Buckingham Offers Land To Trump For Detention Camp-Whitmire's Friend

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham is offering Donald Trump land for a detention camp for people apprehended in migrant round-ups.

I'd have no confidence that American citizens or political opponents won't end up in these camps as well.

(Above is Commissioner Buckingham & Mayor Whitmire earlier this year. Picture taken from the HTV broadcast of city events.)  

From the Texas Tribune: 

"The Texas General Land Office is offering President-elect Donald Trump a 1,400-acre Starr County ranch as a site to build detention centers for his promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, according to a letter the office sent him Tuesday."

From a General Land Office press release:

​"Today, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D. sent a letter to the incoming Trump Administration offering over 1,400 acres of newly acquired General Land Office (GLO) state land in Starr County, Texas, for the construction of deportation facilities and staging areas to carry out the Trump Administration’s plans to deport illegal immigrants beginning in 2025...."As Texas Land Commissioner and steward of over 13 million acres, it's been my promise to all Texans since assuming my role at the GLO to use every tool at my disposal to gain complete operational control of our southern border," said Commissioner Buckingham. "This is why I am offering President-elect Trump over 1,400 acres of state land on the southern border to aid his administration in carrying out their deportation plans to place the safety and well-being of all Americans first and foremost."
 
Mayor John Whitmire earlier this year told Houston City Council what a good partner Commissioner Buckingham is for Houston because she was willing to give us back our own tax dollars for disaster relief.

Is Mayor Whitmire talking to Commissioner Buckingham about what mass deportations would mean for Houston? Did Mayor Whitmire give Commissioner Buckingham a call when she referred to opponents of Trump as "demonic?"  

​In any case, Mayor Whitmire should call Commissioner Buckingham and tell her it is a bad idea to help Trump with detention camps.  

​The Houston Chronicle recently asked Mayor Whitmire what he thought of the possibility of mass deportations. He did not have much to say.

From The Chronicle:

...."But with two months until the new administration takes office, and few details about how a deportation program would work, local leaders are hesitant to say if and how they’d participate....“My job is to ensure our resources stay focused on what falls within our local control and jurisdiction,” Mayor John Whitmire said. “We have plenty to do leading the city of Houston. That’s what Houstonians expect me to do.”

Mayor Whitmire just hopes it'll all go away. 

It won't though. In fact, Trump is saying local police forces that do not assist in the deportations will lose federal funding.   

Mass deportations will harm the economy and create a humanitarian crisis in Houston and Harris County. 

From the Chronicle:

While the brunt of those direct costs would be born by the federal government, a mass deportation would undoubtedly send shock waves through the economy in the Houston area, which is believed to be home to nearly 600,000 immigrants living here illegally and leave over 300,000 children without at least one of their parents......Greater Houston Builders Association President Matthew Reibenstein said: "The future of housing attainability in our region depends on a consistent and reliable flow of entrepreneurs and workers," referring to immigrants of all legal statuses.

I spoke at Houston City Council about the prospect of mass deportations in October. I asked where members of Council stood on the issue. (I did not ask Mayor Whitmire because he was absent from the public comment session that day without any explanation offered.)  I didn't get any reply or comment from any member of Council. 

Republican Councilmembers such as Twila Carter appear just fine with anything Trump proposes.    

Houston/Harris County elected Democrats are for the most part going to have to be pushed by rank & file citizens to respond with energy and courage to the threats ahead. Most of them did not show up in any meaningful way in the recent election. Most won't act to protect us from the right unless we are aggressive in pushing them to fight for us.     

I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

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