Good morning, 

We asked what readers thought about funding the ongoing war in Ukraine. Check out the responses below.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, June 4, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Calls Grow for Lawmakers to Protect Texans from Rogue Prosecutors

• Last week, Donald Trump became the highest-profile victim of lawfare in the modern political era. Daniel Greer explains how Texans face similar risks from rogue prosecutors.
   
• Legal analysts from across the political spectrum took issue with Judge Juan Merchan’s actions during the trial, with many coming to the conclusion that he wasn’t primarily concerned with ensuring justice was served but securing a guilty verdict in service of derailing Trump’s presidential campaign.
   
• Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Paxton all agreed with that sentiment. Paxton, of course, has spent a decade fighting criminal charges brought by political enemies.
       
• “What happened to President Trump in New York is, for many, emblematic of a justice system that has been captured for political purposes and is now taking prisoners.” – State Rep.-elect Mitch Little
      

• Attorney Tony McDonald said the political persecution of both Trump and Paxton represents an escalation in lawfare. That is especially true, he said, when it comes to other states prosecuting Texans. “But to protect Texas sovereignty, Governor Abbott should resist knee-jerk granting of extradition requests.”

DHS Fails to Monitor 77,000 Parolees

• A recent report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General has found that DHS failed to keep track of nearly 80,000 Afghan evacuees who were granted two-year paroles in the United States. As Will Biagini reports, Republicans in Congress are concerned that this means the agency cannot keep track of the 1.1 million inadmissible aliens paroled by the Biden administration.
      
• Following President Joe Biden’s cataclysmic withdrawal from Afghanistan in the late summer of 2021, approximately 97,000 evacuees were brought into the United States by the federal government as part of Operation Allies Welcome. Of those, 77,000 were granted humanitarian parole for 2 years.
      
• Now it is being revealed that DHS had no mechanism for monitoring those parolees. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly thought the matter was being handled by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. USCIS denied that, stating they are not a law enforcement component. Meanwhile, ICE officials said they are understaffed for such a task.
      
• Inspires a lot of confidence, eh?

Border Patrol Agent Arrested for Human Smuggling Attempt

• A border patrol agent has been arrested for allegedly encouraging a scheme that would help illegal aliens enter the United States using fake documentation and asylum claims. Emily Medeiros has the details.
     
• Jorge Alonso worked as a Border Patrol agent in the Rio Grande Valley Sector at Texas’ southern border. He allegedly attempted to assist an illegal alien enter the U.S. and then establish a process for helping others do likewise.

Mansfield ISD Passes Resolution Denouncing Title IX Rewrite

• In North Texas, the Mansfield Independent School District is the latest to pass a resolution condemning the Biden administration's rewrite of Title IX. The new version adds “gender identity” as a protected class.
      
• Title IX was originally designed to prohibit sex-based discrimination in education. It would also force schools to allow biological males to use female spaces, under threat of losing federal funds.
      
• The vote was 5-1, with the dissenting trustee saying she did not want "to engage in a political warfare with other people."

Judge Rejects Immunity Claim of Principal Who Ignored Abuse of 5-year-old Student

• A federal judge has rejected an immunity claim by a Central Texas school administrator accused of facilitating a male teacher’s molestation of a 5-year-old female student. Erin Anderson has the story.
     

• The judge found that Lorena Primary School Principal April Jewell’s lack of action to protect pre-K children from a teacher’s abuse “shocks the conscience.”

      
• According to a lawsuit filed last year by one of the victim’s parents, Jewell ignored months of warnings from multiple school employees about inappropriate behavior by the teacher, Nicolas Scot Crenshaw, toward two of his female students. Last year, he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault of a young child and other crimes against the students and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
       

• Jewell kept her job as the school’s principal, upsetting parents who say the ordeal has shattered their trust in Lorena ISD.

Charter School Teacher Charged with Assaulting Student

• A Texas charter school teacher is in jail after being accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old student. Jose Adrian Hernandez Grimaldo, who taught at the International Leadership of Texas, was arrested last month and faces between 5 and 99 years in jail if convicted.
   
• At the time of the alleged assault, Hernandez Grimaldo taught at the ILTexas K-8 school in College Station. He later transferred to the school’s Lancaster K-8 campus, where he worked at the time of his arrest.
       
• Hernandez Grimaldo is in the U.S. on a visa to teach Spanish. He was hired by the charter school in August 2022. He had previously been accused of touching students and was dismissed from his job at one point before being rehired.
      
• ILTexas Superintendent Eddie Conger has confirmed that Hernandez Grimaldo has now been terminated—again.

Quote-Unquote

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

– Albert Einstein​

Y'All Answered

Over the last two years, even as the border with Mexico has remained porous, the United States has sent more than $175 billion to help Ukraine defend its borders.

Yesterday, we asked readers if the United States should continue funding the Ukrainian war effort. A majority of readers (88.2 percent) want to end the funding, while 11.8 percent believe it should be continued.

Here is a sampling of what readers had to say after answering the survey question...

