Posts Tagged ‘Brandon Waltens’
Tuesday, February 24th, 2026
As promised, here’s a look a the Republican primary races for Comptroller and Railroad Commissioner.
The Comptroller race features incumbent Kelly Hancock (who was appointed comptroller by Governor Greg Abbott after Glenn Hegar resigned to become Texas A&M system chairman), plus challengers former state senator Donald Huffines, Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick, and longshot Michael Berlanga (who, at last count, had raised zero dollars for the race).
The pick here is easily Don Huffines, who has a long history of conservative activism on a wide variety of issues, from school choice to controlling the border to ending the Flu Manchu lockdowns, and he was always a reliable vote for conservative interests in the state senate. He even challenged Abbott from the right in the 2022 gubernatorial primary, finishing third behind Abbott and Allen West. His endorsement list includes Ted Cruz, Ron Paul, Charlie Kirk, and Vivek Ramaswamy, plus every single conservative group Texas Scorecard polled (True Texas Project, Texas Gun Rights, Texas Family Project, Grassroots America: We The People (GAWTP), Texas Right to Life (TRL), and Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF)).
Hancock, in addition to being selected rather than elected, is too cozy with gambling interests and voted to impeach Ken Paxton. So he’s right out, no matter how much money he’s thrown around to advertise on conservative websites.
I’ve voted for Craddick for Railroad Commissioner, but she’s always seemed to be slight squishy and trading on her former speaker father’s name. The most famous person endorsing her seems to be H. Ross Perot, Jr., which is not a recommendation.
Speaking of the Railroad Commissioner, this is theoretically a five way race, but three of the candidates (Katherine Culbert, Hawk Dunlap II and Ty Matlock) are badly-funded longshots. The real race is between incumbent Jim Wright and Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French. French announced for the race in November, promises an “America first” approach.
The Texas oil and gas industry needs a strong defender who will never back down to leftist pressure,” said French. “As your next Railroad Commissioner, I will fight to end DEI, radical climate change ideology, and foreign capture of our oil and gas industries. I am the battle-tested conservative in this race, and I will always fight to put America First.”
Sounds good, and his list of conservative endorsements confirms he’s most conservative candidate in the race. That Texas Scorecard round up shows every conservative org endorsing him ((True Texas Project, Texas Gun Rights, Texas Family Project, Texas Right to Life, and Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom) except Grassroots America: We The People, who endorsed Wright.
But the real record-scratch moment on Jim Wright’s endorsements is the presence of state rep Charlie Geren, the Joe Straus loyalist French previously primaried. Geren helped instigate the impeachment proceedings against Paxton and may have had an operative file a false CPS report against French. Having Charlie Geren endorse someone is a pretty good sign you should vote for his opponent.
The clear Railroad Commission pick is Bo French.
Tags:2026 Election, Bo French, Brandon Waltens, Charlie Geren, Christi Craddick, Don Huffines, Elections, Endorsements, Grassroots America: We The People (GAWTP), H. Ross Perot Jr., Jim Wright (Republican), Kelly Hancock, Michael Berlanga, Railroad Commission, Republicans, Ted Cruz, Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), Texas, Texas Comptroller, Texas Family Project, Texas Gun Rights, Texas Right to Life, True Texas Project, Vivek Ramaswamy
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 4 Comments »
Thursday, February 19th, 2026
Today’s Ken Paxton lawsuit falls at the intersection of a lot of this blog’s interests: Drone technology, Chinese infiltration, and fraud. The Texas Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against “Austin-based” Anzu Robotics, claiming its “American” drones are made in China.
Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a second lawsuit this week targeting companies he says are tied to the Chinese Communist Party, this time accusing a drone manufacturer of deceptively marketing products that allegedly pose national-security risks to Texans.
The lawsuit, filed against Anzu Robotics, alleges the company misled consumers by presenting its drones as a secure American alternative to Chinese-made devices while allegedly relying on technology from Shenzhen-based DJI, a manufacturer that federal agencies have flagged for security concerns.
DJI are the makers of the Mavic 3T drone, used heavily by both sides in the Russo-Ukraine War, as covered here.
According to the petition, Texas officials contend Anzu’s drones are effectively rebranded versions of DJI products, using identical hardware, firmware, and software while marketing themselves as free from the risks associated with Chinese-manufactured drones.
State attorneys argue that the company’s representations about its independence, data security, and software protections were false or misleading, potentially exposing Texans to surveillance risks or supply-chain vulnerabilities tied to the Chinese Communist Party.
“Anzu Robotics products are nothing more than a 21st century trojan horse linked to the CCP,” Paxton said in a statement. “My office is taking several targeted actions against CCP-aligned companies this week to protect the people of Texas and stop Communist China’s influence in Texas. No company will be allowed to deceive Texans and serve as a pathway for foreign adversaries to exploit American markets, access personal data, or threaten our national security.”
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties, consumer restitution, and court orders requiring the company to disclose its ties to DJI and to halt allegedly deceptive practices.
I’m not sure Anzu Robotics is precisely hiding its ties to DJI, as they’re mentioned in this blog post, supposedly from 2024, where they admit the drone technology is licensed from DJI and claim the drones are built in Malaysia. The Malaysian bit might well be a lie, and even if true, it doesn’t ease the concerns about all the tech being Chinese. Anzu also claims “Powered by Aloft Technologies software and with all data hosted on US-based servers, Anzu puts security at the forefront of operations.” But Aloft seems to make situational awareness apps that run on your phone, not the software that actually controls the drone. Anzu also claims “Anzu is headquartered and operated within the United States, giving you the peace of mind that your solution is delivered by your neighbors.” That part may be technically correct (“the best kind of correct”), but there’s a lot of semantic slight of hand going on there. And yes, the Anzu Raptor and Raptor T bear a striking resemblance to the DJI Mavic 3 Classic and Mavic 3 pro.
Another mystery: Though supposedly an Austin-based company, Google Maps can’t find Anzu Robotics. Also, https://www.anzurobotics.com/ claims they’re headquartered in Austin, but https://anzu-robotics.com/ (which looks to be under construction) claims a San Francisco office and offers a completely different drone lineup. Most curious.
The most likely explanation is that they are indeed merely relabeled DJI drones, but even if they are manufactured in Malaysia, that doesn’t reduce the potential threat of using Chinese-controlled hardware, firmware, and software, nor does it make the drone any more “American.”
There’s definitely something fishy going on Anzu Robotics, and it highlights the grave risks involved in offshoring so much of our technology and manufacturing to China.
Tags:Anzu Robotics, Austin, Brandon Waltens, China, Communism, DJI, drones, fraud, Ken Paxton, Lawsuit, Malaysia, Military, technology, Texas, Texas Scorecard
Posted in Austin, Communism, Military, Technology, Texas | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, February 17th, 2026
Texas early voting started today, so here’s a roundup of Texas primary links, along with something that might vaguely resemble endorsements in a “one-eyed man in the land of the blind” sort of way, since I haven’t been paying terribly close attention to this year’s primaries. But the top of the ticket endorsements are easy:
Ken Paxton for Senate. I’ve said about Paxton before what Abraham Lincoln said about Ulysses S. Grant: “I cannot spare this man. He fights.” Yesterday I talked to a lawyer who thinks Paxton is a crook, and he’s still going to vote for him over Cornyn.
Greg Abbott for Governor. National conservatives may not realize it, but for a long time inside Texas, Abbott was considered a bit of a squishy, consensus-driven Republican, more competent technocrat than conservative firebrand. But the school choice fight with seems to have screwed his courage to the sticking place, and he’s now rightly regarded as one of the country’s most conservative governors.
