Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) seems to have spotted an opportunity for a new Trumpian stunt now that it’s been confirmed that the conservative majority on the Supreme Court is prepared to raze down Roe v. Wade.
During an interview with a conservative radio host on Wednesday, Abbott said the Texas government could attempt a do-over with Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 Supreme Court decision that struck down Texas’ ban on kids who are undocumented immigrants from receiving public education.
“Supreme Court ruled against us on the issue about denying – or let’s say Texas having to bear that burden,” the Republican governor said.
“I think we will resurrect that case and challenge this issue again,” he continued. “Because the expenses are extraordinary and the times are different than when Plyler v. Doe was issued many decades ago.”
Abbott, who is up for reelection this year, has put cartoonish anti-immigration theater front and center of his agenda, from deploying thousands of Texas National Guard troops to the southern border (aka “Operation Lone Star”), to imposing extra border checks on cargo coming from Mexico, to sending buses and planes carrying migrants to D.C.
Each gambit has proven to be a failure in unique ways: The National Guard troops who were assigned to Operation Lone Star are demoralized by a lack supplies and decent housing; Abbott was forced to end his extra border checks because they were clogging up traffic and causing an economic catastrophe; and migrants are pretty happy about the free trips to D.C., where they can be more easily connected to immigration assistance services.
