Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, June 13, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Open Border Advocates Say Mass Deportation Is Too Expensive

• Over the past several years, the left has promulgated the theory that a mass deportation effort would result in taxpayers being forced to shoulder an exorbitant financial burden. Will Biagini explains new analyses showing that allowing illegal aliens to remain in-country is much more pricey.
      
• The supposed cost of deporting illegal aliens has been an argument employed since at least 2015. That's when a  “progressive” think tank asserted that it would cost $114 billion to remove 11.3 million illegal aliens from the country.
       
• The Federation for American Immigration Reform has found that the net cost of illegal immigration at the federal, state, and local levels last year was, at minimum, $150.7 billion., or $1,156 per year per legal resident.

Texas Blocks Biden’s ATF Rule Restricting Gun Sales

• In a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas has successfully blocked—for now—new restrictions on private gun sales imposed by the Biden administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Erin Anderson has the details.
      
• A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction this week halting enforcement of the rule in Texas while litigation proceeds. Paxton had filed the lawsuit last month challenging new ATF regulations that redefine who is “engaged in the business” as a firearms dealer.
       
• If allowed to take effect, the 126-page ATF rule would have the effect of criminalizing law-abiding Americans for private gun purchases and sales.
      
• “Biden’s unconstitutional rule cannot be enforced in Texas,” said Paxton. “I’m proud to fight and win for our Second Amendment rights.”

RELATED NEWS

• A proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Labor would permit foreign nationals working in the agricultural industry under the H-2A guest worker visa program to unionize and engage in collective bargaining.
       
• In addition to Texas, the other states involved in the lawsuit against the rule include Kansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Michael Cloud Files ‘Dismantle DEI Act’ with J.D. Vance

• In an attempt to eliminate the leftwing agenda known as "diversity, equity, and inclusion," U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio have filed legislation eliminating such positions in the federal government. Emily Medeiros has the story.
       
• The Dismantle DEI Act would eliminate DEI positions in the federal government, bar federal contractors from requiring DEI statements and training sessions, and stop federal grants from going to diversity initiatives. Other provisions in the act would prevent accreditation agencies from requiring DEI in schools and prohibit national securities associations, like NASDAQ, from implementing diversity requirements for corporate boards.
       
• "DEI practices have zero place in our federal government," said Cloud. "These initiatives, presented as promoting fairness, have instead fostered division and racial bias within our institutions and culture – which is not conducive to serving taxpayers well."
       
• Other Texans supporting the measure include Reps. Troy Nehls, Randy Weber, and Keith Self.

Houston City Council Approves $650 Million Bond

• The Houston City Council has approved a $650 million judgment bond for backpay to the city’s firefighters as a part of a larger settlement. As Charles Blain reports, the bond does not require voter approval.
        
• Two council members proposed amendments to place the item on the November 2024 ballot, but both were ruled out of order. After two hours of discussion, the council voted to issue the bonds 14-3.
          

• Overall, the total settlement with the firefighters is $1.5 billion and includes a 5-year collective bargaining agreement, though the rest of the settlement has yet to be approved.

Quote-Unquote

“It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.”

– George Washington​

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