CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS | Gary Borders
Gov. Greg Abbott issued three executive orders last week putting the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party on notice, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Abbott said the orders are intended to protect Texans of Chinese descent from “harassment and intimidation” by the communist party and the government, and to fight threats to state security.
“Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals of Chinese descent who legally call Texas home by the Chinese Communist Party or its heinous proxies,” Abbott said.
The orders:
• Instruct the Department of Public Safety to establish a hotline for victims and to “target and arrest” operatives in the state working with the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government.
• Direct all state agencies, colleges and universities to “harden” their systems against foreign governments. That includes stronger background checks on employees with access to critical infrastructure and banning state agencies from doing business with companies owned wholly or partially by foreign adversary countries.
• Direct the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Public Utility Commission to create a task force to study vulnerabilities to potential cyberattacks and run simulations of possible responses.
“China has made it clear that they can — and will — target and attack America’s critical infrastructure,” Abbott said.
State plan for $3 billion to expand broadband approved
The state has won federal approval to move forward with its plan to improve broadband internet access for the estimated 7 million Texas residents who don’t have access, The Texas Tribune reported.
The approval came from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which means the state now has access to about $3.3 billion in federal funding included in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The state has already awarded more than $1 billion in state and federal funding for broadband investments. Last week, applicants in 15 counties were awarded $580 million to connect 80,000 locations, according to the Texas Broadband Development Office.
Federal maps that show where internet connections are needed face questions about their accuracy, The Tribune reported.
“We want to make sure the data being provided to us by the federal government is accurate and up to date,” Greg Conte, director of the TBDO, said.
More buoy barriers added in Rio Grande Despite a dramatic decrease in border crossings in recent months, Abbott has ordered expansion of the 1,000 feet of orange buoys in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“We’re not letting up at all; we’re continuing our efforts,” Abbott said.
The barriers have prompted lawsuits from the federal government, which are tied up in an appeals court.
Monthly border crossings have dropped steadily since March. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data for October indicate 27,000 migrants were encountered that month in the five Texas sectors of the border with Mexico — fewer than the 44,000 monthly migrants encountered in the final months of the first presidency
of Donald Trump.
Newly purchased ranch could be deportee staging area
A Starr County ranch purchased last month by the state has been offered as a staging area for potential mass deportations promised by President-elect Trump, according to The Washington Post.
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham sent a letter to Trump on Nov. 14 extending the offer.
Tom Homan, former director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and Trump’s pick to be “border czar,” said the incoming administration would “absolutely” use the 1,400-acre parcel of land.
“We absolutely will. When we find somebody — it’s a targeted enforcement operation. When they get arrested, they’ll be detained,” Homan said.
“We feel like this is actually very welllocated. The land is very flat there. It’s adjacent to major airports. It’s also adjacent to a bridge over the river,” Buckingham said. “So, if it’s helpful, then I would love to partner up with the federal government. And if it’s not, then we’ll continue to look to ways to be helpful to them.”
Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected]