Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, August 22, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton Probes Claims of Noncitizens Being Registered to Vote

• Following reports of organizations potentially working in Texas to register illegal aliens to vote, Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced his office is launching an investigation. Brandon Waltens has the details.
   
• According to Paxton, his investigators have "already confirmed" that various nonprofit organizations have been working outside Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License offices.
      
• After investigating similar tips in his county, Parker County GOP Chair Brady Gray noted he was told that individuals manning tents or tables to register voters on DPS grounds “would be told to leave, as it is not allowed.”
      
• DPS has not responded to a request for comment on whether they have a statewide policy allowing or disallowing voter registration outside their offices.
        
• Gov. Greg Abbott expressed support for Paxton’s investigation, writing, "We won't let cheaters influence elections in Texas."

RELATED NEWS

• “Secure elections are the cornerstone of our republic.” – Ken Paxton

Illegal Alien Charged With Assault in Boston Repeatedly Entered Through Texas

• A man from Guatemala has been arrested in Lynn, Massachusetts by federal agents in Boston. As Will Biagini reports, the Guatemalan has been charged with assaulting a Massachusetts resident and illegally re-entering the country after having been previously removed.
       
• Darvin Joel Mendez-Lopez, 27, was caught twice in 2015 by the U.S. Border Patrol after illegally entering the U.S. near McAllen. He was deported back to Guatemala both times. In 2021, he was caught three different times illegally entering Texas and returned to Guatemala. It is unknown when he entered this most recent time.

State Rep. Blasts Texas A&M for Continuing DEI Classes

• State Rep. Brian Harrison exposed Texas A&M University this week for continuing to offer classes laced with radical leftist ideology. Luca Cacciatore has the details.
      
• An alumnus of Texas A&M, Harrison (R-Midlothian) was first made aware of how wide-ranging the problem was after a conservative influencer highlighted a list of classes offered at the school for Fall 2024. Some of those included “Queer Theory,” “Gender Socialization,” and “Women in Hip-Hop Push Back Against the Male Gaze.”
        

• Harrison described the news as “just the latest example of A&M continuing to force” his constituents to “pay for liberal indoctrination.”
       

• While state law prohibits universities from establishing DEI offices, using DEI criteria in their hiring practices, or requiring employees or prospective employees to attend DEI training, it does not apply to academic instruction.
      

• Harrison has pledged to explore “legislative remedies” to address the fact that DEI is not prohibited in the university classroom.

Lawmakers Challenge TxDOT’s Plan to Maintain Tolls After $1.7 Billion Buyout

• Opposition is mounting against the Texas Department of Transportation's plan to purchase a Houston-area toll road from a private developer while maintaining tolls for Texans. The plan involves terminating an existing agreement this October, spending $1.7 billion to acquire the already-built toll lanes on Highway 288, and assuming management and operations.
      
• State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) and State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) are among those raising concerns in a letter to the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees TxDOT.
       
• Others signing the letter include incoming lawmakers Shelley Luther, Mike Olcott, Trey Wharton, AJ Louderback, Wes Virdell, Andy Hopper, Katrina Pierson, Helen Kerwin, and David Lowe.

Pro-family Library Events to be Held Across Texas this Saturday

• For the second year in a row, the Texas-based publishing company BRAVE Books is organizing pro-family library events around the nation. Valerie Muñoz has the story.
        
• The story hours began last year after Kirk Cameron was denied the opportunity to read his BRAVE book As You Grow in more than 50 libraries.
       
• "See You at the Library" also comes in response to the wave of so-called drag queen story hours, in which children would be exposed to men in sexually provocative costumes at public libraries.
       
• Those interested in "See You at the Library" can find more information about story hours near them on the BRAVE Books website.

Quote-Unquote

"A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa, but people still line up to see the original."

– Louis Armstrong​