Houston City Councilors said the reported treatment of migrants at the border are "inhumane", after a whistleblower said the Department of Public Safety troopers had been instructed to not give water to migrants and push them back in the water at Eagle Pass.
The story, which was first reported by the Houston Chronicle, said Governor Gregg Abbott ordered border security officers to push small children into the Rio Grande and to deny them water, even in extreme heat according to a Texas trooper. The report also said a pregnant woman was caught in the razor wire, and miscarried.
"Governor, this is not a political football, these are human beings," said Councilman Robert Gallegos. "If these were blonde-headed, blue-eyed children would this be the policy? To push these children back into the river? ... It's not for you to go somewhere else on your political career to make these policies. And all I can ask is how do you sleep at night?"
Council member Abbie Kamin agreed.
"The governor has pretty much said on record he does not care what international law says," she said. "It's horrific... This could not be more antithetical to what as a nation we stand for and are."
Councilwoman Carolyn Shabazz says the new inhumane border policies are appalling and unacceptable.
"To think of what they are going through, and the agony ... is just something beyond my belief," she said.