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Good morning,

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Illegal Aliens Say Open Borders Rumor is Pushed by Media in Mexico

• The two men, aged 30 and 27, claimed to have been part of a 1,000-person caravan splintered into various smaller groups to reach the border. 
      
• The Texas National Guardsmen turned the two men away. They were last seen continuing up the river, looking for an opening in the fence.

Paxton Tries to Block Biden Administration From Auctioning Border Wall Segments

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a motion in federal district court to prevent the Biden administration from selling sections of the border wall. Emily Medeiros finds that the Biden administration has allegedly been attempting to auction off up to half a mile of border wall per day.
       
• Earlier this year, a Paxton lawsuit forced the Biden administration to spend statutorily obligated funds on border wall construction after the federal government attempted to redirect the money illegally.
      
• Now, Paxton alleges, the administration is violating that federal court order by selling sections of the wall purchased with funds to secure the border.
       
• "Texas is going to court to prevent any border security materials from being unlawfully sold and to find out the truth about what the federal government may be doing to subvert border wall construction." – Ken Paxton

Terror Watchlist Suspect Detained by Texas, But Released by Feds

• A South African national who entered the U.S. illegally was arrested this week in New York after he was identified on the terror watch list. But as Valerie Muñoz reports, the man had earlier been detained by Texas law enforcement and then released into the country by federal officials.
      
• Back in September, Umar Farooq Ashraf was among more than 30 illegal aliens encountered near Del Rio. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens has confirmed that Ashraf was first detained in Texas and turned over to federal border patrol agents. They decided to release him “based on information available at the time.”
       
• Yet, state officials said they had a warning at the time from the Terror Screening Center that the man had suspected ties to terrorism.
       
• “Texas arrested him. Joe Biden released him, risking the lives of every American. I will work with President Trump to arrest, jail, and deport dangerous criminals and suspected terrorists.” – Gov. Greg Abbott

Lawmakers to Examine University 'Governance' as Part of Expanding DEI Ban

• A state senator said lawmakers plan to expand the statewide ban on DEI in higher education. As Robert Montoya reports, the path to doing so involves examining how universities are governed.
        
• In 2023, lawmakers passed a ban on the leftwing program known as "diversity, equity, and inclusion" in the operations and hiring practices of Texas' colleges and universities. The ban does not apply to academic instruction. 
       
• While multiple DEI offices have been closed in universities, the ideology is still alive and well as part of the strategic plans in multiple institutions. As such, State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe) is planning to expand the DEI ban when lawmakers meet in 2025.
              
• “I think we’re definitely looking into governance for how universities work,” Creighton recently told KXAN-TV. “We’re making sure that they are campuses focused on education and innovation, not on political indoctrination.”
        
• Constitutionally, public universities in Texas are governed by boards of regents appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate. In practice, that oversight has been reduced to "shared governance," where unelected and unaccountable faculty members are given the power to run the institutions as they see fit.

UPDATE: Texas Regulators Impose Biden-style Restrictions on Energy Production

• This week, the Texas Railroad Commission unanimously approved new environmental rules for the state’s oil and gas industry. The rules are expected—by both proponents and opponents—to impose new costs on the state’s oil and gas industry and make it less productive, even as the incoming Trump administration promises to cut such red tape nationally.
       
• None of the three Republican commissioners—Wayne Christian, Christi Craddick, and Jim Wright—responded to inquiries from Texas Scorecard about the rule’s impact on the Texas economy and President Trump’s national energy agenda.
   
• In a press release, Commissioner Wayne Christian said their action was a “commonsense, balanced regulation” for the industry.
      
• Nate Dunning of the Young Conservatives of Texas had described the rules as anything but balanced. “This will hurt families, businesses, and communities that depend on the industry for jobs, stability, and energy security.”

Denton Council Approves Conservative Library Board Nominee

• Members of the Denton City Council appointed Ellen Quinn Sullivan to serve on the local library board this week after rejecting another conservative nominee three months earlier. Erin Anderson has the story.
     
• Sullivan has lived in Denton with her husband for the past 17 years. Both had lived in Denton previously while attending and graduating from what is now known as the University of North Texas.
      
• In September, another nominee—Debi Scaggs—was accused of being a “book banner” because she had challenged age-inappropriate books in Denton’s school and public libraries.
     
• A former school teacher, Sullivan said she is proud to be a conservative and will seek common ground with all her fellow board members.
          
• Yes, Ellen Quinn Sullivan is my mom—a fact used against her unsuccessfully by left-wing activists in the community.

Conservative Leader Award 2024

Shannon Ayres of McKinney

Previously announced 2024 Awardees...

⚔️ Bill Ely

Quote-Unquote

"We forge the chains we wear in life." – Charles Dickens​

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