Dan Patrick for Lt. Governor. Patrick has proven to be a very competent, very conservative Lt. Governor who’s had Texas Senate Republicans passing conservative priorities like clockwork, only to see half of them die in the Texas House.
I already covered the narrow case for picking Mayes Middleton over the also acceptable Chip Roy.
Now some links:
Early voting locations for Williamson County.
Early voting locations for Travis County.
Here’s Texas Scorecard’s Campaign Finance Tracker. The fact that Gina Hinojosa has such a huge lead over Andrew White for the Democratic nomination for governor suggests that primary is already over, which is pretty much how I figured it.
NRA PVF ratings for Texas candidates. At least they had the decency not to endorse anyone in TX-23, instead of endorsing incumbent Tony Gonzales over Brandon Herrera…
The Agricultural Commissioner’s race is interesting, because Governor Greg Abbott has endorsed challenger Nate Sheets over incumbent Sid Miller, which is pretty rare for a statewide race.
Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed Nate Sheets for Texas agriculture commissioner in the 2026 GOP primary against incumbent and fellow statewide elected Republican Sid Miller.
Texans for Greg Abbott campaign manager Kim Snyder described Sheets as “the only candidate in the race who has the integrity to lead the Texas Department of Agriculture,” in a statement to the Texas Bullpen.
“The current Texas Department of Agriculture commissioner has a history of corruption and, as a state legislator, he previously voted to grant in-state tuition for illegal immigrants,” Snyder said.
Miller has a long history of public disagreements with Abbott, dating back to 2020 when he joined a lawsuit against the governor and then-Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs over the extension of the early voting period during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April 2022, Miller condemned the governor’s directive for enhanced vehicle inspections at the border, saying, “You cannot solve a border crisis by creating another crisis at the border. These Level 1 inspections serve as a ‘clog in the drain’ and divert commerce and jobs to more western ports of entry.”
Their endorsements are split in interesting ways as well, with Brandon Herrera and several U.S. Republican reps endorsing Miller, but Gun Owners of America, Texas Gun Rights, The Kingwood Tea Party, True Texas Project and Texas Eagle Forum. I think I may be leaning toward Sheets at this point, if only because he seems to be emphasizing border security over Miller.
If you hadn’t heard, incumbent liberal fossil congressman Lloyd Doggett retired rather than face commie twerp Greg Cesar in the newly redrawn Texas 37th congressional district. Doggett first entered the Texas Senate in 1973…
Also retiring: Texas Republican U.S. Congressman Troy Nehls of the 22nd Congressional District. The leading candidate to replace him: His brother Trever Nehls, who’s been endorsed by President Trump. So I’ve got to think that the chances of primary opponent Rebecca Clark are pretty slim.
Also retiring: Democratic State Rep. Bobby Guerra of McAllen from Texas House District 41. Tempting to write this off as another Democrat retiring due to Republican inroads into Rio Grande Valley, but the guy is 72.
Also retiring: Republican Texas House District 1 incumbent State Rep. Gary VanDeaver. “The East Texas Republican was one of only two Republican House members to vote against school choice legislation championed by Gov. Greg Abbott—the other being former Speaker Dade Phelan, who has also recently announced he won’t be returning.” VanDeaver barely survived a primary challenge in 2024, and Abbott-endorsed opponent Chris Spencer is running again.
In the same District 1 Republican primary, it turns out that Paris businessman Josh Bray previously voted for, and donated to, Democrats.
There’s a big scrum for newly redrawn Texas U.S. 32nd Congressional District, with no less than nine Republicans running in the primary.
Nine Republicans are on the primary ballot for the newly redistricted Congressional District 32 that has been held by U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX-32) since 2025 and previously held by Colin Allred before his U.S. Senate bid.
The district map has a portion in Dallas and then stretches out and widens into more eastern regions of the state. It includes portions of Dallas, Collin, and Rockwall counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, then extends east to take in parts of Hunt, Rains, Wood, Camp, and Upshur counties.
Redrawn by the Texas Legislature in 2025, this district flipped from a Democratic-leaning district to a Republican-leaning one. According to The Texan’s Texas Partisan Index, it had a pre-redistricting rating of D-62% and is now rated R-60%.
The field of nine Republicans vying to fill the seat are listed on the ballot in the following order: Jace Yarbrough, James Ussery, Darrell Day, Paul Bondar, Ryan Binkley, Gordon Heslop, Monty Montanez, Abteen Vaziri, and Aimee Carrasco.
Yarbrough, who is endorsed by both President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott, is a U.S. Air Force veteran and constitutional law attorney. He emphasizes his fight as a member of the military against the mandate that he take the COVID-19 vaccine as a demonstration of his courage and willingness to “fight for constitutional freedoms and the America First Agenda in Washington.” He ran for Texas Senate District 30 in 2024, but lost in a runoff to now-state Sen. Brent Hagenbuch (R-Denton).
Well, I guess the race already has an overwhelming favorite, then. Here are a few tidbits on the other candidates:
Ussery points out that he is an East Texas native with a longtime career in the oil and gas industry. His campaign promises include protecting Social Security for seniors and fighting to protect the First and Second Amendments.
Day is a small business owner who says he “understands real-world challenges.” He has previously served as a precinct chair, election judge, and Arlington City Council member. Day has been endorsed by groups such as Moms for Liberty, Collin County Patriots, and Red Wave Texas. He also has a list of community leader endorsements on his website.
On his website, Bondar introduces himself as a former Division I football player and successful business leader, adding that the issues he cares about are “driven by real life”: secure borders, safe communities, economic opportunity, strong families, and a “government that respects our freedoms instead of controlling our lives.”
Binkley, who formerly ran for president in 2024, is the pastor of Create Church and is also the CEO of mergers and acquisitions advisor Generational Group. He jumped in the race with a kickoff event in September. He is endorsed by leaders such as the First Liberty Institute’s Kelly Shackelford and Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed, along with other pastors and community leaders.
Former educator Heslop claims he wants to “Make America Normal Again” by strengthening the middle class and reducing the national debt. He said in a candidate survey that he would focus on government policies to help the “ordinary citizen.”
Veteran and entrepreneur Montanez announced his candidacy for the seat in June before the maps were redrawn. His priorities include public safety, jobs and the economy, healthcare, and veterans’ affairs.
Vaziri is a hedge fund manager, a real estate investor, and an attorney, who says his life represents the “American dream.” Born in Iran, Vaziri is a convert to Christianity who “vehemently opposes Sharia law.”
Carrasco describes herself as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, a community leader, and a mental health advocate. Her top priorities are securing the border, strengthening the economy, and leading with integrity and compassion.
I want to timebox this post to keep it from sprawling all over the place, so I’m going to cut it off here and try to do a separate post on the Comptroller and Railroad Commissioner races.
Tags:2026 Election, 2026 Texas Gubernatorial Race, 2026 Texas Senate Race, 22nd Congressional District, 32nd Congressional District, Abteen Vaziri, Agricultural Commissioner, Aimee Carrasco, Bobby Guerra, Brandon Herrera, Brandon Waltens, Chris Spencer, coronavirus, Dade Phelan, Dan Patrick, Darrell Day, Democrats, Donald Trump, Elections, fundraising, Gary VanDeaver, Gina Hinojosa, Gordon Heslop, Greg Abbott, Greg Cesar, Jace Yarbrough, James Ussery, John Cornyn, Josh Bray, Julie Johnson, McAllen, Monty Montanez, Nathan Sheets, NRA, Paul Bondar, Rebecca Clark, Republicans, Ruth Hughs, Ryan Binkley, Sid Miller, Texas 23rd Congressional District, Texas House District 1, Texas House District 41, Texas Scorecard, The Texan News, Tony Gonzales, Trever Nehls, Troy Nehls
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, February 11th, 2026
Remember Colony Ridge, the housing development northeast of Houston evidently pitched to illegal aliens that boasted such “features” as high crime rates and substandard infrastructure? A settlement between the state and the developer means no more home sales to illegal aliens there.
