Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, July 24, 2025.

– Sydnie Henry

Texas National Guard Mobilizing To Assist ICE

• The Texas National Guard is mobilizing to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across the state, sources confirmed to Texas Scorecard. Joseph Trimmer has the details. 
   
• The deployment will reportedly center on managing large-scale detention facilities designed to facilitate mass deportations. 
   
• Nationally, hundreds of National Guard troops will also be deployed to protect and support ICE agents in the field amid a heightened threat environment for federal immigration enforcement officers.

Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Ban Advances in Texas Senate

• Legislation to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying is once again gaining momentum in the Texas Senate. Brandon Waltens has the latest. 
   
• Senate Bill 12 by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) was approved unanimously by the Senate State Affairs Committee on a 10-0 vote and is expected to pass the full Senate in the coming days.
   
• The push to end the practice has been a long-standing legislative priority of the Republican Party of Texas. Despite broad support among GOP voters, the measure has repeatedly stalled in the Texas House—often due to opposition from local government officials and the taxpayer-funded lobbyists they hire to influence state legislation.

Montgomery County Secures First Murder Conviction Under Fentanyl Law

• For the first time in Montgomery County, a man has been convicted of murder under Texas’ 2023 fentanyl law. Michael Wilson has the story. 
   

• In 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation designed to combat the growing fentanyl crisis in Texas. One law introduced a new criminal offense: murder charges for anyone who supplies fentanyl that results in a death.
   

• A Montgomery County jury unanimously found James Carter Smith Jr. guilty of murder for his role in the fentanyl-related death of U.S. Army combat veteran Justin Fortin. Fortin died just a month after Abbott signed the measure into law, making Smith eligible for the enhanced charge.

Texas Lawmakers Tackle Growing Threat to Cattle and Hunting Industries From Flesh-Eating Parasite

• With Texas agriculture officials warning of the dire threat posed by a flesh-eating parasite advancing toward the U.S.-Mexico border, state lawmakers are considering how to confront the looming reemergence of the New World screwworm. Addie Hovland has the details about the invasive pest experts say could devastate the state’s livestock and hunting industries.
   

• Phil Kaufman, head of the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, told the House Agriculture & Livestock Committee that if the screwworm were to make its way into Texas, he estimates that potential losses could reach $2.1 billion for the cattle industry and $9 billion for the hunting industry.
   

• Although the most common animals infected with the pest are livestock and wildlife, there have been cases of cats, dogs, and even humans being infected by the parasite as well.

Republicans Campaign for Texas Attorney General Seat 

• With Attorney General Ken Paxton running for U.S. Senate, an open Republican primary race to fill his seat has begun. Paige Feild profiles the race after the first campaign finance reports came out. 
   
• State Sen. Mayes Middleton, former Department of Justice official Aaron Reitz, and State Sen. Joan Huffman have each announced their candidacies for the GOP nomination.

Quote-Unquote

"For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America."

– John Steinbeck​

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