Unfair Park from p8 ▼ POLITICS BUS STOP E GOV. ABBOTT’S MIGRANT BUSES HIT ROADBLOCK AS D.C. ATTORNEY GENERAL TAKES A CLOSER LOOK. BY PATRICK STRICKLAND ven as criticism has mounted, Gov. Greg Abbott has time and again doubled down on his program busing migrants to sanctuary cities. Now, the Texas Republican’s buses are reportedly facing another roadblock: the D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine’s office is reportedly looking into whether migrants were tricked or misled into boarding the buses and about the nature of the trips. The news was first reported Friday by the Texas Tribune and ProPublica. Speaking to those outlets, Racine said migrants inter- viewed by investigators “have talked persua- sively about being misled, with talk about promised services.” Contacted by the Observer, Racine’s of- fice declined to comment further. Abbott’s spokespeople failed to respond to a request for comment. Since Abbott started sending migrant buses earlier this year as part of Operation Lone Star, his controversial, state-led border crackdown, rights groups, watchdogs and Democrats have called the program a “polit- ical stunt.” So far, Texas has sent more than 12,000 migrants to Washington, Chicago and New York City, all of which are sanctuary cities. Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in response to growing number of migrants arriving. “Our right-to-shelter laws, our social services, and our values are being exploited by others for political gain,” he said at the time. “New Yorkers are angry. I am angry too.” Abbott, however, took to Twitter and responded by defending the move and vowing to send more buses. “Sanctuary cities like New York City ex- perience a FRACTION of what Texas bor- der communities face every day,” he wrote. “We’ll continue busing migrants to NYC, DC, & Chicago to relieve our overwhelmed border towns until Biden does his job to se- cure the border.” Kate Huddleston, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, re- cently told the Observer there were “concerns about the degree of information that people have when they get on the buses.” Describing the buses as an effort to “use people as pawns,” she said, “There are ongo- ing questions about reports related to people saying they’re having difficulty leaving the buses.” Still, Abbott’s border policies have proved popular among many Texans. In August, The Dallas Morning News and University of Texas at Tyler released a poll that found more than half of Texans surveyed backed the governor’s migration-related measures. Cal Jillson, a professor at Southern 10 Methodist University and an expert on Texas politics, explained that it’s still unclear whether the governor’s busing actions are legal. “From the Texas perspective, we take on a very great deal in the maintenance of people in the country illegally,” Jillson explained. “You can see why Texans are sympathetic with the governor and what he’s doing, but that doesn’t mean it’s legal.” But Abbott’s not the only Republican governor who has sent migrants across the country as part of an effort to discredit Dem- ocratic-led cities. Arizona Gov. Greg Ducey has also sent buses carrying migrants north, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took credit for flying migrants from Texas to Florida and then to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachu- setts. Last month, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office announced that it was investigating DeSantis’ flights to Martha’s Vineyard, a move that prompted ire from Texas Attor- ney General Ken Paxton and other state Re- publicans. At the time, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, a Democrat, said he had launched the probe into whoever “lured and trans- ported 48 migrants from the Migrant Re- source Center in San Antonio, TX to Martha’s Vineyard.” Paxton, in turn, accused Salazar of “parti- san grandstanding” and claimed that the Bexar County investigation itself was “un- lawful,” although he didn’t specify which law it allegedly broke. For his part, Abbott kicked off Operation Lone Star in March 2021. Since then, thou- sands of Texas National Guard troops and De- partment of Public Safety officers have deployed to the state’s border with Mexico. Already costing more than $4 billion, that operation includes arresting migrants, bus- ing them, returning them to federal authori- ties at official ports of entry and building a wall on the Texas-Mexico border. The governor has promoted the opera- tion as an effort to protect the country’s bor- der where the federal government fails to do so. However, the Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Operation Lone Star for potential civil rights violations. In a gubernatorial debate late last month, Beto O’Rourke, Abbott’s Democratic challenger, called Operation Lone Star a “stunt,” adding: “Ten thousand Guard members, $4 billion and it’s been a complete failure.” ▼ CITY HALL TAKING A STAND AGAINST BEGGING T pedestrian safety measure, City Council member Cara Mendelsohn said it’s also been discussed as a tool to connect panhandlers to city