A sweeping settlement between the State of Texas, the federal government, and Colony Ridge will require buyers in the controversial Liberty County development to present Texas-issued identification or valid immigration documents—effectively shutting down future direct land sales to individuals unlawfully present in the United States.
Filed Tuesday in federal court, the agreement resolves multiple enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who had accused Colony Ridge of deceptive sales practices and discriminatory, predatory lending. Colony Ridge denies any wrongdoing but agreed to the terms to settle the litigation.
Under the settlement, Colony Ridge must require purchasers to present an unexpired Texas-issued driver’s license or identification card, or a valid passport and visa, as well as take steps to confirm buyers are not on terrorism watch lists or affiliated with transnational criminal organizations. The company is also required to verify compliance with Texas laws restricting certain real estate transactions tied to designated foreign countries.
If actually enforced, the driver’s license requirement alone should halt the vast majority of home sales to illegal aliens. Unlike certain Democrat-run states, Texas doesn’t hand out driver’s licenses to illegal aliens like party favors.
The agreement halts Colony Ridge’s business model that fueled its explosive growth. For three years, the developer is barred from seeking approval for new residential plats intended for direct-to-consumer land sales. Limited exceptions apply, but new subdivisions must include deed restrictions, county permitting compliance, architectural controls, and in many cases require a home to be constructed before resale.
In addition, Colony Ridge is required to spend at least $48 million on infrastructure improvements within existing subdivisions, including $18 million dedicated to drainage and flood control and $30 million for roads, water, sewage, and other public-safety infrastructure.
Independent Texas-based engineering firms must reevaluate drainage systems, design improvements capable of handling major storm events, and conduct recurring inspections, with existing deficiencies prioritized ahead of new development.
Colony Ridge’s drainage systems didn’t even meet county code when they were built.
Another $20 million must be allocated to increasing law enforcement presence in the area over the next decade. Those funds may be used for local patrols, construction of DPS or county law enforcement substations, additional officers, equipment, and expanded immigration enforcement partnerships. Annual spending is capped, and any unused funds must be redirected to public safety infrastructure.
The settlement further imposes strict consumer-protection requirements. Colony Ridge must adopt formal underwriting standards, implement a default-avoidance plan to reduce foreclosures, and provide buyers with expanded disclosures regarding utilities, flood risks, permitting timelines, and the true total cost of ownership. Future buyers will also receive a limited rescission window allowing them to unwind a purchase within two payments and receive a refund under certain conditions.
Colony Ridge seemed designed as a corner-cutting development meant to be marketed to illegal aliens from the get go. It first started pulling its antics way back in 2011, which suggests that several county and state functionaries were woefully late in sounding the alarm, as it didn’t really attract much attention until the Texas Public Policy Foundation published a report on it until 2020. Paxton didn’t file a lawsuit until 2024, and it wasn’t swept for illegal aliens until 2025.
The backlash over Colony Ridge probably encouraged state officials to take a more aggressive and pro-active approach to the planned Muslim EPIC City enclave northeast of Plano before construction actually started. But it’s still going to take several years to clean up the mess created by Colony Ridge developer Houston Terrenos.
Illegal aliens are no longer going to be allowed to buy houses in Texas anymore…
Tags:Border Controls, Brandon Waltens, Colony Ridge, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Crime, Department of Justice, Houston, Houston Terrenos, Illegal Aliens, Ken Paxton, Lawsuit, Liberty County, Texas, Texas Scorecard
Posted in Border Control, Crime, Texas | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 6th, 2026
More fraud in California, Homan declares victory in Minnesota, Virginia declares war on lawful gun owners, a lefty drops the N-Word on a black ICE agent, Musk shuts off bootleg Starlink to the Russian army, NOPD hires an illegal alien, and Illinois declares that no Democrat can express #WrongThink about trannies.
It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!
I did get that second check from my closing 401K, so I have a few months worth of food and utilities in the bank.
“California’s Hospice Fraud Explosion: Billions Drained From Taxpayers.”
The massive hospice fraud racket thriving under California’s lax oversight is finally getting the spotlight it deserves, as the Trump administration’s CMS chief Dr. Mehmet Oz hits the streets of Los Angeles to call out the billions in stolen taxpayer dollars.
With organized crime rings, including Russian-Armenian mafia elements, infiltrating the system through ghost patients and fake companies, the scam highlights how globalist policies have opened the door to foreign exploitation of U.S. resources. As fraudsters traffic beneficiaries like commodities, real Americans suffer denied care while the deep state looks the other way.
Los Angeles County alone accounts for 18% of the entire country’s home health care billing, a staggering figure that screams foul play.
One California physician billed the government $120 million in a single year, claiming to oversee 1,900 patients—a workload that defies logic and reeks of corruption.
The county boasts almost 2,000 hospice agencies, more than 36 states combined and 30 times the number in Florida or New York.
Dr. Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was forthright during his on-the-ground tour: “Hospice is crazy here… You’ve got hospice that’s grown seven-fold in the last five years. They represent about three and a half billion dollars of fraud, we believe, just in LA County.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has admitted the problem’s scale, calling it “an epidemic in California, specifically in the greater Los Angeles area.”
The fraud operates through recruiters who lure seniors with freebies like walkers or cash, harvest their Medicare numbers, and sell them to providers for $1,000 to $3,000 each. Providers then bill the feds $260 per day per patient, often for nonexistent services, while shuffling enrollees between sham outfits to evade detection.
In LA’s San Fernando Valley, particularly Van Nuys, the density is absurd: 210 agencies crammed into one square mile, with one building listing 112 hospices showing no actual operations.
“Vance To Lead Sweeping Anti-Fraud Task Force Investigating California.”
Vice President JD Vance is poised to chair a new White House task force aimed at rooting out potential fraud and abuse in government programs in California, according to CBS News.
Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, is expected to serve as the task force’s vice chairman and handle day-to-day operations, CBS News reports. President Donald Trump is anticipated to issue an executive order in the coming days to formally establish the group, the news outlet said.
The White House task force would operate separately from a related Justice Department effort led by Colin McDonald, a Trump nominee for a new fraud-investigation role at the department. McDonald is expected to also probe fraud in Minnesota uncovered by YouTuber Nick Shirley and other independent journalists.
California has long grappled with documented issues of waste, fraud, and weak oversight in state and federally funded programs. State auditors have for more than a decade flagged problems including persistent cost overruns, inadequate internal controls, and unimplemented reform recommendations across various initiatives, CBS News reported last month.
California’s Employment Development Department faced acute criticism during the pandemic, when unemployment-insurance fraud resulted in an estimated $20 billion or more in improper payments, while many eligible claimants endured lengthy delays in receiving benefits, according to NPR News.
Separately, federal officials have recently scrutinized fraud risks in hospice and home-health services, particularly in Los Angeles County. Last week, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz visited the area to draw attention to the issue, citing the rapid proliferation of hospice providers and potential billions in improper billings.
See above. Given the vast scale of graft Democrats rake in from various fraud schemes, I can only imagine they’re experience quiet panic at the prospect…
Tom Homan declares victory, says city and state officials in Minnesota will now cooperate with ICE and turn over illegal aliens. Just think of the deaths that could have been avoided if they had only done this in the first place.
California Democrats go all in on voter fraud.
