made in a complaint by a coalition of civil rights organizations. Kinney County, an ally of Abbott’s in this border scheme, had “repeatedly” sought to “partner with vigilante actors,” groups said. Kinney County boasted of “sending undocumented individuals back to Mexico,” then backtracked on the claim following blowback about that being very not legal. Oops. But Abbott has been far, far less shameful. We do know for a fact that Operation Lone Star is under investigation by the Treasury Department, for possible misuse of federal funds. See, Abbott and other GOP officials raided federal funds and did a little shifting of cash in order to keep the stunt operational. Should the watchdog find that Abbott did indeed misuse this money, Texas would have to pay it back. But he’s certainly had no qualms about making taxpayers pay for all of this other political stunts. When it comes to the Justice Department’s reported probe, I haven’t seen any updates. The stunt needs to be shut down. RELATED STORIES: During Biden visit, Abbott cries he 'desperately needs more money' after wasting billions on stunts Greg Abbott's latest megadonor got over $560 million in state contracts, report says Unarmed migrant shot by soldier deployed to border under Abbott's lawless Operation Lone Star stunt Listen to the latest episode of The Downballot for an in-depth analysis of the 2024 Arizona Senate race and the implications of Kyrsten Sinema's re-election decision. Special guest Victoria McGroary, the Executive Director of BOLD PAC, will also discuss the efforts to prevent losses among Hispanic voters and the fight against disinformation in Spanish language media. 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