SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
The first bus of migrants that Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent from the U.S.-Mexico border to Washington, D.C. arrived outside an office building that houses Fox News on April 13, 2022. (Photo: Screenshot via Fox News)
Appalled human rights defenders condemned Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday after the first bus of migrants he sent from the U.S.-Mexico border to the nation's capital arrived outside an office building that houses Fox News, which quickly provided glowing coverage of the far-right official's latest effort to demonize immigrants.
"Of course Greg Abbott ordered the bus with migrants on it to show up in front of Fox News headquarters here in D.C.," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, wrote on social media. "It's an incredibly dehumanizing and cynical stunt."
"This was all coordinated closely with Fox News, which had an article up immediately," Reichlin-Melnick continued. "One man said he was heading to Florida--[a] sign that Abbott's 'voluntary' bus trips were probably not."
Last week, Abbott's vow to transport migrants to Washington, D.C. as a show of opposition to President Joe Biden's phase-out of Title 42--a pubic health order used by the Trump and Biden administrations to swiftly expel asylum-seekers from the U.S. more than 1.7 million times during a two-year period--was widely denounced.
"Neither Fox News nor Greg Abbott think migrants qua migrants are people," Reichlin-Melnick wrote Wednesday. "Individual migrants may be elevated to the status of a person if useful as a political tool--the small children who die in the desert, the suffering of unnamed women--but that's the exception."
\u201cNot surprisingly, a bunch of ghouls on this hellsite think dropping off about a dozen people in DC is some major "own the libs" moment, and not... literally every morning when tourists from around the world show up on charter buses.\n\nIf Fox wasn't there, nobody would even notice.\u201d— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@Aaron Reichlin-Melnick) 1649854520
Texas' governor and the right-wing media outlet are engaging in "deliberate cruelty that treats human beings like pawns," said Reichlin-Melnick. "Disgusting."
"As a long-time D.C. resident, I hate seeing our town used again as a political prop," he added. "Guess what, Greg Abbott. We're not afraid of migrants. We are a vibrant immigrant community that has already welcomed tens of thousands of migrants in the last few years. We have heart--unlike you."
\u201cfuck fox news and fuck greg abbott for treating these people like their existence is an insult\u201d— Andrew Lawrence (@Andrew Lawrence) 1649858315
According to The Dallas Morning News, a charter bus carrying roughly two dozen Nicaraguans and Venezuelans departed Del Rio on Saturday and arrived a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol just after 8:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Given that they were dropped off near Union Station, Reichlin-Melnick predicted that the migrants are "presumably now at the station waiting for another bus."
"There is something deeply wrong with Greg Abbott," he added. "He's trying to weaponize migrants, ignoring their humanity and using them as pawns for his political ambitions. But he underestimates the people of D.C. We are happy to help."
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Appalled human rights defenders condemned Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday after the first bus of migrants he sent from the U.S.-Mexico border to the nation's capital arrived outside an office building that houses Fox News, which quickly provided glowing coverage of the far-right official's latest effort to demonize immigrants.
"Of course Greg Abbott ordered the bus with migrants on it to show up in front of Fox News headquarters here in D.C.," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, wrote on social media. "It's an incredibly dehumanizing and cynical stunt."
"This was all coordinated closely with Fox News, which had an article up immediately," Reichlin-Melnick continued. "One man said he was heading to Florida--[a] sign that Abbott's 'voluntary' bus trips were probably not."
Last week, Abbott's vow to transport migrants to Washington, D.C. as a show of opposition to President Joe Biden's phase-out of Title 42--a pubic health order used by the Trump and Biden administrations to swiftly expel asylum-seekers from the U.S. more than 1.7 million times during a two-year period--was widely denounced.
"Neither Fox News nor Greg Abbott think migrants qua migrants are people," Reichlin-Melnick wrote Wednesday. "Individual migrants may be elevated to the status of a person if useful as a political tool--the small children who die in the desert, the suffering of unnamed women--but that's the exception."
