In 2005, the Mexican government distributed comic-book-style manuals instructing migrants on how to enter and remain in the U.S. illegally. Now, a generation later, new messages are being sent to would-be illegal aliens.
“How much did you pay to have your daughter raped? Many girls are raped by the coyotes you hire,” is one.
“Your wife and daughter will pay for their trip with their bodies,” reads another. “Coyotes lie. “Don’t put your family at risk.”
“Many girls who try to migrate to Texas are kidnapped,” yet another message warns. “For the sake of your family, stop.”
And, no, the above don’t come with trigger warnings.
It’s all part of an effort by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to deter illegal migration — via words of caution posted south of the border. As Newsweek reported Friday, Abbott
unveiled a new cross-border billboard campaign Thursday, aimed at stopping migrants headed to the United States by showing “the horror stories of human trafficking”.
The $100,000 campaign in Mexico and Central America is part of the Republican’s ongoing efforts to curb illegal immigration across the state’s southern border.
Abbott has made it his mission to tackle U.S.-Mexico border crossings at the state level, having complained that President Joe Biden’s administration has not done enough to ease the crush of migrants arriving at the border during his administration. However, it is not common for governors to reach across international borders in order to tackle an issue that is supposed to be the responsibility of the federal government.
Quite true.
It’s also not supposed to be common for the feds to facilitate an invasion of our country.
This is precisely what the Biden administration has been doing, too. In fact, the administration has been responsible for flying at least 320,000 migrants directly into the United States. This is in addition to the millions who have entered via land routes.
“Rape Trees”
Providing more details, the Office of the Texas Governor website informs that
40 billboards have been strategically placed in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico and along the Texas-Mexico border.
… To reach illegal immigrants coming from all over the world trying to cross into Texas, the billboards are translated into Spanish throughout Central America and Mexico and Arabic, Chinese, and Russian in Northern Mexico and along the Texas-Mexico border.
A couple of other messages related via the signs are, “Don’t come to Texas illegally. You’ll be arrested” and “Danger Ahead. If you cross into Texas illegally, you will regret it forever” (tweet below).
Regretting it “forever” may sound hyperbolic. But testimonials from rancher Kimberly Wall and Texas Association Against Sexual Assault CEO Rose Luna, at a Thursday press conference with Abbott, say otherwise. As Abbott’s website also tells us:
“There is a largely unspoken sexual assault crisis impacting women and children migrating to the Texas border,” said Rose Luna. “Acknowledging this issue and its profound impact on survivors is not just crucial — it is our responsibility.”
“There have been several rape trees [a cartel term for areas where migrants are forced to perform sexual acts] and lots of women who have been found beaten and raped in front of our house and left to die,” said Kimberly Wall. “It makes you terrified to go out of your own house and enjoy your own property. I know my husband has found three different rape trees and burned them down. You don’t know if you’ll be attacked by one of the men hiding in the brush. We all want a better life for everybody” [relevant video below].
The full press conference is found here.
Not Abbott’s First Rodeo
Some observers have, probably with good cause, criticized Abbott for not doing more, sooner. As one X user asked, responding to the above Bill Melugin tweet:
Nonetheless, the warning-sign endeavor is just the latest in some effective anti-illegal migration measures Abbott has taken in recent years. As commentator Monica Showalter reminds us, the governor
almost singlehandedly shifted the public debate against illegal immigration, when, after Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis flew a shipment of illegals from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, exposing wealthy leftists in exclusive enclaves as hypocrites, Abbott continued the maneuver on a grand scale, by offering free bus rides to illegals to New York City and beyond, transporting more than 100,000 illegal border crossers. That made a major impact in New York City, blowing out its budget and forcing its mayor to eventually say he wanted to be a Republican.
Abbott also managed to block caravans coming in, and defied the Biden administration by setting up blockages on the Rio Grande, making it far more difficult for migrants to swim across. He also placed razor wire in some parts of the border — and while he lost Biden’s court case against it, saw how the Border Patrol wouldn’t cooperate in taking it down.
… He similarly raised public awareness of the NGO migrant industrial complex in his attorney-general’s prosecution of Catholic Charities for migrant laundering, demanding that the group open its books as required by law of any NGO to show what it was spending its federal cash on.
Perfect Should Not be the Enemy of the Good
More good news is that with President Trump poised to take office, the feds will now be aiding Abbott and other governors, not impeding them. Regardless of this, and what we think of Abbott’s ideological soundness or intestinal fortitude, his current actions should be applauded. Remember that Trump won’t be president forever, and the future may again see an illegal-enabling, immigrationist White House. So state action — and, just as importantly, the idea of state action — should be encouraged. For a certain principle is operative here:
Who’s in charge of Washington matters less when Washington matters less.
