Tennessee Governor Bill Lee joined a coalition of 12 other governors in traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday to participate in a border security briefing held by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a coalition of 26 other attorneys general in sending a letter to the Biden administration proclaiming support for the steps Texas has taken at its border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigrant crossings.
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the Biden administration to allow Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire Texas installed on its border with Mexico to prevent illegal entries into the U.S.
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Former Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich again on Tuesday argued the constitutional authority given to states for self-defense.
Brnovich testified at a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing addressing the issue after being the first and only state attorney general to issue a formal legal opinion that defines an invasion and lays out the constitutional authority of states’ self-defense.
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The far-left billionaire George Soros has donated millions of dollars to various campaigns and political organizations in an effort to flip the second-most populous state in the United States to Democratic control.
According to Fox News, Soros has already given more than $3 million to five left-wing groups in the state of Texas in the last year alone, in an effort to increase ground game for Democratic candidates in the traditionally Republican state.
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by Bethany Blankley As the battle between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and President Joe Biden continues over state sovereignty and Texas’ constitutional right to defend its border, the leaders and residents of 25 states have come to Texas’ aid, as others did from 22 states nearly 190 years ago. Answering Abbott’s call to join forces to secure the Texas-Mexico border last May, 24 Republican governors pledged support, sending National Guard troops and law enforcement officers from their states to Texas. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Texas allowing Border Patrol agents to destroy concertina wire barriers in Eagle Pass, Texas, erected through Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, a coalition of now 25 governors expressed even greater resolve to “stand with Texas.” Within the past few days, at least 10 governors have sent more troops to Texas, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem visited to rally support for Texas troops. As calls have grown for Biden to federalize the Texas National Guard to pull them out of the chain of command of Abbott, a constitutional law expert and former active-duty Navy JAG told The Center Square that Congress should determine if such a move would constitute an impeachable offense. If the president…
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The Republican governors of 25 states have released a joint statement proclaiming their support for Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the steps his state has taken at its border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigrant crossings.
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Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star Michael Patrick Leahy joined Steve Bannon’s War Room on Wednesday to discuss Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s response to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in favor of the Biden administration, which allows Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire the state installed on its border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing.
In a statement released Wednesday, Abbott argued President Joe Biden has “refused to enforce” current federal laws protecting states, “including immigration laws on the books right now.”
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee confirmed on Thursday that he supports Texas Governor Greg Abbott in his standoff with the Biden administration over Texas’ defense of its southern border.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had the authority to remove border defenses erected by Texas to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the southern border, Abbott invoked the state’s right to self defense on Wednesday, declaring the Biden administration failed in its duty to protect the country and President Joe Biden “violated his oath to faithfully executive immigration laws enacted by Congress.”
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Over the past few years, states in the American South have come to economically surpass the Northeast, owing to policies like lower taxes and better business environments spurring prosperity and population growth, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The gross domestic product of Florida, Texas, Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee surpassed the cumulative economy of the Northeast in 2020 for the first time since data has been tracked and has continued to exceed growth since, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis compiled by Bloomberg. The growth comes as businesses and people flock to the region seeking affordability, job opportunities, lighter tax and regulation laws and freedom from dense urban areas, according to experts who spoke to the DCNF.
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Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday reiterated the right of the state of Texas to defend itself amid an unprecedented surge in illegal border crossings, insisting that the Biden administration had failed in its duties and forced Austin’s hand.
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A divided U.S. Supreme Court sided with President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday, clearing the way for federal authorities to remove razor wire installed in Eagle Pass along the U.S.-Mexico border by Texas law enforcement.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to vacate an appeals court ruling that allowed the wire to stay in place as the case played out. Chief Justice John Roberts led the majority with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
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The invasion of illegal aliens on our southern border is getting worse by the day. Texas is at the forefront of this problem, comprising almost half of the nation’s border with Mexico. After years of failure by the Obama and Biden administrations, our state has finally decided to act to protect our citizens.
A new law was signed by the governor, making illegal immigration a state crime and empowering local and state law enforcement to carry out this new law. This should have happened years ago. The border crisis is not new. Inaction by the governor has continued to allow illegal aliens, including documented terrorists, into our state.
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Since April 2022, more than 100,000 foreign nationals who have illegally crossed the border have been bused or flown from Texas to six sanctuary cities. This equates to roughly 5 percent of those who illegally entered Texas in fiscal 2023 alone, the highest number on record, The Center Square exclusively reported.
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Border Patrol agents are quietly applauding Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s effort to seize property along the border, several of them told the Daily Caller News Foundation on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.
The Texas Department of Public Safety seized the property of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, the city’s mayor, Rolando Salinas, said in a statement posted to Facebook Thursday. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Supreme Court filing hours after the decision that Texas National Guardsmen are blocking the Border Patrol from accessing the area, where they have a staging area and boat ramp.
