Gov. Greg Abbott rejects aid from Biden administration in dispute over COVID-19 testing for migrants
Patrick Svitek and Julian Aguilar,
The Texas Tribune
March 7, 2021
Updated: March 7, 2021 2:28 p.m.
Gov. Greg Abbott appeared this week to rebuff help from the federal government to give coronavirus testing to migrants before they are released from federal custody, saying it's a federal responsibility to screen immigrants coming into Texas.
The announcement came after Abbott, a Republican, repeatedly accused the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden of “releasing immigrants in South Texas that have been exposing Texans to COVID.” The Biden administration denied that Thursday, and CNN reported that Abbott was “stalling” on a federal offer to pitch in on testing migrants.
Abbott and Biden have been fighting for days over coronavirus safety protocols and whose actions have been putting the health of Texans at risk. After Abbott announced this week that he was lifting Texas' statewide mask mandate and capacity restrictions on businesses, Biden called that decision "Neanderthal thinking." Abbott shot back in multiple interviews and social media posts that Biden's immigration policies were the real threat to Texans and accused the president of releasing migrants with COVID-19 into Texas.
"The Biden Administration is recklessly releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants who have COVID into Texas communities," Abbott wrote in one tweet Wednesday afternoon.
More:
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/greg-abbott-joe-biden-immigrants-testing-16007542.php
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