Good morning!

Like the wealthy residents of the leftist enclave in Martha’s Vineyard, readers don’t want illegal aliens being allowed to hang around the Lone Star State.

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott Proclaims Texas In 30th Month Of ‘COVID Emergency’

• Just one day after President Joe Biden declared the COVID pandemic in the United States is over, Gov. Greg Abbott renewed his emergency COVID declaration for another 30 days. As Brandon Waltens reports, Texas is one of only 12 states continuing to operate under COVID emergency orders.

Local Officials Reveal Harsh Realities of Border Life

• As President Joe Biden’s open border crisis continues with 2.1 million illegal border-crossers, local officials are highlighting the harsh realities of living on the unsecured southern border. Sydnie Henry has the details.
   
• “The Biden administration says it’s a humanitarian event that’s going on. ‘We’re trying to help these people.’ This is not humanitarian,” said Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe. “This is not humane.”
     
• Families are moving out of Kinney County at an unprecedented rate, the sheriff said, leaving vast tracts of land unpatrolled. Coe says officials can’t keep up with the land exchanges. “We don’t know who’s buying it. Is it the cartels? Is it the Chinese? Is it the people from California?”
     
• Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith, meanwhile, is calling for Gov. Greg Abbott to declare an invasion on the southern border, work with other states to create an interstate compact, and get “every single tool on the table.”
     
• “Every day, 300 people die of fentanyl. So, are they okay with that many thousands of people dying that can be prevented? How many people are politicians okay with dying before Texas does something? That’s what it comes down to.” – Brent Smith

UT-Arlington Mandates CRT

• As school districts across the state continue imposing divisive “critical race theory” curriculum on students, the University of Texas at Arlington is requiring freshmen to complete assignments on privilege and oppression. Katy Drollinger has the story.
     
• UTA recently created an Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to raise the “collective consciousness, awareness, and understanding of the UTA community in areas relating to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.” The university has also promised to include more CRT materials in undergraduate courses.
   
• “Embedding critical race theory as a framework for taxpayer funded universities is a problem. Nationwide, students are being indoctrinated to go against basic biology, believe that America is racist, and believe other ludicrous ideas. We need students with skills. Having critical race theory training for students provides no skills that will help with the workforce. Rather, it just radicalizes them with nihilism and despair.” – Carlos Turcios 

🔊 Macias: The RINOS are NOT Happy…

• In the latest episode of his podcast, Luke Macias says that new polling looks really good for conservatives in Texas. As a result, he says, the “Republicans In Name Only” are freaking out.
   
• Specifically, has-been politicians like former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, outgoing State Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo, and outgoing Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley are taking aim at Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
      
• Listen on Texas Scorecard’s website or on your favorite podcasting platform, such as Apple, Spotify, or Google.

Prosper Parents Protest Sex Abuse Cover-Up

• A group of parents declaring “Protect our children, not the district” gathered Monday afternoon for a peaceful protest against Prosper Independent School District’s months-long cover-up of a sex abuse scandal at their children’s elementary school, which shattered the community’s trust in district leadership. Erin Anderson was there and has the story.
   
• Families say they still have yet to be contacted by anyone from the district or the school about their kids’ exposure to an accused child molester. Since the scandal became public almost four weeks ago, local moms and dads have been demanding accountability, transparency, and action from the district to ensure kids are kept safe and parents are informed in the future.
     

• Prosper families learned about the scandal from news reports about the $5 million lawsuit filed August 25 by the family of the two girls, ages 5 and 7 at the time of the abuse. The victims’ mother said Prosper ISD Superintendent Holly Ferguson told her to keep quiet about the abuse “so as not to attract media attention to her family or Prosper ISD staff.”

Clements: Republican Lawmakers Must Fight Woke Corporations

• In a commentary, Jordan Clements explains that it is up to Republicans to stop the progressive left from gaining any more ground in Texas. Perhaps the most important way to do that, he writes, is for lawmakers to “start denying policy wins” to companies that embrace or promote so-called “woke” politics.