\u201cNot surprisingly, a bunch of ghouls on this hellsite think dropping off about a dozen people in DC is some major "own the libs" moment, and not... literally every morning when tourists from around the world show up on charter buses.\n\nIf Fox wasn't there, nobody would even notice.\u201d— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@Aaron Reichlin-Melnick) 1649854520
Texas' governor and the right-wing media outlet are engaging in "deliberate cruelty that treats human beings like pawns," said Reichlin-Melnick. "Disgusting."
"As a long-time D.C. resident, I hate seeing our town used again as a political prop," he added. "Guess what, Greg Abbott. We're not afraid of migrants. We are a vibrant immigrant community that has already welcomed tens of thousands of migrants in the last few years. We have heart--unlike you."
\u201cfuck fox news and fuck greg abbott for treating these people like their existence is an insult\u201d— Andrew Lawrence (@Andrew Lawrence) 1649858315
According to The Dallas Morning News, a charter bus carrying roughly two dozen Nicaraguans and Venezuelans departed Del Rio on Saturday and arrived a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol just after 8:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Given that they were dropped off near Union Station, Reichlin-Melnick predicted that the migrants are "presumably now at the station waiting for another bus."
"There is something deeply wrong with Greg Abbott," he added. "He's trying to weaponize migrants, ignoring their humanity and using them as pawns for his political ambitions. But he underestimates the people of D.C. We are happy to help."
Appalled human rights defenders condemned Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday after the first bus of migrants he sent from the U.S.-Mexico border to the nation's capital arrived outside an office building that houses Fox News, which quickly provided glowing coverage of the far-right official's latest effort to demonize immigrants.
"Of course Greg Abbott ordered the bus with migrants on it to show up in front of Fox News headquarters here in D.C.," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, wrote on social media. "It's an incredibly dehumanizing and cynical stunt."
"This was all coordinated closely with Fox News, which had an article up immediately," Reichlin-Melnick continued. "One man said he was heading to Florida--[a] sign that Abbott's 'voluntary' bus trips were probably not."
Last week, Abbott's vow to transport migrants to Washington, D.C. as a show of opposition to President Joe Biden's phase-out of Title 42--a pubic health order used by the Trump and Biden administrations to swiftly expel asylum-seekers from the U.S. more than 1.7 million times during a two-year period--was widely denounced.
"Neither Fox News nor Greg Abbott think migrants qua migrants are people," Reichlin-Melnick wrote Wednesday. "Individual migrants may be elevated to the status of a person if useful as a political tool--the small children who die in the desert, the suffering of unnamed women--but that's the exception."
\u201cNot surprisingly, a bunch of ghouls on this hellsite think dropping off about a dozen people in DC is some major "own the libs" moment, and not... literally every morning when tourists from around the world show up on charter buses.\n\nIf Fox wasn't there, nobody would even notice.\u201d— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@Aaron Reichlin-Melnick) 1649854520
Texas' governor and the right-wing media outlet are engaging in "deliberate cruelty that treats human beings like pawns," said Reichlin-Melnick. "Disgusting."
"As a long-time D.C. resident, I hate seeing our town used again as a political prop," he added. "Guess what, Greg Abbott. We're not afraid of migrants. We are a vibrant immigrant community that has already welcomed tens of thousands of migrants in the last few years. We have heart--unlike you."
\u201cfuck fox news and fuck greg abbott for treating these people like their existence is an insult\u201d— Andrew Lawrence (@Andrew Lawrence) 1649858315
According to The Dallas Morning News, a charter bus carrying roughly two dozen Nicaraguans and Venezuelans departed Del Rio on Saturday and arrived a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol just after 8:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Given that they were dropped off near Union Station, Reichlin-Melnick predicted that the migrants are "presumably now at the station waiting for another bus."
"There is something deeply wrong with Greg Abbott," he added. "He's trying to weaponize migrants, ignoring their humanity and using them as pawns for his political ambitions. But he underestimates the people of D.C. We are happy to help."