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Three years into the border crisis, 50 Texas counties have now declared an invasion.
The latest to do so are the judges and commissioners of Bandera, Schleicher and Uvalde counties. Officials in Bandera and Schleicher counties signed nearly identical resolutions in November as Crockett County’s. Crockett County declared an invasion after its county judge’s family members were killed by an alleged human smuggler. Uvalde County officials signed their invasion resolution in July, when they also joined a coalition led by Atascosa County Judge Weston Cude.
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I may be dating myself, but the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
We can get much more than an ounce’s worth of prevention by engaging in post-election process audits. It is much easier to fix process problems early before they blow up and become problems that require litigation and other nasty fixes. Ahead of the 2024 election, state legislatures should require full process audits to ensure transparency and build trust in our elections.
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The Biden administration is suing Texas to prevent the state from arresting migrants who flout U.S. immigration law to enter the state illegally, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday.
The DOJ is making good on its threat to sue Texas over enforcing S.B. 4, a new law signed in December 2023 that would permit local and state authorities to arrest and prosecute individuals suspected of entering the U.S. illegally, according to the DOJ and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Texas Illegal immigration has surged to record levels under the Biden administration, with Texas seeing a massive influx of migrants arriving at its border with Mexico.
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The Biden administration’s security policies are raising the risk of a global economic crisis as Iran’s backing of the Houthi rebels threatens to shut down international shipping while closures at the U.S.-Mexico border prompted by illegal immigration are costing billions of dollars in trade.
The Biden administration “continues to try to make nice with this regime that has been chanting ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ for more than 40 years,” former Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates, currently a Heritage Foundation national security expert, told the Just the News, No Noise television show last week about the White House’s relationship with Iran.
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On Sunday night, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced it was closing international railroad bridges at two major ports of entry in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, after a surge of over 4,000 people illegally entered over the last 48 hours.
CBP reported that agents apprehended nearly 3,000 illegal foreign nationals on Saturday and Sunday in the Eagle Pass area alone. Groups of 400 came through at a time, undeterred by border barriers erected by Gov. Greg Abbott through Operation Lone Star. Without OLS, little to no law enforcement presence would exist in the region, officials have explained, because Border Patrol agents have been tasked with processing people to release them into the country.
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Federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement- Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO) continue to remove violent criminals wanted in their home countries after they’ve fled to the U.S. to avoid going to prison.
In south Texas in the Rio Grande Valley, ICE ERO-Harlingen agents removed a Salvadoran national wanted by El Salvadoran authorities for human smuggling and illicit association.
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Texas and Florida state troopers, as well as sheriff’s deputies, continue to apprehend human smugglers in the small border community of Brackettville, in Kinney County, Texas.
A Texas DPS trooper, assisted by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, recently conducted a traffic stop in Brackettville, which led to a human smuggling bust.
The stop occurred at night in a residential neighborhood when a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper and FHP trooper pulled over the driver of a Chevrolet Camaro.
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North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum announced Monday that he is suspending his 2024 presidential campaign.
Burgum jumped in the growing GOP primary field in early June and has spent his campaign largely focused on the economy, energy and national security. The governor criticized the Republican National Committee’s (RNC’s) upped debate requirements, which left Burgum off the last debate stage, during his announcement, accusing them of “nationalizing the primary system,” according to a press release.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that he is suing Pfizer for “unlawfully misrepresenting” Covid-19 vaccine efficacy and conspiring to censor public discourse.
“Pfizer engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices by making unsupported claims regarding the company’s COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act,” Paxton said in a press release.
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On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-Texas) announced that the state would be launching a fraud probe into the far-left publication Media Matters.
As reported by the Daily Caller, the probe comes after Media Matters released a report on Thursday accusing the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, of putting anti-Semitic content next to advertisements. Although subsequent studies have proven this to be mostly false, multiple major corporations, including Apple, Disney, and IBM, have announced their plans to boycott advertising on the site.
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The greatest number of unaccompanied children (UACs) arriving at the U.S. border are being “resettled” in Texas.
UACs have been sent to all 50 states and two U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, according to data from the U.S. Health & Human Services Department (HHS) and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), tasked with their oversight and care.
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The Left loves to tout universal mail-in voting. Liberal enclaves like California, Hawaii, and Oregon have implemented it, while activists push aggressively to impose mail-in voting on Americans. But even as they push it, despite repeated instances of fraud, the Left simultaneously attacks any efforts to make vulnerable mail voting more secure. Indeed, the Left holds outright disdain for even minimal safeguards for mail ballots.
