Exclusive: GOP Senate candidate Wesley Hunt pushes bill barring education benefits for illegal aliens
Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas is moving legislation on Capitol Hill to ensure taxpayers are actually prioritized over illegal aliens.
Hunt, who is running for U.S. Senate in Texas, introduced the American Dream Protection Act on Thursday to disincentivize states and educational institutions from providing educational benefits to illegal aliens. Hunt's legislation would require federal financial assistance to be withheld if states are found to provide taxpayer-funded education to illegal aliens.
'Too many American resources have been used to benefit illegals.'
“For years, the left and a select few Republican senators have pushed for mass amnesty and benefits for illegal aliens," Hunt told Blaze News. "In 2003, the Dream Act, which was voted favorably out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, created an incentive to provide illegals with in-state tuition rates intended only for legal residents."
"The American Dream Protection Act of 2025 will eliminate federal and state funding to universities that continue to support illegals."
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Educational institutions across the country offer in-state tuition and other higher education benefits to illegal aliens, leaving American taxpayers to foot the bill. To counteract these inequities, Hunt's bill withholds federal funds for schools that charge illegal immigrants lower tuition as well as states that provide them financial aid.
"Too many American resources have been used to benefit illegals while American citizens suffer," Hunt told Blaze News.
Hunt is currently running in the Texas Senate primary against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Republican primary winner will face off with one of two Democratic candidates, Rep. Jasmine Crockett or state Rep. James Talarico.
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'The voices in her head are not real': Senator Kennedy issues a hilarious rebuke of Jasmine Crockett
In response to Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett's newly launched Senate run, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana offered a lighthearted analysis of the Democrat's rising star.
Crockett announced her highly anticipated Senate bid in early December after her Democratic colleague Colin Allred opted to run for a House seat instead. Crockett is now expected to face off with Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) in a contentious primary ahead of the 2026 election.
'She is wrong on every single issue.'
Although Democrats have embraced Crockett as an up-and-coming political leader, Kennedy offered some much-needed advice about the Senate race to his colleagues across the aisle.
"We all have the right to express our opinion," Kennedy said. "You're not free if you can't say what you think, and the congresswoman has a right to her opinion."
"But I have the right to mine," Kennedy added. "And somebody needs to tell the congresswoman, it will be in her best interest, they need to tell her that the voices in her head are not real."
Kennedy pointed out that Crockett's progressive policies combined with her many, many questionable comments will not bode well in a red state like Texas.
"She is wrong on every single issue," Kennedy said. "The people of Texas will never embrace her message. I don't know why she's doing this, but you have the right in America to do dumb things if you want to."
To Republicans' delight, Crockett actually has a shot at winning the Democratic primary. One poll has Crockett ahead of Talarico, a more moderate Democrat, by eight points. Although she is projected to sweep the competition on the Democrat side, her poll numbers against Republican challengers make a GOP victory in 2026 look promising.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the incumbent in the race, is polling a comfortable six points ahead of Crockett. This margin narrows against Republican challenger Ken Paxton, who is currently projected to have just a two-point advantage.
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Did the Islamic takeover of Texas just get shut down for good?
EPIC City, the Islamic all-inclusive development being planned in Texas by the East Plano Islamic Center, may have rebranded to “the Meadow” in order to hide the agenda — but recent actions taken by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton may be shutting down the compound for good.
“It’s appearing less and less likely that they’re ever going to break ground, especially since at the end of last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he is suing just about everyone involved,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says on “Come and Take It.”
Paxton is suing the East Plano Islamic Center, Community Capital Partners, and the individual leaders for “securities violations after alleging that they are engaged in an illegal land development scheme.”
“He’s suing all of them. He said, ‘You get a lawsuit, and you get a lawsuit, and you get a lawsuit. You’re all getting lawsuits,’” Gonzales says. “Because you guys need to understand very clearly: We’re not doing this here. Not in Texas.”
“There are a lot of problems within my state that I want to make sure get fixed, okay, but one thing that it feels a whole hell of a lot like we are all aligned on is, ‘You’re not turning my state into an unrecognizable third-world country,’ and ‘You’re not turning my state into a Muslim-majority area,’” she continues.
And one of the many reasons Gonzales feels so strongly about this is because Islam is growing rapidly in other areas — and we have all been able to see the outcome.
“I have eyeballs. I see what’s happening in Europe. I see what’s happening in the U.K. I see what's happening. I see the crime statistics. I see the violent sexual crimes only going up and up and up. I see the terrorism. Like, we all have eyeballs,” she explains.
“We all see what is happening, and it’s nothing personal,” she continues. “It’s not like every single one of them must be terrible people. It’s just not something we’re going to do here in Texas. We’re not doing that.”