California Democrats are taking a victory lap, celebrating the fact that their election system has no way of verifying that the people who are casting votes are legitimate, registered voters.
The Supreme Court of California effectively struck down Huntington Beach’s voter ID law, refusing to review a lower court decision that blocked the law. The city argued that it could impose a voter ID requirement for citywide elections, but California Democrats passed a law in 2024 banning localities from requiring voter ID in elections. California law not only does not require you to prove you are who you say you are when you vote, but it actively prevents cities and localities from having that requirement in place at all.
“Trump Takes a Sledgehammer to Deportation Process and Sets Up a Court Fight With Another Activist Judge.”

The Trump administration will publish a notice in the Federal Register on Friday that will demolish the slow-moving process of deporting illegals. The proposed rule aims to streamline the current process and reduce the backlog of cases that has nearly brought the system to a screeching halt. That said, we know it faces an uphill fight as federal judges, acting without jurisdiction, will certainly declare the changes improper at some point.
The Federal Register notice titled RIN 1125-AB37, Appellate Procedures for the Board of Immigration Appeals, extensively overhauls the current process that could lead an immigration case to the Supreme Court.
The first part of the system seems to remain intact. An apprehended illegal is brought before an Article 2 Immigration Judge and given a hearing. The judge either lets them stay or tells them to go home. If ordered deported, a removal order is entered. As we’re seeing from the cases popping in the news, it is not uncommon for an illegal apprehended today in Minneapolis, perhaps a contractor working for the Quality Learing Center, to have a removal order dating back two decades.
Breaking the logjam at the Board of Immigration Appeals is the target.
The filing lays out how Trump 1.0 tried to fix the problem.
Among other changes, the Appellate Procedures NPRM proposed: (1) simultaneous briefing schedules for both detained and non-detained appeals before the Board; (2) shortening the reply brief deadline; (3) limiting briefing extensions; (4) harmonizing the 90- and 180-day Board adjudication timelines to both start from when the record is complete; (5) limiting the Chief Appellate Immigration Judge’s ability to hold a group of cases while awaiting certain outside actions; and (6) removing the process for Immigration Judge review of proceeding transcripts.
Snip.
The new regulation will “change the deadline for filing an appeal with the Board from 30 to 10 days, except for cases involving certain asylum applications.” This is not as trivial as it could appear. The current filing fee for the BIA is $1,030. There are provisions for filing “in forma pauperis.” This requires jumping through more hoops to prove you are indigent. The illegal now has 10 days to find representation and prepare an appeal, as well as pony up money. Historically, claiming you are broke is a good way to get the next flight back home.
Once you appeal, there is no requirement that the BIA will hear the case. Rather, “the default will be summary dismissal unless a majority of current Board members vote to consider the appeal on the merits.” There is an expedited hearing process that will “require simultaneous briefing within 20 days of the Board setting the schedule in all cases not summarily dismissed, with no reply briefs and limited extensions.”
Plus, there are deadlines for the BIA: “the Board shall dispose of all cases assigned to a single Board member within 90 days of completion of the record, or within 180 days of completion of the record for all cases assigned to a three-member panel.”
So an appeal is no longer a way to buy time before a final decision is rendered. The 10-day window makes it difficult prepare, and the BIA will focus on “selecting decisions for review that present novel issues warranting the Board’s attention.” If you are lucky enough for your case to be heard by the BIA, it has no more than 180 days to render a judgment. There is still an appeal to a federal appeals court; however, this requires representation and a $600 filing fee.
Faster, please.
Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton “Launches Investigation Into Alleged H-1B Visa Abuse by Texas Businesses.”
Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a wide-sweeping investigation into alleged abuse of the federal H-1B visa program by Texas businesses, issuing civil investigative demands to three North Texas companies suspected of operating sham enterprises to fraudulently sponsor foreign workers.
Paxton said his office has issued the demands—known as Civil Investigative Demands, or CIDs—seeking documents identifying company employees, records detailing the products or services provided, financial statements, and communications related to business operations.
Standing outside a single-family home listed as the office address for one of the companies highlighted in recent reporting, Paxton credited BlazeTV and Texas Scorecard personality Sara Gonzales with prompting the investigation.
“Thanks to you, we’re here today,” Paxton said during an interview with Gonzales. “We’ve started an investigation of three different companies that we think might be scamming people with these H-1B visas.”
Paxton did not publicly identify the three companies that received CIDs. However, his office said the investigation includes “entities identified in videos that were widely circulated online.”
A portion of Paxton’s interview with Gonzales was filmed outside a residential home listed as the office address for 3Bees Technologies Inc., a location that Gonzales reported appeared vacant, despite the company’s sponsorship of multiple H-1B visa holders.
According to Paxton’s office, reports indicate that businesses under investigation may have created sham companies featuring websites advertising nonexistent products or services while listing residential homes or unfinished buildings as offices. Despite those irregularities, the companies allegedly sponsored numerous H-1B visas in recent years.
“Any criminal who attempts to scam the H-1B visa program and use ‘ghost offices’ or other fraudulent ploys should be prepared to face the full force of the law,” Paxton stated. “Abuse and fraud within these programs strip jobs and opportunities away from Texans.”
(Previously.)
Paxton also sued Bexar County for funding legal defense for illegal aliens facing deportation.
Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking a court to shut down Bexar County’s taxpayer-funded deportation-defense program for illegal aliens, arguing it violates state law and the Texas Constitution.
The Bexar County Commissioners Court voted on December 16, 2025, to allocate $566,181 in county funds to provide legal services to individuals unlawfully present in the United States through the county’s Immigration Legal Services fund.
Paxton’s office noted that, with additional commitments, total spending on the program could ultimately exceed $1 million.
The money is earmarked to pay lawyers to represent illegal aliens in federal deportation proceedings—a role typically handled either by private counsel or nonprofit organizations, not county governments. Paxton’s lawsuit names Bexar County, the Commissioners Court, and multiple county officials as defendants.
Paxton’s petition argues that subsidizing deportation-defense work for people in the country unlawfully “confers no public benefit,” serves “predominantly private radical interests,” and falls outside any lawful power granted to counties under Texas law.
He framed the program as an attempt by local officials to interfere with federal immigration enforcement while using statewide taxpayers as the funding source.
“Leftists in Bexar County have no authority to use taxpayer dollars to fund their radical, criminal-loving agenda,” Paxton said in a statement, adding that “state funds cannot underwrite deportation-defense services for individuals unlawfully present in the country.”
Virginia’s radical Democrats declare war on the Second Amendment, ban high (i.e. normal) capacity magazines, making even possessing them a crime. I can’t imagine the courts are going to let that stand… (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
The New Orleans police department hired an illegal alien with an active deportation notice and no work authorization to be a cop. ICE took care of him…
Remember all those decades when lefties assured us that The N-Word was The Worst Word In The World? Evidently that doesn’t apply when a tranny protestor is cussing out a black ICE agent. (Hat tip: Ed Dricoll at Instapundit.)
Not just Minnesota: “HS Reports More Than 180 Vehicle Attacks On Law Enforcement.”
Immigration officers have faced 182 vehicular attacks since President Donald Trump took office last year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Feb. 3 statement.
Out of the 182 attacks between Jan. 21, 2025, and Jan. 24, 2026, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers faced 114, up by 124 percent from the 51 attacks during the same time period the previous year. The remaining 68 attacks were faced by officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Attacks on ICE are up by 3,300 percent from two assaults previously, according to the DHS.
Supreme Court rules that gerrymander the hell out of their state, previous law be damned.
