Texas Governor Tries to Wash His Hands of This Taxpayer Expense
- Aug 21
- 2 min read
Courtesy Houston Airports
On August 14th in the evening, Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted on X about the illegal discrimination at the expense of Texas taxpayers in two airports:
He issued a press release discussing a review of the airports and published a letter as well to DFW that he also shared with the mayors of Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth. The key part?
Unlike nondenominational interfaith chapels, these ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. I am unaware of either airport installing standalone facilities to meet the particular needs of the many other religious groups represented across Texas.
In his letter to Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, he protested the plans of DFW "to install ablution facilities for Islamic wudu washing rituals." He argued that this was "special treatment based on religion" that is illegal federally and at the state level because the airports are government-owned.
This whole story broke on August 12th, with Fox News sharing a story about the privately-funded plan. The article quoted a conservative person who disagreed with pushing back against the plans. On August 14th in the very late evening, DFW Airport canceled its plans. The airport stated that it would cost less than the $300K, but that it would have been funded by the airport and not privately.
What is this all about? It is most likely more Islamophobia. The New York Times today said in an article about its rise in Texas that Muslim communities, which have been growing for decades, particularly around Dallas, are facing concerns by conservatives. The article points to a politician in the state running for Railroad Commissioner who is very against Muslims:
This is not Governor Abbott's first crusade against Islam. Last year, he declared that Counsel on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is the largest Muslim civil rights organization, is a terrorist organization. Abbott has been fighting a development near Dallas, The Meadow being developed by East Plano's Islamic Center (EPIC City). An article on a HUD investigation into EPIC City pointed to other investigations in Minneapolis and in Boston.
It's not clear why there is such a hatred of Muslim activities by many people. It seems tied to 9/11, which will soon have its 25th anniversary. El-Sayed and Mamdani and other Muslims have pointed out how the anti-Muslim responses to that terrible attack in the United States were harmful to innocent people. The NY TImes article pointed out that trying to combat "radical Islam" has long been a part of the Republican Party efforts. This move by Abbott s just another sad example it appears.
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