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New Law Lets Texans Sue Out-Of-State Dealers For Trafficking Abortion Drugs
Abortion drug traffickers who send mail-order mifepristone to Texas could face fines of no less than $100,000 per violation.Justice Alito delivers win to Texas GOP, temporarily restores Republican congressional map
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito delivered Texas Republicans some good news on Friday, temporarily reinstating the Republican-friendly congressional map they passed in August.
After Texas Republicans surmounted weeks of obstruction by their Democratic colleagues, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ultimately signed the "One Big Beautiful Map into law" on Aug. 29, leaving the Lone Star Sate with a congressional map that could net the GOP five extra seats in the midterm elections.
'Radical left-wing activists are abusing the judicial system to derail the Republican agenda and steal the U.S. House.'
However, the adoption of the new map prompted hand-wringing among liberals and a successful Democratic gerrymandering campaign in California — as well as a legal challenge from several race-based groups of plaintiffs led by the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that the map was the result of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering and asked a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to block use of the map for the 2026 elections.
The court on Tuesday ruled 2-1 in favor of the liberal advocacy groups, finding that the challengers likely would be able to prove that it was racially gerrymandered.
RELATED: Yet another state's districts found to be racist, resulting in new map for 2026 midterms
"The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics," wrote Judge Jeffrey Brown in the ruling. "To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was among the liberals who celebrated the ruling, noting that "Donald Trump and Greg Abbott played with fire, got burned — and democracy won. This ruling is a win for Texas, and for every American who fights for free and fair elections."
But the celebration proved premature as Abbott and other Texas officials promptly appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement, "Radical left-wing activists are abusing the judicial system to derail the Republican agenda and steal the U.S. House for Democrats. I am fighting to stop this blatant attempt to upend our political system."
Justice Alito stayed the lower court's ruling Friday and gave GOP map opponents until Monday to respond to his order.
The Republican map is back in play pending the outcome of the state's appeal before the high court.
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Liberals rejoice after Clinton judge blocks Texas law requiring 10 Commandments in schools
Governor Greg Abbott (R) ratified legislation in June requiring all public-school classrooms in Texas to display the Ten Commandments.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick noted that "by placing the Ten Commandments in our classrooms, we are ensuring students receive the same foundational moral compass that guided our state and country’s forefathers."
The prospect that children in the Lone Star State would be publicly reminded from Sept. 1 onward to honor their parents and not to lie, murder, steal, commit adultery, or worship false gods proved intolerable to a number of liberals and anti-religion activists who promptly filed legal challenges.
'These rogue ISD officials and board members blatantly disregarded the will of Texas voters.'
Obliging one set of plaintiffs who alleged in a Sept. 22 lawsuit that the display of the historically significant moral code violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday that requires certain public school districts to remove displays of the Ten Commandments and further prohibits them from posting new displays.
Judge Orlando Garcia, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, claimed that the display of the Ten Commandments on the wall of a public-school classroom as set forth in Senate Bill 10 violates the Establishment Clause.
The Clinton judge noted further that while the plaintiffs in the case were a motley crew of parents — some are atheists, agnostic, Christians, Jews, Baha'i, and Hindu — "they share one thing in common: Plaintiffs do not wish their children to be pressured to observe, venerate, or adopt the religious doctrine contained in the Ten Commandments."
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Garcia added that it was "impractical, if not impossible to prevent Plaintiffs from being subjected to unwelcome religious displays without enjoining Defendants from enforcing S.B. 10 across their districts."
The ruling applies to 14 school districts across the state.
The ACLU, which has defended classroom displays of LGBT symbols signifying liberals' rejection of sexual morality, celebrated the ruling.
"A federal court has recognized that the Constitution bars public schools from forcing religious scripture on students," said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion. "This decision is a victory for religious liberty and a reminder that government officials shouldn't pay favorites with faith."
Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, similarly celebrated the prohibition of the Ten Commandments in the classroom, stating, "Families throughout Texas and across the country get to decide how and when their children engage with religion — not politicians or public-school officials."
While Laser insinuated that Texans did not sanction the introduction of the Ten Commandments into public-school classrooms, voters across the state elected those lawmakers who passed S.B. 10 this year in decisive votes in the Texas legislature. Moreover, Texans — 4,437,099 to be exact — also gave Abbott a clear mandate in 2022 to ratify such legislation.
"We're extremely happy to have secured this victory for the plaintiff families we represent," said Sam Grover, senior counsel at the Freedom from Religion Foundation. "The law is quite clear that pushing religion on students in public school is unconstitutional."
Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has vowed to enforce the law, is appealing the decision, reported KLTV-TV.
On Tuesday, Paxton also announced that he was suing a pair of school districts for refusing to comply with S.B. 10.
