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Good morning,

Celebrations at Christmas are a lot like standing on the roadside for hours, admiring the “distance” marker to our destination. I conclude the week reflecting on what should bring us real joy this season.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, Dec. 19, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Trump Policies Drive Record-Low Border Encounters Under the strengthened border security policies of the Trump administration, zero illegal aliens have been released at the border in the past seven months. There has been an overall decrease in the annual number of apprehensions. Addie Hovland has the details [[link removed]].

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that the number of illegal border crossings nationally was even lower in November than in the prior month, which had also set a historic low. According to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, November marks the "seventh straight month of zero releases at the border." In contrast, more than 7,000 illegals were released on parole by Border Patrol in November 2024 under the Biden administration's policies.

Border Patrol has seen a 95 percent decline in daily apprehensions.

Selene Rodriguez, a border security and immigration expert with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said that while the U.S. has strengthened border security, it does not mean it is entirely secure. Many sections of both the southern and northern borders lack personnel and technology, creating opportunities for exploitation. Texas Congressmen Launch ‘Sharia Free America’ Caucus In an effort to counter the “alarming rise of Sharia in the United States,” Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] that two Texas congressmen have launched the Sharia Free America Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The caucus was launched yesterday by Republican U.S. Reps. Keith Self of McKinney and Chip Roy of Austin in the wake of recent Islamic violence in the U.S. and abroad.

"We’ve seen what happens when nations allow this infiltration: countries like France and England are on the verge of losing their identity and sovereignty. The same forces are at play here in America today, and if we don’t stop them, they will conquer our country too." – Keith Self [[link removed]] Trump Admin Moves To Ban Sex-Rejecting Procedures on Children Sydnie Henry reports [[link removed]] that the Trump administration is moving to cut off federal support for medical interventions that attempt to change a child’s sex, targeting both hospital practices and public insurance funding.

Proposed regulations designed to end “sex‑rejecting procedures” on minors were announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Such procedures include puberty blockers, cross‑sex hormones, and surgeries intended to make a child’s body match an asserted gender identity different from his or her biological sex.

According to data cited by HHS, nearly 14,000 minors received sex‑rejecting procedures between 2019 and 2023.

Earlier this week, the U.S. House passed legislation criminalizing sex-rejecting interventions for minors. The proposal faces an uphill battle in the Senate. Club for Growth Flags Texas Lawmakers For Record Spending In its new ratings, Club for Growth is dinging Texas lawmakers for record spending and limited property tax relief. Brandon Waltens has the story [[link removed]].

While the group credited state legislators with passing a major school-choice expansion, permanently repealing the death tax, and reforming the state’s unemployment insurance system, it sharply criticized the Legislature for approving what it called historic overspending.

The average Republican senator earned a 57 percent rating, compared to just 14 percent for Senate Democrats. In the House, Republicans averaged 54 percent, while Democrats averaged 15 percent.

State Sen. Bob Hall received the highest Republican score in the upper chamber, while Brian Harrison was the top-ranked member in the Texas House. West Texas Coach ‘On Leave’ Over Texts to Student A volleyball coach is on leave while [[link removed]] authorities investigate alleged “inappropriate communications” between the educator and a student in the Clyde Independent School District. The matter is being investigated by Clyde CISD and the city's police department.

Jason Scott McAden, who works at the district's junior high campus [[link removed]], has been placed on administrative leave by the superintendent. McAden previously coached women’s volleyball at McMurry University and was named an American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2007. He holds a lifetime Texas teaching certificate in physical education, which was issued in 1999.RELATED NEWS Parents of children enrolled at a Pasadena Head Start facility are demanding answers after local police confirmed an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct involving two teachers and children as young as three. Michael Wilson has the report [[link removed]]. Several parents say they learned of the situation indirectly and were not directly notified by the school when the investigation began. The teachers involved have not been charged with a crime. REAL TEXANS Candidates for Comptroller

In just over 70 days, Republicans will select their nominee to be the next state comptroller. Here are the conversations with the candidates seeking that office:

Find more conversations in the REAL TEXANS [[link removed]] archive!

Friday Reflection

Resounding Joy, Right Now! [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

If you can get past the inflatable snowmen, blinking lights, tinsel, and presents, Christmas’ focus is on a baby in a manger. Yet even that is just a meager sign pointing us to the destination of a joy that can last much longer than the season.

We marvel at the thought of an angelic host singing over the shepherds. It’s easy to fixate on the helpless babe in the manger; it’s pleasant to think of a child smiling at the visiting wise men.

But our celebrations of Christmas are a lot like standing on the roadside for hours, admiring the “distance” marker to our destination. The view might be nice, but it is not where we’re going.

To fully appreciate Christmas, we must travel less than ten miles from Bethlehem to the city of Jerusalem. We’re not going inside the walls of the city, though; our first stop is the place known as Golgotha.

To meaningfully understand that baby in the manger, we must also see Him as a man hanging on a cross. But not just hanging on a cross—many died in such a manner under the brutality of the Romans. What made this Man so important is that He rose from the dead three days later.

Two places, a 15-minute walk from each other, vie for the title of the burial site of Jesus. One has close to two millennia of history on its side; the other has a geologic formation and a pristine tomb. At one place, you can feel the spiritual connection to millions of pilgrims who have visited the site. At the other, you can see how it might have looked the morning of the resurrection.

The significance of both places isn’t what’s there, but what is not.

That baby in the manger is significant because He is the Son of God. After hanging on a cross for our sins until dead, He was buried. He conquered death on our behalf and then rose to take His place at the right hand of God the Father.

The joy of Christmas is but a foretaste of the joy of Easter and eternity hereafter. Baubles and trinkets under a tree will perish, but the gift of salvation through the risen Christ lasts for eternity.

As Isaac Watts wrote:

“Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns:

let men their songs employ;

while fields and floods,

rocks, hills, and plains

repeat the sounding joy.”

Merry Christmas!

Quote-Unquote

"The greatest and most momentous fact which the history of the world records is the fact of Christ’s birth."

– Charles Spurgeon

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