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Y’All Answered

Yesterday, the One Click Survey asked readers to pick the next U.S. destination to which illegal aliens should be transported. We gave three choices: Joe Biden’s hometown in Delaware, Kamala Harris’ in California, or Bernie Sanders’ in Vermont.

Given his responsibility for the mess, it makes sense that 69.9 percent of readers want the next batch of illegals sent to Biden’s hometown, followed by 16.9 percent favoring Sanders’ and 13.3 percent for Harris’. Of course, as you will see, readers overwhelmingly responded with variations of “back across the border.”

Here’s a sampling of comments from the inbox…

• “As much as I like owning the libs with sending them all over the country, I would much rather you just send them back. We have an invasion going on; time to stop playing games.” – Heather Gill
         

• “How about, instead of sending invaders further into the country, we repel them before they ever make it across the border? I appreciate that these demonstrations are making the media talk about immigration again, but when has exposing the Left’s hypocrisy ever actually resulted in a victory for the Right? Now is the time for a show of force. Declare an invasion and send in troops.” – Cody Ratliff
     

• “I think Sleepy Joe should welcome them with open arms.” – Dawn Gerstenberger
     

• “Yes, all those are good for the photo ops, but my real ‘next U.S. destination’ wouldn’t actually be the U.S. at all but back across the border.” - Andra Haney
      

• “Hauling illegals to other cities is not funny. They are here illegally and most are criminals and are putting people in danger. My moral compass can’t support that.” – Kim Moore
     

• “I think sending them to elite liberal enclaves has a far higher impact because the elites will make much more noise with their political hacks, and this will show up in the media more.  How about some flights to Aspen?” – Jim Andrade
     

• “Right at Biden's doorstep! Unfortunately security would stop the illegal aliens long before they got to the Delaware state line!” – Kathy Fisher
      

• “Send the illegals to the White House and Capitol Hill.” – Chris Morris
      

• “I would rather send them back where they came from.” – Annie Provence
      

• “As enjoyable as it is to see liberals writhe when illegals are dropped on their doorstep, Abbott is still negligent in addressing the real problem. He has kept his emergency powers in place for over two years, but he refuses to use them to declare an invasion.... much less repel the invasion.” – Jason Kerr
     

• “Back to where they came from is a far better choice.” – Virginia Green
     

• “Voted to send them to Joe's home, but I really want illegals flown back to where they came from, indelibly marked to never be allowed back into the USA.” – Jerry Bledsoe
     

• “I chose California as I think it is a lost cause anyway. I would prefer to send them back from whence they came!” – Gillian McLean
     

• “Abbott's busing of illegals across the country may bring some attention to the issue, but the only destination that will make a meaningful impact on our psyches and pocketbooks is Mexico.” – Bill Peacock
     

• “I believe there are enough warm bodies to send to all three … and more. The question is, would any of them WANT to go there?” – John Viertel
     

• “I voted to send the illegal invaders to Biden's home, but I would like them sent to Mexico City.” – Gary Hunt
      

• “While I do not like the fact that they use taxpayer money to ship these illegals to other destinations instead of back across the border...the humor does not escape me of how the rich liberal elites react to them showing up at their homes.” – Rick L. Perry
     

• “As I understand, Bernie owns three homes in Vermont (not bad for a communist). So let’s send some of the invaders to live in his extra homes.” – Matthew Thibeault
     

• “Joe Biden's home in Delaware is lacking illegal immigrants. I think some of them should be walking around his property.” – David Demaree
     

• “There's only one place to ship illegals. Back to their own country.” – David Bergthold
     

• “Send these illegals to every sanctuary city in the US!” – Bob Davis
     

• “We should share our illegal immigrants with the states that have toss-up races for Senate seats this year ... Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington and Colorado.” – Jerry Harben
     

• “Bernie Sanders’ house is my choice because, like Martha’s Vineyard, the good people of Vermont need to see what continually voting for a Socialist means!” – Greg Burr
     

• “Vermont has the fewest Hispanics of any state in the nation. A busload or two at Bernie's place will have the biggest impact.” – David Holden
    

• “With so many Californians moving to Texas, there is plenty of room to drop [illegals] off there. The round trip for the transportation should reduce costs for both directions. Win-win!” – Arthur Potter

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.