Texas Representative Josey Garcia, a Democrat from San Antonio, says plain-clothed ‘agents’ unexpectedly showed up at her Texas home in unmarked SUVs.
Her family is saying they find it hard to believe she is essentially being hunted down by their own governor.
“Their intention is to definitely hunt us down, put us in handcuffs, and force us back to the Capitol,” Garcia said.
Garcia says it was because she left the state during Texas’s redistricting vote that they arrived at her home.
This frustrates Garcia as two of her adult sons have autism.
“They don’t have the emotional capabilities of addressing these types of complex issues,” Garcia said.
Speaker Dustin Burrows signed civil arrest warrants for the absent Democrats.
This led to U.S. Senator John Cornyn saying the FBI would help state and local law enforcement track down Democrats like Garcia who are out of state.
It is not clear, though, how they would do it.
“You’re involving yourself in intimidation and the official oppression of duly elected officials,” Garcia said.
This all came to a head yesterday when a Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order on former U.S. Rep Beto O’Rourke’s fundraising efforts for Democratic lawmakers.
Before this decision, Attorney General Ken Paxton put out a statement about the fundraising efforts, which says, “Any Democrat coward breaking the law by taking a ‘Beto bribe’ will be held accountable.”
“It’s not bribery unless we say you give me this money and I will break quorum, that never happened,” Garcia said.
Attorney General Paxton and Speaker Burrows also filed a legal complaint in California, but we still don’t know they are looking to enforce arrests for reps who left Texas.
We will keep you up to date as this story develops.