"These rogue ISD officials and board members blatantly disregarded the will of Texas voters who expect the legal and moral heritage of our state to be displayed in accordance with the law," said Paxton. "This lawsuit makes clear that no district may ignore Texas law without consequence."
A panel of judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals claimed that a similar law passed by Louisiana Republicans was "plainly unconstitutional." A hearing on the case by the full appeals court is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2026. The New York Times indicated that the court will also hear a challenge to Texas' S.B. 10 in that hearing.
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Leftist county is apparently helping illegal aliens fight deportation — and Texas taxpayers are left holding the bag
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on Monday, alleging that $1.34 million in taxpayer funds had been allocated "to radical leftist organizations that will use the money to oppose the lawful deportations of illegal aliens."
The 17-page complaint claimed that county funds had been used to pay for legal representation for illegal aliens facing deportation proceedings.
'So far, the county has spent over $8M with the ability to spend an additional $1.3M after the latest contract renewal.'
It stated that the Harris County Commissioners Court in mid-October approved allocating the funds to private nonprofits "for the stated purpose of providing 'direct legal representation to immigrants in detention or facing the threat of deportation.'"
“We must stop the left-wing radicals who are robbing Texans to prevent illegals from being deported by the Trump administration,” Paxton said. “Beyond just being blatantly unconstitutional, this is evil and wicked. Millions upon millions of illegals invaded America during the last administration, and they must be sent back to where they came from.”
In late October, the commissioners court allegedly approved an additional $100,000 to create an "immigrant resource hotline" that connects foreign nationals with legal service providers.
Paxton's complaint accused Harris County of "misusing public funds to subsidize private deportation defenses that advance no public purpose."
RELATED: AG Paxton sues Texas school district for refusing to display Ten Commandments in classrooms
"Harris County receives no return consideration or public benefit from these expenditures, and it exercises little or no control over how the recipient organizations select clients or perform legal work," it added.
The lawsuit names the following defendants: Harris County, the commissioners court, County Judge Lina Hidalgo (D), County Administrator Jesse Dickerman, Harris County Housing & Community Development Executive Director Thao Costis, and Commissioners Rodney Ellis (D), Adrian Garcia (D), Tom Ramsey (R), and Lesley Briones (D).
The complaint claimed that Garcia previously made remarks that "illustrate that Harris County's decision to fund deportation-defense services is driven by opposition to federal immigration enforcement rather than by any legitimate public purpose."
The lawsuit referred to Garcia's comments during a September 9 Special Commissioners Court, when he stated, "Would the court be able to make some request short of a demand that our county law enforcement not cooperate with ICE?"
Paxton requested temporary and permanent injunctive relief to prevent Harris County from providing taxpayer funds to the nonprofits, noting that the funds could not be recovered once disbursed, even if later determined to be unconstitutional.
RELATED: Thousands of possible illegal aliens found on Texas voter rolls, officials say
"I have opposed this initiative over the last five years," Commissioner Ramsey told Blaze News. "So far, the county has spent over $8M with the ability to spend an additional $1.3M after the latest contract renewal. We should be spending these funds on infrastructure, the county jail, or other county statutory responsibilities."
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee (D) called Paxton's lawsuit "a cheap political stunt" in a statement provided to Blaze News.
"Harris County has funded this program for years because it's the right thing to do. We're helping people who live in our communities and who contribute every day to our local economy. That's what good government looks like," Menefee said. "At a time when the president has unleashed ICE agents to terrorize immigrant neighborhoods, deport U.S. citizens, and trample the law, it's shameful that Republican state officials are joining in instead of standing up for Texans."
"Let's be clear: This program is perfectly legal, and it ensures that people in our communities have access to due process, something every American should support. Despite the narratives pushed by ... [the] worst elements of the Republican Party, we know that immigrants in our communities obey the law, work hard, and strengthen our state," Menefee continued. "My office will fight back and defend Harris County's right to lead with fairness, compassion, and common sense, no matter how many times Republican state officials try to erase that."
When reached for comment, Ellis' office referred Blaze News to a statement published on Facebook.
Ellis called the lawsuit "cruel and frivolous."
"Everyone has the right to feel safe in their own community," Ellis wrote. "The attorney general's reckless lawsuit flagrantly attacks civil rights and the very notion of community safety."
"At a time when Donald Trump's ICE raids are fueling anxiety and ripping apart families, we should be investing in trust, not fear," the statement continued. "Instead of mounting yet another wasteful, unconstitutional taxpayer-funded campaign stunt, the attorney general should be supporting actions taken by Harris County to promote true public safety."
Ellis vowed to continue fighting for his constituents' "rights, health, safety, and dignity ... regardless of immigration status."
The Harris County Commissioners Court, Hidalgo, Garcia, Briones, Dickerman, and Costis did not respond to Blaze News' comment request.
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