So part of the huge Epstein data dump includes a conversation with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak from 2014, discussing bringing Russians (I assume Russian Jews) to Israel. Weirdly, I think it makes it less likely Epstein was Mossad (or at least current Mossad). In 2014, Barak’s left wing (Labor/One Israel/etc.) had been out of power for a while and Benjamin Netanyahu was in the midst of a long run as Prime Minister, despite Obama’s best efforts. It just seems unlikely that a Mossad asset would just be shooting the shit with a former PM of an out-of-power party. (Of course, maybe he was team Barak/Barack.) And the message “Goyim were born to only serve us,” that’s so outlandish it could have come from The Protocols of Elders of Zion. Like the LARP Nazis chanting “Blood and Soil!” at Charlottesville, it reeks of someone trying too hard to fit in with a culture they’re largely ignorant of.
The Epstein revelations might indeed topple one world leader: Keir Starmer.
Already-struggling UK Leader Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure to step down over the latest scandal involving his former ambassador to America’s shocking close links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister, whose popularity was already at a near-record low since his 2024 election, faced revolt even from his own party over the fresh revelations about former diplomat Peter Mandelson, who was even seen in his underwear with an unknown woman in photos in the latest Epstein files.
Starmer went into a desperate damage-control mode Thursday, accusing his one-time close ally of “deceit” — even though Mandelson’s friendship with the now-deceased pedophile was well known when Starmer gave him the cushy role as the UK’s ambassador to Washington in December 2024.
Starmer is indeed a nasty piece of work, but the sad truth is that any replacement Labour PM is likely to be every bit as committed to importing unassimilated illegal alien Islamic rapists as Starmer is.
“Panama Supreme Court Boots China From Canal Control.
It took almost a year, but the White House finally chalked up its first objective in implementing the newly revitalized Monroe Doctrine. Or, as we call it, the Donroe Doctrine.
Its very first manifestation came almost immediately after Donald Trump’s inauguration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panama president Jose Raul Mulino and told Mulino in no uncertain terms that the US would not allow China to control ports on the Panama Canal any longer. On February 3, 2025, Muloino repudiated Panama’s Belt and Road Initiative agreements with China and would force the sale of control of those ports. China began a two-front strategy to reverse that decision, with parallel diplomatic and legal tracks. Diplomacy gave way to trade negotiations, which ultimately proved fruitless.
Late yesterday, so did the legal challenge. Panama’s top court annulled the country’s contracts with China’s CK Hutchinson to operate both ports, effectively severing China from control of the Panama Canal.
(Hat tip: Instapundit.)
Perhaps transsexual madness has peaked now that it’s costing people money.
A woman who received a double mastectomy at the age of 16 under the guise of transgender-related healthcare was just awarded $2 million in the first successful medical-malpractice lawsuit brought by a detransitioner.
Fox Varian sued her New York-based psychologist and plastic surgeon for facilitating her gender-transition double mastectomy in 2019, independent reporter Benjamin Ryan who attended Varian’s recent trial, said. Although a host of detransitioners have sued doctors who rush to “affirm” gender confusion with life-altering surgeries, Varian’s is the first known successful lawsuit.
Claire Deacon, Varian’s mother, was led by her daughter’s psychologist to believe that breast removal was the only way to heal Varian’s gender dysphoria, she told the jury. At first Deacon told Varian’s psychologist Kenneth Einhorn that top surgery was “never gonna happen” if she could help it.
“This man was just so emphatic, and pushing and pushing, that I felt like there was no good decision,” she said, according to an Epoch Times report. “I think it was a scare tactic: I don’t believe it was malice, I think he believed what he was saying … but he was very, very wrong.”
Let a thousand lawsuits bloom.
Oppose transsexual madness? You’re not allowed to register as a Democrat in Illinois.
Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender opposes the Democratic Party’s general elevation of gender identity over sex in public policy, especially subjecting gender-confused people to the lifelong consequences of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical interventions so they more closely resemble the opposite sex.
The nonprofit’s leaders could allegedly be fined or go to prison in Illinois if they register as “Democrats” without the state party’s permission.
The Land of Lincoln’s bespoke “party name provision” in its 40-year-old General Not for Profit Corporation Act, which Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias repeatedly invoked to deny DIAG’s applications to solicit charitable contributions in the state, is the target of a First Amendment lawsuit on DIAG’s behalf by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
“Not only would they likely face an uphill battle in getting approval from the Illinois Democratic Party, they refuse on principle to seek permission from the very party they plan to criticize,” a flagrantly unconstitutional condition on protected speech, said FIRE, which also filed a motion for preliminary injunction.
While the state party officially supports so-called gender affirming care as “health care,” without age or other restrictions, DIAG opposes throwing “gay, lesbian, and gender non-conforming/gender-distressed children and vulnerable adults under the wheels of a regressive ideological bus” through “predatory medical harm.”
It portrays the standard Democratic position on medicalized gender transitions as pseudoscientific and harmful to both physical and mental health.
The Illinois Democratic Party told Capitol News Illinois it hadn’t received a request from DIAG, but “the fact that they’re proudly anti-transgender does not align with the Democratic Party of Illinois’s values” of “progress and inclusivity.”
Evidently men who believe they’re women have replaced black people in the Democrat Party’s Victimhood Hierarchy.
Minnesota Club Cancels Comedian’s Sold Out Show Over Good Joke.”
Canadian comedian with a solid international fanbase just watched six sold-out shows vanish in Minnesota. Ben Bankas lost his gigs at Laugh Camp Comedy Club in St. Paul after clips of his routine on Renee Good’s death blew up online – the routine hit raw nerves in a city still reeling from the January 7 shooting.
Club owner Bill Collins cited threats, media frenzy, and street chaos as the reasons for the cancellation.
Snip.
Bankas opened his bit by calling for a moment of silence for Good, then pivoting to say he hoped “that dog’s okay…and her pet,” a reference to Good’s dog, who was in the car with her, and her wife, Becca, who had been in the vehicle but left shortly before she told Renee to drive off while the agent was in front of her car.
“That’s what you don’t want when you’re dealing with the police — your lesbian wife saying ‘drive, baby, drive,’” he told the crowd. “Her last name was Good; that’s what I said after they shot her in the face,” he continued. He then backed off slightly, saying, “I’m not a liberal, so I don’t celebrate the death of people that I… I didn’t hate her, I didn’t know her, but now that I know her, I hate her”.
Old and busted: Leftists demanding police bodycams to prove they’re killing innocent black people. The new hotness: Leftists demand we stop using bodycams because they’re showing police shootings are justified.
Democrat backs gang leaders over ICE. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
“Abbott Adds Chinese Tech Firms to Texas’ Prohibited Technology List Over Cybersecurity Concerns.” The brands are TP-Link, Hisense, and TCL.
“Couple Sentenced After Fake ID Bust by Dallas ICE. According to ICE, the manufacturing of fake identification documents by the couple took place from August 2020 until their arrest in February 2025.
”
A Mexican couple living in Oklahoma has been sentenced for manufacturing fake identification documents for illegal aliens, a scheme uncovered by ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Dallas.
Karina Garcia-Salazar, 47, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for Conspiracy to Transfer Identification Documents and Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Use or Transfer Five or More Documents.
Her partner Jorge Augusto Prieto-Gamboa, 41, was sentenced in December to 15 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release following conviction for Conspiracy to Possess Five or More Documents with Intent to Transfer.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma reported that Garcia holds a Lawful Permanent Resident card, while Gamboa has been living illegally in the U.S. since 2002.
Sounds like authorities have reason to strip Garcia of their green card and deport them.
Winning: “Texas A&M Ends Women’s & Gender Studies Programming. The university cited low enrollment as the reason for the decision.”
A HIMARS strike knocks a Belgorod power plant offline.