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A Texas bill that makes it a state crime to cross the border at any location besides a port of entry could set up Texas’ next legal fight with the Biden administration.
The Texas House voted on a border security package Thursday, approving 84-60 a bill that enables local police to arrest or send back illegal migrants who cross the border. If passed by the Senate and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, it could set up another big fight with the Biden administration over the border.
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A federal judge issued an extraordinary temporary restraining order Monday barring the Biden administration from destroying or tampering with a temporary concertina wire fence installed by Texas to protect its border with Mexico.
Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses, in Del Rio, ruled Texas had a likelihood of prevailing it its lawsuit and would suffer significant harm if federal officials were allowed to keep dismantling the fence.
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The Texas Senate voted on Saturday to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton so far on nine of the 16 articles of impeachment that had been voted against him by the Texas House of Representatives.
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Some small town residents in Texas and Iowa are frustrated by mounting piles of wind farm waste in their communities, according to Texas Monthly.
The turbines that onshore wind developments use to generate power can be up to 200 feet in length, and the material that they are made of is rigid, according to Texas Monthly. These attributes make the equipment difficult to remove or recycle after they are decommissioned, a reality which can lead to these turbines piling up in communities like Sweetwater, Texas, and irritating some of the locals who have to live in close proximity to the waste.
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A federal judge has ruled that a Texas law requiring pornography sites to install age-verification measures violates the Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition against free-speech restrictions.
The law also requires such sites to prominently display warning labels about what some consider the dangers of porn.
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The pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC is reportedly suspending its voter canvassing in four states to focus resources in early-voting states.
The PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign is pausing its door-knocking activities in Nevada, California, Texas and North Carolina, according to The Epoch Times on Saturday.
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When I was sent William Beckmann’s song, “She Can’t Be Found,” I was mesmerized. It sounded like something from Johnny or Waylon with a little bit of Elvis thrown in. Surely that young man who I saw on Instagram wouldn’t be singing a song that sounded like it was straight out of 1970s country. I was impressed.
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At least 408,000 students without legal documentation to be in the country enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, yet another system impacted by the surge in illegal immigration, according to a new study.
The new report by the American Immigration Council and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education, found that undocumented migrants now account for nearly 2 percent of the higher education population.
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by Bethany Blankley A coyote, a colloquialism for a human smuggler, is critical to Mexican cartel human smuggling operations. Combined, they cover thousands of miles primarily guiding foreign nationals first through Central America into Mexico, then through Mexico and into the U.S. They also operate along the U.S.-Canada border. Like a 4×400 meter track relay race with four athletes racing to pass a baton without dropping it, coyotes cover different parts of a dangerous journey to the U.S. Instead of passing a baton, they smuggle people, including children and babies. Instead of running 100 meters, they can cover several miles. Similar to a relay race where the fastest and strongest runner often runs last to ensure the race is won, the most important coyote is the last one tasked with smuggling people across the finish line, the Rio Grande River, into the U.S. without getting caught. Unlike some athletes who may have financial scholarships or sponsors, coyotes are paid through a global, organized criminal multi-billion-dollar enterprise profiting off of people. Before foreign nationals ever arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border, many are robbed, kidnapped, raped and abused. Those who aren’t kidnapped, and willingly hire coyotes to help them illegally cross…
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A leading national pro-life law firm has filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing the Biden administration’s “guidance” to hospitals that “reminds” them of their “obligation” to provide abortions in states where the procedure is illegal is an incorrect interpretation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
In a press statement Friday, Life Legal explained that after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, “Democrats were determined to find ways to prevent pro-life states from protecting babies in the womb.”
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Angel Mom Kiyan Michael, a Republican state representative from Jacksonville, Florida, has come full circle from running for office, endorsing Gov. Ron DeSantis for governor, getting elected, and now endorsing him for president. She celebrated her bittersweet victory and legislative accomplishments this year, joining DeSantis last week in Eagle Pass, Texas, as he unveiled his plan “to stop the invasion at the southern border.”
Angel parents are those whose children are killed by foreign nationals who’ve illegally entered the country.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection responded to a video appearing to show a Border Patrol agent cutting through razor wire on private property to allow migrants through.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melguin posted the video Friday and said it is from a source in Eagle Pass, Texas, and shows the federal official cutting the razor wire placed by the state in order to let the migrants enter for processing after they crossed illegally.
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An abortion ban in the state of Texas has led to nearly 10,000 additional live births in the state, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimate.
Between April and December of 2022, the researchers conclude that the state witnessed 9,799 additional births that would not have been occurred but for the existence of the state’s abortion ban, the researchers concluded. The state’s previous law allowed abortion up to 22 weeks of gestation, while the current legislation prohibits abortion on detection of embryonic cardiac activity, i.e. the detection of a fetal heartbeat. This can occur as early as 5-6 weeks into pregnancy.
