Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is facing mounting political pressure at home — and this time, it has nothing to do with the state’s punishing summer heat.
Amid continued frustration among many Texans over immigration and border security, a separate controversy has erupted over plans for Muslim foot-washing facilities at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Abbott took a forceful position in a Friday press release, calling the proposed airport ablution facility “illegal” and arguing that it amounted to religious discrimination at a government-owned facility.
The governor said he had ordered a review of all state grants awarded to entities that operate airports in Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Abbott said the review could lead to the revocation of current state grant funding and the denial of future grants over what he described as unlawful religious discrimination. He also referred both airports to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation and potential enforcement action.
According to Abbott’s office, DFW had planned to add ablution facilities intended for Islamic washing rituals. George Bush Intercontinental Airport has already installed a similar facility, along with a connected prayer room.
In a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Abbott urged the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to immediately examine the religious facilities and accommodations at DFW and IAH and take what he called appropriate corrective action. Both airports receive federal funding, which comes with legal obligations to comply with laws barring religious discrimination.
“These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal,” Abbott said. “Both airports are government-owned facilities. The federal and state constitutions prohibit government from facilitating this sort of discrimination. Just as the government cannot favor the secular over the sacred, it also cannot favor one religious view over all others.”
By Friday night, Abbott’s public push appeared to have had an effect. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport told Fox News that it would not move forward with the plan.
“DFW was in the process of evaluating an internal proposal to add a set of ablution washing stations on the pre-security side of Terminal D, the international terminal. Like all proposed projects, the airport ultimately considers the operational benefits, customer service impacts, operational risks and costs before approving them,” the airport said.
“While that evaluation was planned, the airport accelerated its review due to elevated public interest this week and has determined not to proceed with the project as it would not deliver the originally anticipated operational benefits.”
This is exactly the kind of issue that Governor Abbott is an expert at pouncing on. It’s like his team monitors social media outrage to identify the hot button issues, and then seeks to throw Texans a bone so that we will stop with all of our annoying objections to his culturally destructive policies.
Texas residents are also flipping out over the nonstop H1B visa holders flooding into the state, turning the Dallas metro area into New Delhi West.
American citizens are also experiencing a problem with all of the foreigners coming to Texas: Many of them refuse to assimilate.
This isn’t baseless speculation, it is something I verify daily with my own eyes and ears. In a few short years, I have seen Frisco, Plano, and McKinney transformed before my very eyes. It is nearly unrecognizable and barely even feels like “Texas.” I attended a graduation ceremony in Frisco where the vast majority of names announced were for Asian-American students.
Texas residents are furious, let me tell you. And they aren’t nearly as mad at the Democrats as they are at the Republicans who are selling Texans out. Everybody knows that Democrats are worthless. People expect better from Republicans, especially in a deep red state.
Enter Greg Abbott. He is undoubtedly a skilled politician. Abbott is a master fundraiser and may even be more adept at pulling the wool over Texans’ eyes.