A fuel trained derailed and exploded in Tambov, Russia. It may or may not be Ukraine-related.
“Ukraine says Starlink terminals used by Russia deactivated.
Ukraine said last week it was working with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to block the use of Starlink terminals used on Russian attack drones and was trying to compile a “white list” of all Ukraine’s terminals so the Russian ones could be turned off.
“Starlinks included in the ‘white list’ are working — Russian terminals have already been blocked,” Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who took office last month, wrote on Telegram, adding that the list was still being updated.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Musk said on Sunday that moves by SpaceX to stop the unauthorised use of Starlink by Russia seemed to have worked.
Russia used to be home to space-faring superpower capable of launching its own communication satellites. Now its dependent on western COTS technology that can be turned off by Elon Musk.
Russian GRU military intelligence General Vladimir Alexeyev shot in assassination attempt in Moscow. No word if Ukraine or internal enemies attempted the hit. Alexeyev is a nasty piece of work with several planned assassinations and war atrocities laid at his feet, so he’s exactly the sort of person Putin would assassinate if he feared internal dissent.
Washington Post to layoff over 300 employees. John Nolte has thoughts:
Follow-up: Louis Rossmann’s war against Austin paying for AI cameras in its parks has paid off in the form of a new proposal. “If you go down to item 61, approve a resolution directing the city manager to return to council with an ordinance regulating the city’s use of surveillance technology. Mayor Pro Tem Jose Cheto Vela, Council Member Mike Siegel, Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, Council Member Krista Laine, Council Member Jose Velasquez are involved and sponsors of this.”
YouTuber makes horror film for $3 million, kicks Hollywood’s butt.
Even Critical Drinker likes it.
Heh. “William Shatner’s fiber commercial is on pace to get more views than the woke new Star Trek show.”
Adobe screws animators by cancelling a program they depend on, then immediately walks it back. Sort of.
It’s not just employers who are flaky: “The new hire who showed up is not the same person we interviewed.”
John” accepted the offer and started last week!
Except … it’s not the John my husband remembers. My husband was confused and said the following things were odd:
– John has different hair and now wears glasses.
– John is talking extensively about working in a garage because his three children and wife are home. In the interview, he made references to being single and was visibly in an indoor desk area.
– John can’t answer a number of questions that they previously discussed in the interview, things pretty pivotal to the position.
– Husband describes John as being aloof and pretty timid whereas John was confident and articulate when they interviewed him.
He is convinced this is not the person they hired.
Snip.
They heard back from legal … who are less than thrilled about the situation! They approved HR to have a conversation with John regarding what has been reported (more in the vein of “there’s been some concerns about performance and you overselling abilities” and less of the We Think You Are a Liar route).
Snip.
As soon as HR got on the call with him, before they could get through their first question, John said the words “I quit” and hung up the calls. He has since been unreachable!!
YouTuber WhistlinDiesel was once again daring to register a vehicle he bought in Tennessee in another state. Sounds like Special Agent Curtis Richie has a vindictive vendetta against him. “Don’t buy cars in Tennessee anymore. I cannot recommend enough just moving to another state.”
When various WWII tanks were finally retired…and a couple of types are still in service.
Speaking of ancient military equipment: “Hospital evacuated after 8-inch WWI artillery shell discovered in patient’s butt.”
“Damning Photos Surface Of Clippy On Epstein Island.”
“Roomful Of Pedophiles Protests ICE Deporting Pedophiles.”
“Tim Walz Emerges From Den To Declare 6 More Weeks Of Rioting And Fraud.”
“If They Can Arrest Don Lemon For Something As Simple As Breaking The Law, Imagine What They Can Do To You.”
“Experts Warn Arresting Journalists Could Be Slippery Slope To Arresting Politicians And Other People Who Deserve It.”
“Suspicious: Voter ID Bill Defeated In Senate By Vote Of 7 Million To 53.”
I’m still between jobs. Feel free to hit the tip jar if you’re so inclined.
Tags:3Bees Technologies Inc., Adobe, AI, Andrew Ferguson, animation, Austin, Babylon Bee, Ben Bankas, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bexar County, Border Controls, Brandon Waltens, California, China, Claire Deacon, Clownfish TV, comedy, Crime, Critical Drinker, Curtis Richie, cyberwarfare, Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender, Ehud Barak, Elon Musk, Fox Varian, fraud, GRU, Guns, H1B visa, Illegal Aliens, Illinois, immigration, Israel, J. D. Vance, Jeffrey Epstein, John Nolte, Jorge Augusto Prieto-Gamboa, Jose Vela, Jose Velasquez, Karina Garcia-Salazar, Keir Starmer, Ken Paxton, Krista Laine, Labour, Lawsuit, liberal racism, LinkSwarm, Los Angeles, Louis Rossmann, Marco Rubio, Media Watch, Mehmet Oz, Microsoft, Mike Siegel, Military, Minnesota, Monroe Doctrine, Moscow, Mossad, N-Word, New Orleans, Oklahoma, Panama, Panama Canal, pedophilia, Peter Mandelson, police, Rob Bonta, Russia, Russo-Ukrainian War, San Fernando Valley, Sara Gonzales, Second Amendment, sex offender, Social Justice Warriors, St. Paul, Star Trek, Suchomimus, Supreme Court, surveillance, tanks, TCL, technology, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Scorecard, Tom Homan, TP-Link, transexual, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), UK, Ukraine, Van Nuys, Vanessa Fuentes, Virginia, Vladimir Alexeyev, Vladimir Putin, Voter Fraud, Washington Post, weird news, WhistlinDiesel, William Shatner, World War I, World War II, YouTube
Posted in Austin, Border Control, Budget, Crime, Democrats, Guns, Media Watch, Military, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Supreme Court, Technology, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, January 20th, 2026
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has come to a shocking conclusion: Racist discrimination is illegal.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued a sweeping new legal opinion declaring that “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” programs rooted in race- and sex-based preferences are unconstitutional in the public sector and expose private companies to significant legal liability.
The 74 page opinion argues that government policies awarding opportunities or benefits based on “skin color or sex” cannot survive strict constitutional scrutiny and should be dismantled across Texas.
An attorney general opinion is a formal written interpretation of the law issued by the state’s top lawyer, typically in response to a legal question about how existing statutes or constitutional provisions should be applied.
Paxton’s office said the opinion targets decades of DEI frameworks embedded throughout state and local government, including programs in public institutions and schools. The attorney general framed the action as a return to equal opportunity and a rejection of what he called “woke, race-based favoritism.”
“This action to dismantle DEI in Texas helps fulfill the vision articulated by Martin Luther King, Jr. when he dreamed that his children would one day live in a nation where they were judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Paxton said. “America is waking up to the egregious unfairness of DEI policies. People should be judged based on merit and the quality of their character and qualifications, not their race, sex, or any other inherent characteristic conferred at birth.”
Seems like apt phrasing for a decision issued on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Paxton added that “it’s imperative that all private-sector employers, schools, and state and local government entities—based on this legal opinion—immediately abolish any DEI, affirmative action, or unconstitutional discrimination programs under their authority.”
In the opinion itself, Paxton’s office contends that DEI has evolved into a system in which immutable traits have become “the currency of advancement,” spreading through academia, government, and private industry.
While an AG opinion can carry significant weight for state agencies and local governments—often shaping how officials administer programs and avoid legal risk—it does not, by itself, change the law, repeal statutes, or carry the force of a court order.
It does, however, signal how his office will treat DEI going forward.
If you read the decision, it goes into considerable detail not just on how racial preferences violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875, and the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, and Paxton cites the words of American Founding Fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine and George Mason.