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In a campaign stop in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis presented his border security plan as part of his platform to win the Republican nomination for president.
The plan includes reinstating several policies implemented by the Trump administration, including ending catch and release, reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, among others. His plan also includes using the U.S. military to work with Border Patrol agents “on day one, and they’ll continue to help until the [border] wall is finished,” according to a campaign document obtained by The Center Square.
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Since Texas’ border security mission Operation Lone Star (OLS) launched more than two years ago, the multi-agency effort has led to the apprehension of nearly 400,000 foreign nationals who entered the U.S. illegally.
Since last April, Texas has sent over 500 buses of foreign nationals to six so-called sanctuary cities.
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by Philip Lenczycki A Chinese intelligence agency quietly operates “service centers” in seven American cities, all of which have had contact with Beijing’s national police authority, according to state media reports and government records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) United Front Work Department (UFWD) — which at least one U.S. government commission has characterized as a “Chinese intelligence service” — operates so-called “Overseas Chinese Service Centers” (OCSCs) that are housed within various U.S.-based nonprofits. OCSCs were ostensibly set up to promote Chinese culture and assist Chinese citizens living abroad, according to Chinese government records. State media reports, Chinese government records and social media posts show that during a 2018 trip to China, U.S.-based OCSC representatives met with Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials. During the meeting, state security officials demonstrated how they’re leveraging new technology to conduct “cross-border remote justice services” overseas. MPS is China’s national police authority and has been referred to as “China’s FBI” by China experts. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says MPS also conducts covert “intelligence and national security operations far beyond China’s borders,” including “illicit, transnational repression schemes” on U.S. soil. In April 2023, the DOJ charged two men for allegedly opening a secret police station…
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At least 20 states have either restricted or banned transgender procedures for minors, with many of them facing lawsuits and temporary blocks by courts as a result, while future litigation is possible in states considering adopting such laws.
The states that have enacted legislation against such procedures are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia – essentially all conservative-leaning.
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Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed two bills into law designed to reform public higher education institutions in Texas. One bans them from implementing DEI policies and another revises the tenure structure.
Both bills, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, passed the legislature during the regular legislative session. Senate Bill 17 bans public colleges and universities from implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that prioritize gender, race, ethnicity and ideological beliefs as factors for hiring or admission policies. Earlier this year, Gov. Abbott’s chief of staff sent a letter to public higher education institutions and state agencies saying if they were implementing DEI policies, they were violating federal law. In response, the heads of Texas colleges and universities said they were “pausing” and reviewing their DEI policies. The new law requires them to terminate them.
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A bus of foreign nationals who illegally entered Texas and were apprehended and released by the Biden administration were taken to Los Angeles for the first time, Gov. Greg Abbott said. They were dropped off at the Los Angeles Union Station Wednesday evening.
“Texas’ small border towns remain overwhelmed and overrun by the thousands of people illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico because of President Biden’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott said. “Los Angeles is a major city that migrants seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary city status. Our border communities are on the frontlines of President Biden’s border crisis, and Texas will continue providing this much-needed relief until he steps up to do his job and secure the border.”
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Thirteen attorneys general announced settlements with opioid manufacturers Teva and Allergan on Friday, while 18 states settled with CVS and Walgreens for a total of $17.3 billion.
The attorneys general said settlement funds will start flowing into state and local governments by the end of this year and will be used for prevention and treatment of opioid addiction.
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Recent polls indicate that House Speaker Dade Phelan’s popularity is plummeting in his district.
Texas House District 24, which prior to redistricting was the shape of a horseshoe encompassing Winnie, Port Arthur, Beaumont and Orange in southeast Texas, now includes a sliver of the region stretching north to include Jasper County.
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Gov. Greg Abbott says his goal is to eliminate homeowners’ property taxes in the state of Texas. He says it’s possible to achieve over time because of the significant economic growth of the state.
All three Republican leaders, Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dade Phelan, have pledged to reduce property taxes and made it a legislative priority.
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Republican governors are sending National Guard troops to the southern border.
Governors of Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia announced this week they will send troops and resources to Texas to support the work of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Operation Lone Star to secure the southern border.
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A professor told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he was fired and banned from a small college in Texas because of complaints from students and colleagues regarding his conservative beliefs.
St. Philip’s College (SPC), located in San Antonio, Texas, as part of the Alamo College District, declined to renew political science professor Will Moravits’ contract on March 27 after a Title IX investigation was launched in February regarding a student complaint that he made disparaging comments about the LGBTQ community during class, according to a documents obtained by the DCNF.
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