For decades, progressives have dreamed of changing Texas from a “red” Republican state to a “blue” Democrat one. This dream is realistic because Democrats have succeeded in turning several western states “blue.”
For example, California was the state that launched the political career of President Ronald Reagan. Prior to his presidency, Reagan served two terms as Governor of California. Today, California is a progressive wasteland, rapidly losing population and businesses.
Not long ago, Republicans controlled Washington, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado. Today, Democrats either totally or partially lead those states.
One of the major reasons these states have become Democrat bastions is the influx of Hispanic immigration, both legal and illegal. In the last midterm election, a survey showed that 64% of Hispanic voters supported Democrat candidates, while only 33% supported Republican candidates.
Thus, boosting the size of the Hispanic population helps improve the political chances for Democrats. It is certainly a major reason Democrats, like President Biden, encouraged undocumented migrants to cross our border. In his first press conference as President, Biden said he was “flattered” that undocumented migrants were surging into the country.
Along with encouraging an influx of new entries into the United States, Biden stopped construction of the successful border wall that was started by President Donald Trump. He also ended the “Remain in Mexico” program, which did not allow those individuals seeking asylum in the United States to enter the country until their immigration court dates. In addition, Biden reinstituted “Catch and Release,” which allowed undocumented migrants to remain here until their hearing date, which might not be scheduled for ten years.
The open border policy has worked for the Democrats as over ten million noncitizens have entered the United States in the last three years. This is a greater number of people than the total population of 41 states.
Among the huge number of individuals apprehended at the border were 1,586 “known suspected terrorists.” It is unknown how many suspected terrorists evaded border apprehension.
Thus, the open border is putting the American people in grave danger of a terrorist attack. Americans are also being inundated by border crossers with criminal records.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended almost 50,000 criminal noncitizens. This number does not include the tens of thousands of criminal noncitizens arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and local and state police officers.
The open border also can lead to dangerous health epidemics. As documented by journalist James Varney, “For two years running, polio has been detected in some New York water samples, and this fall, leprosy re-emerged in Florida, where cases of malaria have also been recorded.” According to Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Stanford University physician and scientist, “The recent polio and leprosy cases are almost certainly imports to the U.S.”
If threats of crime, terrorism and dangerous disease epidemics were not enough reasons to close the border, there are also the verifiable economic costs. Research from the Federation of American Immigration Reform determined that in 2023 the economic costs of illegal immigration were approximately $150.7 billion, at the local, state and federal levels.
An increase in illegal immigration leads to a bevy of economic woes such as a major boost in government spending to provide an array of benefits. Some undocumented migrants displace American citizens in the workforce and do not pay taxes on their earnings. While others send a portion of their paycheck to their families in their home country, depriving the United States of billions of dollars in economic benefit each year.
The serious risks to the American people caused by allowing an open border are deemed to be acceptable by Democrats looking to garner more political power. As usual, Democrats are not concerned about improving the standard of living for undocumented migrants or tax paying American citizens. Their only goal is to enhance their political strength, and this can be accomplished by turning Texas into a “blue” Democrat state.
Undoubtedly, Democrats are getting closer. In the 2020 presidential election, Biden only lost the state by five percentage points. This was the best showing for a Democrat presidential candidate since 1996, even though the party’s nominee has not won in Texas since Jimmy Carter did in 1976.
Democrats are hoping to turn Texas “blue” because that would give them an electoral lock on the presidency and Congress. The only chance for Republicans to take back control of the presidency and both houses in Congress is to win in Texas.
Other than an anomaly in 1968 due to a strong third party candidate, George Wallace, who took almost 20% of the vote from GOP presidential nominee Richard Nixon, the last time the Republicans won the White House without winning the electoral votes in Texas was in 1924.
Winning elections in the “Lone Star” state is crucial to gaining and maintaining power in Washington D.C. The state sends thirty-eight representatives to the United States Congress, 8.7% of the overall total, and has forty electoral votes in the presidential race, 14.8% of the magic number of 270 that is needed to win.
In the 2024 race, Texas Democrats will be helped by George Soros, the leftwing billionaire known for his financial support of progressive causes. As uncovered by Fox News, in the last year, Soros has contributed $3 million to five progressive political organizations, including the Texas Majority PAC.
The group’s Deputy Executive Director, Katherine Fischer, vows to use the funds to mobilize voters in Texas “on a scale never seen before, year after year, in the key regions of our state.” The Texas Majority PAC is funding local Democratic Party organizations throughout the state. In Cameron County, Democratic Party Chair Jared Hockema, said that new funding was “more than we’ve ever had available to us.”
In 2024, Democrats will be targeting Texas and everything from their border policies to their political strategies should alert Republicans that they better focus on the state before it is too late.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America's Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-11 a.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com
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