services they may need. However, the ordinance itself doesn’t say anything spe- cific about panhandling. It’s very broad, ac- tually, applying to anyone who dares stand on a median. What about school fundraisers where students may be soliciting donations for their next field trip? Or “fill the boot” drives by police officers and firefighters? Not even those panhandlers would be allowed on the medians, depending on who you ask. That’s kind of the key. Applied to everyone across the board, ordinances like this are supposed to be more constitutionally sound. But will it be applied to everyone? When council members asked about Gabriel Aponte / Getty Images Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gets his hands dirty with latest campaign billboards. IN EFFORT TO CURB PANHANDLING, DALLAS COULD MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO SIMPLY STAND ON MEDIANS. BY JACOB VAUGHN he city is working on an ordinance that would make it a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 to stand on medians that are 6 feet wide or narrower. It’s primarily being billed as a public safety measure to protect people from getting hit by cars, and you better believe that applies to panhandlers. Over the years, Dallas has tried to put a stop to people asking others for money. For example, former mayor and onetime Dallas Observer columnist Laura Miller got City Council at the time to pass an ordinance that made it illegal to “ask, beg, solicit, or plead [for] contributions, alms, charity, or gifts of items of value for oneself or another per- son.” The 2003 ordinance has seen some changes since then. In recent years, how- ever, it’s largely gone unenforced because of potential legal challenges. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that asking for help, which includes asking for money, is First Amendment protected speech. Dallas acknowledged this during a City Council meeting early last year, during which offi- cials were discussing other potential ways to crack down on panhandling. Officials said at the time that while First Amendment protections made it difficult to prohibit panhandling, they could use existing ordinances and create new ones to do just that. Maybe panhandlers can’t be fined for asking for money, but they can be fined for activities such as littering, impeding traffic, urinating and defecating in public, or, if it’s made illegal, standing on a median. When the no-standing-on-medians ordinance was brought up during an April meeting of the City Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, some questioned its exact purpose. While it’s being billed as a these kinds of fundraisers that may involve people standing on medians, a city attorney said anyone wanting to do anything on the medians would need permission from the city. It’s unclear at this point whether excep- tions would be made for people who get per- mission from the city, aside from maintenance workers or landscapers ac- tively working on a street. If you asked Mendelsohn, though, she’d say there shouldn’t be any exceptions. Aside from city staff using them to do necessary work or people using them to cross the street, Mendelsohn said people shouldn’t be allowed on the medians. That includes the fill-the-boot firefighters. “Many firefighters have told me they have had close calls,” Mendelsohn told the Observer by text. “I don’t think anyone should be in medians. … Having people un- necessarily in the median doesn’t align with our Vision Zero commitment.” Vision Zero is Dallas’ goal of reaching zero traffic fatalities and a 50% reduction in severe injuries by 2030. The city adopted the plan in June this year. There are some anecdotal reports about cars driving up onto medians or people get- ting hit by cars while they were standing on them. It’s not a huge stretch to say standing on a median may not be the safest thing, es- pecially if there’s heavy, fast-moving traffic. Jesuorobo Enobakhare Jr., chair of the Community Police Oversight Board, said he gets the public safety concerns. Still, he said the way we address it shouldn’t be to crimi- nalize poverty. “I understand the public safety issues of panhandling and the risk to the panhandler of being hit by a driver. In saying that I stand firmly in my belief that we should not crimi- nalize poverty,” Enobakhare said. “Instead we should be putting our efforts and re- sources towards eradicating the need for panhandling.” But, despite the proposed fines in the or- dinance and what may happen to people if they don’t (because they can’t) pay them, Mendelsohn said none of this is meant to be punitive. “I’m 100% opposed to criminalizing pov- erty AND panhandling,” Mendelsohn said. “These two ideas can stand together.” The latest move on this ordinance should come by the end of the month, with City Council voting to allow Dallas City Marshal Officers to enforce it alongside the Dallas Police Department. 5 dallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | DALLAS OBSERVER MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 OCTOBER 20-26, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com
