To Republicans like Abbot, Trump and most of their supporters, cruelty IS the point, not the means. As Trump said, in a speech to law enforcement officers in Brentwood NY:
"When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just seen them thrown in, rough. I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,’" he said.
"When you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head you know, the way you put their hand over [their head]," Trump continued, mimicking the motion. "Like, 'Don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody, don’t hit their head.' I said, 'You can take the hand away, OK?'
Cruelty is the point. Throwing a border crosser into barbed wire is the point. Kicking a woman who is going into labor back into the river is the point. The man and his child who drowned during a crossing is the point.
The ACLU response to Trump's speech to the police misses the point:
the American Civil Liberties Union and director of the
ACLU’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality, said in a statement.
“Innocent until proven guilty? Our president would rather not bother with that, expanding the role of the police officer to include judge, jury, and executioner,” he said.
What Trump is advocating is not summary justice at the moment the arrest is made, he is advocating cruelty. That is his point. That is how he means to govern us.