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As 400 Texas National Guard troops arrive in Illinois at the request of President Donald Trump, San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro has asked Governor Greg Abbott to rescind his permission for Texas troops to be used in this way.
"The Texas National Guard is here for the people of Texas, to be used for the benefit of the people of Texas, not to be deployed as a political prop by the President of the United States," Castro said at a news briefing on Monday.
Castro said Abbott's decision to allow Texas Guard members to be deployed in Illinois, against the wishes of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, was abusive to the Texas troops.
"As Governor Pritzker said, this is authorizing a kind of invasion of places like Chicago and other places because the governors there have not agreed," Castro explained.
"So I'm calling on Greg Abbott to recall permission to Donald Trump to use the Texas National Guard for any purpose that involves going into other cities and doing what was done in Chicago a few days ago," Castro said, referring to last week's early morning military-style raid at an apartment building, in which hundreds of armed federal agents stormed homes and restrained residents with zip-ties, including children. Witnesses say they were brought into the street, some in sleepwear or naked, and detained for hours.
Abbott permitted Trump to send Texas National Guard members to Oregon, as well, but a federal judge has blocked that move.
Castro also addressed the ongoing government shutdown when he met with reporters during Monday's teleconference.
"Congress should be back in session this week," Castro said, referring to the extra week of recess called by House Speaker Mike Johnson. "We should be working with the President to end this shutdown."
Castro's key concern is that any spending plan include an extension of enhanced health insurance premium tax credits for middle-income families who use Obamacare.
"We fully expected that we would be in session this week, working to end this government shutdown and preserve health care for millions of Americans, and tens of thousands of people in San Antonio," Castro said.
The enhanced premium tax credits on Affordable Care Act health insurance plans significantly reduce out-of-pocket expenses for middle-income families, but are set to expire at the end of the year.
"For San Antonio, that means that about 87,000 people will see the cost of their health insurance rise directly because of the lapse in these tax credits," Castro said. "The average increase would be about $459 for someone in the state of Texas."
Castro blamed President Trump for the impasse and urged him to do something about it.
"Just as Donald Trump and the Republicans did everything they could to stop tax credits for billionaires from lapsing," Castro said, "They ought to work to protect health care coverage for the American people, and for Texans, and not let these tax credits lapse."
Speaker Johnson has said that House Republicans have already passed a "clean" stopgap bill to fund the government for seven weeks, and that it is up to Senate Democrats to pass it. The stopgap bill does not address Castro’s concerns about insurance tax credits.
If you’d like to see how costs might increase for you if the enhanced premium tax credits are allowed to expire, KFF has created an interactive tool where users can enter their geography, income, and family size, and get a good idea of how their premium costs might change.
