‘Mass arrests’ after curfew kicks in as Texas deploys National Guard

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

As the protests
against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement actions
spread to other American cities, one of the largest Republican-controlled
states appears determined to present a sharp contrast to how situation has
unfolded in Los Angeles.

Conservative-dominated
Texas has frequently served as a political mirror image to California. Now its
governor, Greg Abbott, has ordered his state’s National Guard to deploy in
advance of planned demonstrations in San Antonio.

According to local media, Abbott’s office stated: “Texas National Guard soldiers are on standby in areas where mass demonstrations are planned in case they are needed… Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles.”

The move may
indicate a lack of confidence by the governor in the police force of one of his
largest cities. More than that, however, it is meant as a message – to
California, to Abbott’s allies in the Trump administration and to the
American public – that Republicans know how to maintain law and order.

The move is not
without risk, however. It could provoke larger demonstrations in the state’s
Democratic-dominated big cities. And if Texas protests turn violent anyway, it
could undercut the Republican case that they know better than Governor Gavin
Newsom and the California Democrats.