• “I voted no with great reservation because I’m not sure who the villain is. The countries of Ukraine and Russia are possibly equal in evil rulers.” – Barbara McClure
      

• “Yes, it’s in the long-term interests of the US and all nations to support Ukraine in its fight against the immoral military aggression of Russia. Failing to do so and allowing Russia to succeed would only encourage more immoral military aggression by Russia and other belligerent states.” – David Nelson
     

• “No! If we can’t protect our own borders, we shouldn’t be sending money to Ukraine to protect theirs. We have unknown numbers of terrorists coming into our country illegally that are going to try and take America down from within.” – Sudie Sartor
     

• “I lived in Russia for 18 months and visited Ukraine several times. I know several wonderful Ukrainians, and they don't deserve what Russia is doing to them. Stopping Russian aggression there will stop them from attacking other countries.” – Rick McClelland
      

• “It's a false dichotomy to juxtapose the 175 billion we've spent to stop Russia's annexation of a neighbor to Europe against our porous southern border. If Biden had kept the 175 billion, it would have done nothing for the border; it would have gone to "canceling" student debt, banning gas stoves, making good on threats to outspoken parents, and countless other harms.” – Mary Louise Serafine
      

• “Russia is an adversary of the United States and would be a much greater threat if it absorbs the resources of Ukraine. Ukraine could be a strong ally of the United States if it survives this war. That is definitely worth investing some money (not American blood) to achieve that end. Helping Ukraine is an America First policy.” – Jerry Harben
      

• “We should have never started sending money to Ukraine…” – Kalin Hartman
      

• “Yes, but only with a full accounting of funds. Ukraine’s history of government corruption is a reason to keep them on a short leash.” – Thomas Camardo
      

• “I am so baffled by the stupidity and hypocrisy of this administration (and most Democrats) that I have no comment other than, put America first and fund securing OUR borders!” – Cathy Blake
     

• “Funding the war in Ukraine is a waste of valuable resources that are dramatically needed elsewhere in OUR country, especially the southern border. Continued funding is a "feel good" move for idiot relics like John Cornyn!” – Roger Taylor
      

• “Why should the US go even further into debt for a foreign country that is not even one of our traditional allies? Maybe it has something to do with those biolabs…” – Cindy Armstrong
      

• “My savings, for which I have worked and sacrificed for decades, has been seriously diluted while we send billions of dollars all over the world.” – Jonathan Smythe
      

• “Until the problems facing the citizens of the USA have been adequately addressed and work is being done to resolve the pain at home, not a single taxpayer dollar should be sent outside our country.” – Charles McCord
      

• “We should not have funded this boondoggle in the first place. It appears this was just another way for the Biden's and some of their cronies to grift... All at the expense of human lives! Absolutely disgusting!” – Deb Hillis
      

• “Until the allies get together and develop a comprehensive strategy to settle the conflict, including sanctions on all the bad actors, no more American dollars. We need a Churchill leader, not a highly compromised spineless jellyfish, in charge of our country.” – Sandra Grove
      

• “Why should taxpayer money be spent to protect a country’s borders when we cannot protect our own borders? We need to put our own house in order first.” – Steve Sullivan
      

• “I voted ‘No’, but I do think the USA should provide aid (under strict public scrutiny) to the UKR Resistance. It should also come with a requirement to negotiate an armistice with Russia.” – Jason Kerr
     

• “If we are not in the war to win, then we should get out.” – Anette Bennett
     

• “Stop funding this war since it'll lead to WWIII, it's a reckless aid more aimed at getting rid of Putin, the US has no business being there.” – Rachel Salajean
     

• “The United States government cannot pay its own bills, nor has it shown any interest in securing our borders. We should never have been involved with Ukraine!” – Kent Kirby
      

• “We shouldn't have sent money to Ukraine to begin with since we have so many of our own problems here at home. Sending billions to Ukraine while our border remains open is sticking the finger to America First!” – Gail Hanna
     

• “Voting to continue Ukraine war funding was a bit painful, but correct. However, our support must be based on a WINNING principle!” – H. J. Bronson
       

• “Funding the Ukraine war amounts to our taxpayer dollars being laundered and ending up in the hands of the elite. None of these funds help the Ukrainian people.” – Sylvia McLeod
     

• “This has to be the biggest money laundering scheme since the beginning of time. What I want to see is a full and complete accounting of the money that's been sent over and find out how much came back.” – Rick Goncher
      

• “I hate to spend money, but this is necessary. I believe we should be doing this as more of a lease program where at some point we get some of the monies back.” – Wayne Crist
      

• “I’m old enough to remember when $5B to build a border wall was out of the question by Congress. But $175B to Ukraine to defend theirs is perfectly fine? Imagine what $175B could have done for US border security.” – Kimery McKaskle
      

• “Just think how much more secure our border would be if the cadaver-in-chief had spent that money on a wall and deporting illegals!” – Priscilla Love
      

• “It's much better to 'fight' the enemy on their soil than on ours.” – Tony Casper

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