Good morning,

Yesterday, we asked readers about hostile foreign governments and their companies owning property in Texas. Today, we have your answers...

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, July 30, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Nehls Wants Answers From Mayorkas

• For the third time, U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) is demanding answers from the Secretary of Homeland Security about violent criminals being released from foreign prisons, embedding themselves into migrant caravans, and coming into the United States. So far, reports Debra McClure, he has received no answers.
      
• According to Nehls, Venezuelan gangs are operating in U.S. cities and have committed multiple murders and sexual assaults. He notes that DHS recently released two Venezuelan nationals into the country, and they are now accused of the brutal rape and murder of a 12-year-old Houston girl.
      
• “If this administration truly cared about the safety of the American people, they would take action to prevent violent criminals from entering our country and deport those who have been released into our homeland, especially bad hombres from Venezuela.” – U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls

RELATED NEWS

• Jorge Chacon-Gutierrez, 25, was caught by the U.S. Border Patrol when he illegally crossed into Texas in November but was released into the country. He was set for an immigration court date... in April 2026.
      
• On Sunday, police were called to an apartment over a domestic disturbance. The illegal alien shot and wounded a responding officer. After a standoff, Chacon-Gutierrez was found dead though it is unclear if he killed himself or sustained wounds in a brief exchange of fire with police.

Poll: Majority of Texans Support School Choice

• The only group of Texans who don't support school choice? White Democrats. That's among the results from research conducted by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University. Daniel Greer has the story.
      
• Overall, 65 percent of Texans support the adoption of a school choice plan letting parents decide where to send their children to school. Minority groups from both parties back school choice at higher rates than whites.
      
• Notably, the only respondents lacking a majority of support for school choice were white Democrats.
      
• In 2023, the Texas Senate repeatedly passed school choice legislation advanced by Gov. Greg Abbott, only to see it blocked in the Texas House by Democrats and a small band of liberal Republicans.

RELATED NEWS

• Over the past five years, reports Adam Cahn, Austin ISD has seen enrollment drop by close to ten percent. At the same time, the district has made national headlines as a center for far-left indoctrination.

Exclusion of Public Testimony in House Sparks Criticism

• A select House committee tasked with studying a potential ban on Texas land ownership by hostile foreign entities faces criticism for failing to allow public testimony. Brandon Waltens has the details.
        
• The hearing, conducted last week by chairman Cole Hefner (R-Mount Pleasant), was largely dominated by special interest groups and paid lobbyists. That has now sparked concerns about the inclusivity and transparency of the legislative process.
       
• Andrew McVeigh, who leads Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, wrote a letter to the committee's chairman expressing concern that the voices of ordinary Texas citizens were being ignored.
      
• TFR underscored the potential risks of foreign entities, particularly those linked to oppressive regimes such as the Chinese Communist Party, owning or controlling Texas’s natural resources, land, housing, and other real property. McVeigh wrote that such ownership fundamentally threatens the welfare of millions of Texas families and small business owners.
     
• The House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock is set to hear testimony examining foreign ownership of farmland, timberland, pastureland, and agricultural processing facilities on August 13. The chairman, Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), is only allowing testimony from individuals invited by the committee.

Windstorm Insurance Rates May Go Up

• Residential and commercial policyholders could see a 10 percent hike in windstorm insurance for 2025, reports Charles Blain. The hike would impact policyholders in more than a dozen counties along the Texas coast.
       
• If approved by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the rate would have to be filed with the Texas Department of Insurance before taking effect.
     
• The increase is being opposed by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) and State Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi). 
       
• It was recently announced that claims from Hurricane Beryl could constitute up to half of TWIA's Catastrophic Reserve Trust Fund.

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Quote-Unquote

"Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first—the most basic—expression of Americanism. Thus the Founding Fathers saw it, and thus, with God's help, it will continue to be."

– Dwight D. Eisenhower​

Y'All Answered

Hostile foreign governments, especially the Chinese Communist Party, have stepped up efforts to buy land in Texas and around the nation. Experts have pointed to the security and economic threats posed by allowing those sales to take place. Others, like the Texas Farm Bureau, have opposed restricting property sales to such countries.

Yesterday, we asked readers if hostile foreign governments (such as China and Iran) or their agents should be allowed to purchase Texas land and mineral rights. A resounding 98.99 percent of readers clicked, "No."

Here is a sampling of the comments we received.

• “I don't understand why this is even a question. Do we really need to allow the CCP and others a base of operations here?” – Cindy Armstrong
      

• “Texas and the Nation should ban any foreigners from buying or owning land, especially if these counties are hostile towards the US or these nations have a policy of not allowing foreigners to own land in their country.” – Landon Capozzi
      

• “Who will decide if the sale will be approved? Is it yet another government agency funded with taxpayer dollars and subject to the inevitable corruption and lack of oversight?” – Tobie Hall
      

• “No foreign government should own one square inch of Texas or of the USA. Hostile or not.” – Lauri Helms
      

• “In my opinion, in order to buy American land you must first be an American.” – Anthony Fourman
      

• “Texas Farm Bureau’s representative supported foreign purchases by our enemies. The same organization whose PAC donated only to incumbent nonconservative members of the Texas House in the Republican primaries. TFB is not a friend to conservatives.” – Randy Bean
      

• “Absolutely NO Texas land should be sold to foreign entities!” – Cynthia Grubbs
      

• “It is scary to think that our enemies could build the equivalent of fortresses within our country to attack our military bases and spy on our people.” – Charlene Kuprel
     

• “Only Americans should be able to own Texas property.” – Gene Klutts
      

• “I strongly support private property rights—until the land is purchased by an entity whose eventual plan is to kill us! It is ridiculous having a loophole that only requires written notice to the seller that the buyer is basically a terrorist organization.” – Beth Ann Smith
     

• “All of my proposed land purchases in Iran and Red China have been blocked by their governments.” – David Bergthold
       

• “The free market requires no government restrictions on the selling of land. If the government can block certain foreigners from buying land, then they can eventually ban whoever they want from buying land.” – Jim Baxa
        

• “These countries, while not our enemies, are our economic and geopolitical adversaries. They do not allow Texans to own land in their countries; We must not allow them to own land in ours.” – Chris Breaux
      

• “NO, NEVER EVER should land be allowed to be sold to ANY hostile countries!! It's a threat to sovereignty and safety!” – Lisa Cryer
      

• “People who sell land to hostile foreign governments and their agents remind me of the quote attributed to Vladimir Lenin, ‘The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope.’ Making money is all well and good, but not to the extent it undermines our judgment about whom we are making money from!” – Erika Metzger
       

• “Land is key to wealth and one of the means for production in an economy. Why allow foreign nations like China to steal bread from our breakfast table?” – James R. Stewart
      

• “If foreign nationals are able to buy land, what will stop them from creating ‘no go’ zones or claiming sovereignty over that land?” – Cathy Hess
       

• “What would have happened had we let the Japanese and Nazis buy up land here during WWII? Yep, it would be stupid. No difference.” – Rick Goncher
       

• “This is just what the elites want: To further dilute the sovereignty of the USA and remake America into ‘just another country’ that will fall in line with the global agenda. Dade Phelan and his ilk care nothing about our state or its people. They have been hired on to further a larger, more evil agenda.” – Deb Hillis 

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