Democrats Tie Smuggling Bill to Racist
Who Speaker Team Has Been Attacking
Capitol Inside
October 25, 2023
Texas House Republicans put a crusade against anti-Semitic behavior and hate in the GOP on hold on Wednesday when they tentatively approved legislation that Democrats portrayed as a thinly-veiled move to capitalize with voters who share the same views as white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Democratic State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos of Dallas argued that the motivations behind Senate Bill 4 were evident when it was filed just three days after Fuentes met with operatives in Fort Worth on the day before the current special session convened.
SB 4 seeks to crack down on human smuggling into Texas by establishing a minimum punishment of 10 years in prison for a conviction. The measure gained preliminary approval on a 90-57 vote. A half-dozen Democrats from border areas sided with the Republicans for the initial vote on SB 4. The bill will go to Governor Greg Abbott who will be awaiting anxiously with a pen.
"There are no coincidences in Austin," Ramos said in a post on X. "Abbott and the TX GOP’s legislative priorities are dominated by racist, white supremacist extremists. A vote for SB 4 is a vote for white supremacist an racist ideology."
Ramos and other Democrats pleaded with GOP colleagues to back off the proposal as a result of countless numbers of Americans who could end up behind bars for an entire decade simply because they were driving a car with passengers who had crossed into Texas illegally.
"It is wrong for our innocent Texans to be penalized for driving their abuela to the grocery store, when at the same time big businesses knowingly exploit undocumented labor for inhumane wages, and go unpunished," Ramos added on X.
Democratic State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado of Dallas said the legislation represented a "complete erosion and destruction of family values" in Texas.
GOP State Rep. Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City sponsored the measure in his role as the Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. Guillen served for 20 years as a Democrat before switching parties last fall. But Guillen may not have been prepared for the attempts by Democrats to tie the bill back to Fuentes at the same time he's been the impetus for the speaker's attack on the Defend Texas Liberty PAC as a result of an alleged association with the self-promoting Nazi admirer.
Phelan has led a push to have Texas lawmakers take money they'd received from DTL and associates and give it to charity to make a statement against anti-Semitism and racial hatred. The blitz has been a double-edge sword - however - in light of large numbers of voters who are openly racist in the GOP today.
more to come ... |