It also fiercely critiques the reintroduction of official support for racial preferences and the introduction of racial quotas under President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the name of “affirmative action,” as well of the slight-of-hand by which temporary solutions to address past discrimination have been transformed into permanent “diversity” bureaucracies. “The rhetoric that diversity is essential for ‘business survival’ continued to take form and brought with it a cottage industry of diversity training programs, networking, and mentoring programs that fixated on the advancement of women and minorities.”
Back to Texas Scorecard:
The legal opinion concludes that race- and sex-based preferences in public institutions “cannot survive strict scrutiny and are therefore unconstitutional.”
It also warns that many private-sector DEI practices could trigger liability under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, and federal civil rights law, including Section 1981, as well as potential exposure under state and federal securities laws.
A major focus of Paxton’s opinion is Texas’ historically underutilized business (HUB) contracting framework, which Paxton describes as a “pervasive, discriminatory regime” that violates both the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and the Texas Constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment.
The opinion argues the state’s HUB structure defines eligibility and access to government benefits by race and sex, triggering strict scrutiny and creating what it calls de facto quotas through race- and sex-based “targets.”
Plus a slam at current Senate race rival John Cornyn for failing to address DEI when he was Attorney General.
Paxton concludes:
Our nation was founded on the radical notion that all are created equal. Though we have often failed to live up to that promise, it remains as a constitutional lodestar—both in the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. The race- and sex-based, public sector preferences discussed in this opinion cannot survive strict scrutiny and are therefore unconstitutional. Furthermore, a large body of DEI practices in the private sector triggers liability under Title VII, the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, and Section 1981 in addition to state and federal securities law.
That should be the proper death-knell for DEI in Texas. The question remains how much resistance will Democrat-run blue locales like Austin and Houston, who desperately want to continue discriminating on the basis of race, put up against the ruling, and long will it take private sector entities to fall in line to limit their legal liability?
Tags:2026 Texas Senate Race, Affirmative Action, Brandon Waltens, Civil Rights, Civil Rights Act of 1964, DEI, Democrats, John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, liberal racism, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, racism, Regulation, Social Justice Warriors, Texas, Texas Scorecard, The Declaration of Independence
Posted in Democrats, Regulation, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, January 14th, 2026
The costs from the Biden Administration facilitating an illegal alien invasion continue to mount. In Texas alone, hospital costs for treating illegal aliens was more than $1 billion.
Texas hospitals incurred more than $1 billion in health care costs for patients not lawfully present in the United States during fiscal year 2025, according to new data obtained from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
The figures were collected under an executive order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott in August 2024, which requires hospitals to report the cost of inpatient and emergency care provided to individuals in the country illegally. Under Abbott’s order, hospitals are also required to inform patients that responses regarding immigration status will not affect their care, as required by federal law.
Statewide totals show 313,742 hospital visits from patients not legally present in the U.S., costing hospitals $1.05 billion during the reporting period. The largest share of the expense—more than $565 million—came from inpatient discharges for non-Medicaid and non-CHIP patients.
Emergency department visits accounted for roughly $230 million, while total inpatient care exceeded $820 million, underscoring that long-term hospitalizations, not emergency treatment alone, are driving much of the cost.
Although hospitals are required under federal law to deliver the care, unpaid medical costs are ultimately passed along to Texans. Taxpayers absorb the burden through higher insurance rates, public hospital funding, and state health programs.
Notably, the data does not reflect a full fiscal year of mandatory reporting. Hospitals were only required to begin submitting data in November 2024, leaving the first two months of fiscal year 2025—September and October—unreported.
Snip.
In 2021, Attorney General Ken Paxton estimated Texans were paying between $579 million and $717 million annually in uncompensated care for illegal aliens. The partial FY 2025 totals alone already surpass that range.
Funny how Libertarian sorts claiming that illegal aliens are a net benefit to the economy always seem to leave a lot of “externalities” out of their calculations: Higher crime rates, more sex trafficking, enabling transnational criminal organizations, more voting fraud, higher government spending and higher taxes to provide government services for illegal aliens, higher prices for citizens for limited housing, depressed wages for citizens, etc. And, of course, higher medical bills and insurance rates for citizens, since illegal aliens generally feel no compulsion to buy health insurance.
So added health care costs add up to more than $1 billion in extra costs for Texas. How much more is it for the rest of the nation?
Tags:Border Controls, Brandon Waltens, Budget, Greg Abbott, health care, Illegal Aliens, Texas, Texas Scorecard, Welfare State
Posted in Border Control, Budget, Texas, Welfare State | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, November 26th, 2025
If you’re a long time incumbent, you’re not supposed to be running in third place in a three man race, especially after you’ve dumped a whole lot of money into the race, yet that’s exactly the position John Cornyn finds himself in.
A new poll of likely Republican primary voters shows U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s support continuing to decline ahead of the 2026 Texas GOP primary, with Cornyn now falling into third place in a three-way matchup.
The poll, conducted November 21–22 by Stratus Intelligence, surveyed 857 likely Republican primary voters in Texas. It found Attorney General Ken Paxton leading with 36 percent, followed by U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt at 26 percent, and Cornyn at 25 percent. Fourteen percent of voters remain undecided.
The first caveat is that 857 likely voters is a fairly small sample for a state as large as Texas. I’ve seen smaller, but generally you want to see something at least in the 1,500-2,000 range. The second caveat is that I’m not seeing the crosstabs here. There are a bit fewer shenanigans to pull if you’re actually only polling Republicans, but I still want to see the crosstabs.
The third caveat is that all the other usual poll concerns apply.
Cornyn’s favorability rating has also declined. The survey shows him at 35 percent favorable and 51 percent unfavorable, with 28 percent of respondents holding a “very unfavorable” view of the incumbent senator.
In hypothetical head-to-head matchups, Paxton leads Cornyn 51 percent to 34 percent, while Hunt leads Cornyn 52 percent to 29 percent. The memo accompanying the poll states that Cornyn has spent more than $40 million on advertising and campaign activity this year but that his numbers have not improved.
$40 million to make yourself less popular? That’s some mighty fine campaign management there, Lou.
Early TV advertising is the perpetual fool’s gold of political campaigns, as it rarely moves the needle, especially for incumbents. Thus far I have not received a single direct mail flyer from any of the three Republican senate candidates (though I have received four from AG candidate Mayes Middleton).
The polling also explored President Donald Trump’s potential influence. In a scenario where Trump endorses Cornyn, Paxton still leads 44 percent to 41 percent. By contrast, if Trump endorses Hunt, Hunt leads Paxton 51 percent to 31 percent.
Interesting.
Small poll samples aside, it reinforces the existing impression of Cornyn: A long-time incumbent who’s worn out his welcome with Republican primary voters,
Tags:2026 Texas Senate Race, Brandon Waltens, Donald Trump, Elections, John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, Mayes Middleton, Media Watch, polls, Republicans, Stratus Intelligence, Texas, Texas Scorecard, Wesley Hunt
Posted in Elections, Media Watch, Republicans, Texas | 8 Comments »
Thursday, November 20th, 2025
EPIC City may have turned out to be mostly (not entirely) a nothingburger, more a prosaic speculative land deal than an actual Islamic City, but it seems to have lit a fire under Greg Abbott, as he’s come out swinging against any opportunity for Jihad to take root in Texas this week.
First up: He designated CAIR and the BrandonMuslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations.
Gov. Greg Abbott has officially designated both the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.
The move immediately prohibits the groups from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas and authorizes the state to take legal action to shut down their operations.
The designation is the first significant use of authority granted to the governor under Senate Bill 17, a land-security measure Abbott signed into law earlier this year.
