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The NGO Human Right Watch (HRW) has accused on Wednesday the governor of the U.S. state of Texas, Greg Abbot, of blocking the fundamental rights of organizations that investigate possible human rights violations, after he asked the Texas Attorney General’s Office to open an investigation against these types of associations.
According to the organization, last December 12, Abbott sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Kenneth Paxton, urging him to open an investigation into organizations that provide legal and humanitarian assistance to immigrants and alleging, without providing any evidence, that such groups were «illegally orchestrating» border crossings.
On December 15, three days later, Paxton announced that he had opened an investigation into human rights groups providing legal and humanitarian assistance to immigrants.
«Texas Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton are once again taking legal action to score political points at the expense of fundamental rights,» said HRW’s U.S. Deputy Director Alison Leal Parker.
«The decision to investigate immigrant rights groups is an arbitrary and unjustified attack on freedom of association and expression, with dangerous consequences for other rights,» she added.
The decision by Texas authorities to investigate these groups comes as thousands of immigrants cross the U.S. border, many in orderly lines, and enter the border town of El Paso.
According to the NGO, the newly arrived immigrants «often include people living in the United States» to file an asylum application, which is legal under U.S. immigration and international law.
They also include people who have other legal reasons to remain in the U.S. and who require legal assistance and basic needs, such as housing and food, while their cases are being analyzed.
«All arriving immigrants, regardless of how they enter the United States, are eligible to apply for asylum under U.S. law,» Parker said.
«Abbott and Paxton’s efforts to threaten immigrant rights groups by initiating unwarranted investigations smacks of the repression found in some of the most abusive countries in the world (…) It is in everyone’s interest to allow these groups to exercise their Human Rights to freedom of association and expression,» he added.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)