“Armando Walle didn’t realize he was being recorded. The Democratic state representative from Houston was frustrated. Republican members of the Texas House had put forward a bill that would empower police officers to apprehend, arrest, or send back migrants who cross the border illegally. As Republicans moved to halt additional amendments on the matter, Walle went to confront state representative Cody Harris, of Palestine,who had just filed the motiomn to do so. His colleagues, he said, were attempting to pass a contentious bill without having to fully defend it. . . .
“Measures limiting immigration have become political catnip at the Legislature for Republicans. Walle said that the events captured on video are not wholly representative of how he feels toward many of his colleagues. Without giving names, he said some Republicans spoke with him afterward and ‘expressed sympathy’ about how the process was ultimately handled. . . .
“Of all the issues that feed Republicans’ total control of state government, immigration policy, and the xenophobic rhetoric that often accompanies it, is arguably the most successful. A University of Texas Politics Project found that more than one third of the state’s voters cited immigration or border security as the most important problem facing Texas. Republicans (60 percent) and a plurality of independents (43 percent) were far more likely than Democrats (9 percent) to identify it as the most pressing issue. But some Democratic voters, especially Hispanic South Texans, have expressed frustration with their party’s border policies, citing an apparent increase of migrants in certain South Texas counties. Democrats have gradually been losing their share of Latino voters, even as opposition to immigration has become more openly nativist. . . .
“Immigration has long been an issue Republicans make hay of in the Capitol. But the debate in the Legislature has evolved—or devolved—from being mostly about how to deal with undocumented Americans already living and working in the country—a focus of the 2015 legislative session — to how to respond to crises, some real and some manufactured, across the Southern border. . . . — The Immigration Debate at the Texas Legislature Has Devolved, Alexandria Samuels, Texas Monthly, 10/27/23 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: A Democrat legislator, as revealed in this article, was upset that his Texas Republican colleagues want to do something about illegal immigration. He and the writer of this piece don’t seem bothered by it at all. One sure indicator on the part of Samuels, the writer, is her reference of illegals as “undocumented Americans.” The phrase shows a total indifference to the worth and significance of our citizenship.
In the first place, illegal aliens are not Americans of any description. They are the citizens of whatever countries they come from. Furthermore, they are not “undocumented.” Usually they have fake identity documents which enable them to live and work in the U.S. What they don’t have are any documents which attest to their legal right to be here.
Interestingly, Samuels concedes that lots of people in Texas favor cracking down on illegal immigration, including South Texas Hispanics. In a democratic society, it is appropriate for legislators to respond to the concerns of their constituents. But the Republicans who do so, according to Samuels, are just pandering politically with “xenophobic rhetoric” prompted by “nativism.” To illegal alien advocates, it is xenophobic (hatred of foreigners) to give priority of loyalty to one’s native land. So what might we call these advocates who are more loyal to foreigners than to America? One possibility might be “Ameriphobles.” Another might be “alienists.”