As a native Texan, I wonder where our gall and pride went when it came to challenging an authoritarian state government. Instead of rising to the occasion and standing in solidarity, many of us remain indifferent. The silence is almost as deafening as rubber bullets being shot at civilian protestors and journalists exercising their basic rights in California. The deployment of troops, signed off by President Donald Trump, came without an invitation nor warning. 

Governor Greg Abbott is now beating Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to the punch. He will be deploying Texas National Guard troops across the state ahead of the “No Kings” protest set this Saturday, a challenge to the campaign of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, raids across the country. This national protest is also set to occur during Trump’s birthday parade, a movement of dissidence felt across the country.

In a press conference on Wednesday, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said that city officials were not given notice that troops were to be deployed. The tension and shock in the room was thick after San Antonio Police Chief McManus clarified that there was no line of communication for the decision to preemptively activate the Texas National Guard. 

Mayor Nirenberg, who is soon to be succeeded by mayor-elect Gina Ortiz Jones, called the administration’s tactics a “cruel approach to human rights.” 

Now, 700 U.S. Marines are prepared to be deployed to Los Angeles with 4,000 National Guard troops instructed to protect federal property and assist in the immigration raids — not to ensure the peaceful demonstration of protest and free speech. 

This all happened without California Governor Gavin Newsom and local law enforcement’s formal approval. Now, Texas mayors of Austin and San Antonio are experiencing the same lack of cooperation by being purposefully left out of government decisions regarding the protection of protestors. 

In an authoritarian police state, this is something taken right out of a dystopian novel. 

On top of this behavior exhibited by the Trump administration, regular Americans, validly concerned over the sanctioning of their rights, find themselves at a crossroads: either disagree with the encroaching powers of the executive branch or permit their actions. Pitifully, the state of Texas is making that decision for us. 

We the people are being tread on, which goes directly against Texan values of self-determination and freedom. We are being made an example of; our state is willing to condemn lawful protests before it condemns the abuse of power raining down on our heads. 

In our beloved Lone Star state, protests arising in major cities are being met with police confrontations. Lately, with ICE arresting construction workers on UTSA’s campus and detaining suspected migrants outside of city courtrooms in San Antonio and elsewhere, more people should start to recognize the eerie concentration of power in U.S. federal agencies. This affects both citizens and non-citizens alike. Our own elected city officials should be coordinated  with, not surprised by Governor Greg Abbott’s actions. 

Moreover, the militant response to protests has devolved into using tactics that include waiting outside immigration hearings and courthouses. The majority of protests, although peaceful and non-violent, are escalating due to the increased military presence, surveillance, a mandated curfew and force. 

In light of the military taking up our streets, people need to embrace their right to disagree. Texans should be united against a totalizing campaign. We need to hold our ground and say that it is not okay to send troops without notification or arrest peaceful protestors and treat them like they are guilty before they are innocent. 

I’ve watched protests where both the young and elderly are getting pushed by law enforcement on horseback and being bludgeoned with wooden bats. I can’t help but imagine my neighbors and friends being the ones’ victimized and treated callously. 

People are exercising their free speech for the rights of immigrants in a country built on their work and labor. This should not be a crime worthy of the treatment now witnessed by the entire world.

We need to preserve speech and fight those neglecting our rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights before we are silenced, bullied and shoved aside. That means speaking, demonstrating and having hard conversations right now.