Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Texas' New Border Law

• A new law making illegal entrance into Texas a state crime is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union. The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, the American Gateways, and the County of El Paso. 
       
• Emily Medeiros reports the lawsuit challenges the legislation as a violation of the so-called "supremacy clause" of the Constitution—the idea that federal law is superior to state law.
       
• The plaintiffs want the federal courts to declare the state legislation entirely unlawful and forbid its enforcement. Gov. Greg Abbott is dismissive of the lawsuit and says the states have the right to defend themselves when the federal government is not doing its job.
       
• “Federal courts shouldn’t side with the ACLU in supporting the federal government’s program of chaos at our southern border.” – Tony McDonald
      
• The new law does not take effect until Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
      
• RELATED STORY: Border patrol agents encountered more than 14,000 illegal aliens on Monday, setting a new single-day record. The previous record of 12,000 encounters was set just two weeks ago.

More Bad Polling for Dade Phelan

• New polling shows House Speaker Dade Phelan’s approval rating is underwater with Texas voters. Brandon Waltens has the details.
        

• A poll conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Politics Project finds that only 22 percent of Texas voters have a favorable opinion of Phelan, while 31 percent of voters have an unfavorable opinion.
       
• Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi noted that the -9 net approval rating was “unprecedented in recent years.” 
      
• Separate polling commissioned by Defend Texas Liberty found 49 percent of Republican voters in Phelan's district had an unfavorable opinion of him. Phelan faces two challengers in the upcoming Republican primary election: David Covey and Alicia Davis.

Feds: ‘Woke and Weaponized’

• Significant elements of the federal government seem to have set themselves against justice and the American people. Robert Montoya has investigated the tools and resources available to state officials that can shield Texans from a federal government that has been weaponized against the citizens.
       
• Among other things, experts recommend that state officials carefully review the different agreements that exist between various state law enforcement departments and federal agencies. Those reviews should ensure Texans' civil liberties are being protected by state agencies.
      

• As Wade Miller of the Center for Renewing America told Texas Scorecard, the federal government today is “woke and weaponized.”

Parents Demand Answers About 'Runaway' Bus Driver

• Parents in McKinney want answers from school district officials about a “runaway” bus driver incident that occurred in February, prompting a lawsuit against McKinney Independent School District, their bus service contractor, and the driver. Erin Anderson has the story.
   
• A driver hired by Durham School Services picked up students at school and was supposed to drop them off in a nearby neighborhood. Instead, the bus full of young children was driven to the freeway and headed south on U.S. 75 for several miles until ending up in Allen.
     
• Parent advocates claim the district's new superintendent, who was in charge of student safety at the time of the incident, refused to contact law enforcement when the bus went missing and shielded the driver’s identity.
         

• District officials are accused of outsourcing student safety to third parties who are not accountable to the public except through costly lawsuits.

Woke Organization Names Tomball ISD Finalist for Award

• The School Superintendents Association, known for promoting COVID-19 vaccine jabs for children and leftist ideological programs, has named the superintendent of Tomball ISD as a finalist for their “National Superintendent of the Year” award.
      
• Martha Salazar-Zamora, who has headed Tomball ISD since 2017, is also the president-elect of the Texas Association of School Administrators – a lobby organization that works against parent and taxpayer interests.
       
• The School Superintendents Association has also pushed for legislation undermining Americans' Second Amendment Rights.

Quote-Unquote

"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas."

– Calvin Coolidge​

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