SB 17 allows the governor, after consultation with the Department of Public Safety, to classify any foreign group or transnational criminal organization as a prohibited entity. Once designated, those organizations—and their affiliates—are barred from acquiring real property in Texas and become subject to aggressive enforcement by the attorney general.
“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” said Abbott. “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable.”
The astonishing thing here is not only Abbott declaring an obvious truth loudly and clearly, but that the actual declaration goes even harder without even a single ritual bow to mealy-mouthed, politically correct wokespeak on the issue, and I’d quote great walloping bits of it if it weren’t an uncopyable PDF.
Back to Texas Scorecard.
Under SB 17, the Texas attorney general is empowered to investigate any property transactions involving prohibited entities, bring actions against land they attempt to acquire, seek court-ordered divestiture, and pursue civil penalties of up to 50 percent of the property’s market value. Courts are required to appoint receivers to sell off any land improperly purchased.
Abbott’s proclamation also designates both CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations, enabling the state to pursue injunctions and penalties under Texas’ anti-gang and anti-terrorism laws.
The declaration follows years of concern from national security officials and law enforcement. CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in United States v. Holy Land Foundation, the largest terrorism financing case in U.S. history. The FBI severed formal ties with CAIR in 2008.
Earlier this year, Republican Party of Texas leaders overwhelmingly approved a resolution denouncing CAIR as an “ideological threat,” citing its connections to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses.
The party warned that CAIR promotes policies “incompatible with Texas law,” works to impose Sharia-aligned standards in public institutions, and attempts to suppress constitutionally protected speech by labeling dissent as “Islamophobia.”
The governor’s action also comes amid heightened public scrutiny over Islamist influence in Texas.
You may remember CAIR from such hits as “We stole $7 million in taxpayer money” (thanks, Gavin Newsom). You may remember the Muslim Brotherhood from such hits as “Boy, we sure do have a lot of ties to the Clinton family” and “We Tried To Turn Egypt Into An Islamic Republic And All We Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.” Both have, at the very least, played footsie with Islamic terrorists for their entire existence, as shown by the Holy land Foundation links, and CAIR seems to be a direct cash pipeline to Hamas. Both deserve the terrorist org tag.
But Abbott wasn’t finished! He also declared the State of Texas was investigating a Sharia Law Islamic Tribunal in Dallas.
ov. Greg Abbott is calling for investigations into “entities purporting to illegally enforce Sharia law in Texas.”
In a letter issued Wednesday, Abbott details entities in Collin and Dallas counties that “may be masquerading as legal ‘courts’ staffed with ‘judges’ issuing orders that purportedly carry the authority to bind individuals to Islamic codes, thereby preempting state and federal laws.”
Abbott identified the Islamic Tribunal in Dallas, which he said “purports to exercise jurisdiction over all aspects of life—even over non-ecclesiastical legal disputes—and to subject them to ‘Islamic Jurisprudence and its Shari’ah or Law.’”
The Islamic Tribunal has operated since at least 2015.
The organization’s website states that “there is no secularism or detachment from the tenets of faith and all Islamic injunctions in regards to the legal field” and that “problems within American Muslim society may range from personal and family matters such as marriage and divorce, as well as disputes among community members and those in positions of leadership.”
The website continues, “It is with this issue that Muslims here in America are obligated to find a way to solve conflicts and disputes according to the principles of Islamic Law and its legal heritage of fairness and justice in a manner that is reasonable and cost effective. These proceedings must be conducted in accordance with the law of the land; local, state and federal within the United States. Through effective mediation and arbitration, decisions can be made that are stipulated in the Shari’ah and adhering to the binding, ethical and legal code that exists within this country with the final approval of the relevant courts and judges.”
The website goes on to state that the Islamic Tribunal was “established for this purpose. The Islamic Tribunal is a unique institution of its kind in the United States of America. It is the intention of erecting this institution in order to set a precedence that will be emulated and duplicated throughout the country.”
It also adds a “general disclaimer” that it “does not provide legal advice and the Islamic Tribunal is not a law firm. None of our members are lawyers and they also do not provide legal advice.”
Abbott addressed the letter to district attorneys and sheriffs in both Dallas and Collin counties, in addition to Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin.
“Legal disputes in Texas must be decided based on American law rooted in the fundamental principles of American due process, not according to Sharia law dispensed in modern day star chambers,” the governor said.
Indeed.
People outside Texas may not remember it, but a few years ago, a lot of Texas conservatives thought Abbott was too much a cautious, consensus-driven squish of a Republican governor. Somewhere between the Biden border invasion and the Straus-Phalen Cabal thwarting school choice and property tax reform for the umpteenth time, Abbott seemed to morph into a real fire-breather of a conservative.
Between him and Paxton, neither are going to let jihadism take root in Texas if they have anything to say about it.
Tags:Brandon Waltens, CAIR, Cameron Abrams, Crime, Greg Abbott, Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood, terrorism, Texas, Texas Scorecard, The Texan News
Posted in Crime, Jihad, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, November 11th, 2025
Ken Paxton hasn’t let running for the senate keep him from his favorite pastime: filing lawsuits. This time he’s suing “‘Radical Open-Borders Group Over Alleged Illegal Voter-Registration Scheme.”
Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the nonprofit JOLT Initiative, accusing the Democrat-aligned voter-registration group of orchestrating what he calls a “systematic, unlawful voter-registration scheme” designed to “sabotage Texas election integrity and allow illegals to vote.”

Not that one.
The suit, filed October 23 in Tarrant County district court, invokes the state’s quo warranto authority—a constitutional power allowing the attorney general to ask a judge to revoke a corporation’s charter if it is violating Texas law.
According to the filing, undercover investigators from Paxton’s office observed Jolt volunteers stationed outside Department of Motor Vehicles offices instructing people how to fill out voter-registration forms in ways that violated the Texas Election Code, including offering to register individuals who were not present. The state alleges those practices could enable non-citizens without valid identification to submit unlawful voter-registration applications.
“The left constantly tries to cheat and rig elections because they know they can’t win honestly,” Paxton said in announcing the suit. “Any organization attempting to register illegals, who are all criminals, must be completely crushed and shut down immediately. JOLT is a radical, partisan operation that has, and continues to, knowingly attempt to corrupt our voter rolls and weaken the voice of lawful Texas voters. I will make sure they face the full force of the law.”
Paxton’s office is asking the court to order the forfeiture of Jolt’s corporate privileges, dissolution of its charter, and appointment of a receiver to wind down the organization’s operations.
In the petition, the state cites “systematic, knowing, willful, deliberate, and reckless” violations of election statutes and argues that criminal conduct under the election code constitutes “sufficient cause” for revocation of Jolt’s corporate status.
JOLT, which describes itself as a nonprofit working to “increase civic participation among young Latinos,” has argued in federal court that its volunteer deputy registrars are trained according to secretary of state guidance and must submit all applications they receive—eligible or not—for counties to determine eligibility.
JOLT Initiative is an Austin-based 501(c)(3) organization. It’s 990 filing shows it’s run by liberal Democrat Diana Maldonado, who longtime readers might remember as a one-term state representative before Republican Larry Gonzales beat her in the Texas House District 52 race in 2010.
There’s no election fraud vector Democrats won’t try. With some blue states handing driver’s licenses out like candy in a ploy to get illegal aliens onto the voting roles, Paxton is wise to nip this particular fraud attempt in the bud.

Tags:Border Controls, Brandon Waltens, Democrats, Department of Motor Vehicles, Diana Maldonado, JOLT Initiative, Ken Paxton, Lawsuit, Social Justice Warriors, Texas, Texas Election Code, Texas Scorecard, voting fraud
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