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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Support for Today Explained comes from Saks Fifth Avenue. Fall is here. Might be time to find some nice new pieces you can wear again and again. With Saks Fifth Avenue, it can be a breeze to shop for your personal style, like maybe a relaxed Prada blazer or Gucci loafers that are great for both work and the weekend.
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Republicans in Texas are really going for it lately. They're legislating so far right where the Democrats fled the state. A bunch of them wound up here in Washington, D.C. They left the state on buses and planes to block the vote.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: The Texas Democrats' decision to break a quorum of the Texas legislature and to abandon the Texas state capitol, that inflicts harm on the very Texans who elected them to serve. Nicole Nerea covers politics at Vox, but she does it from Texas. Nicole, what's going on with the GOP out there?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: So Republicans have passed or are trying to pass a slew of legislation on topics that are really aimed at animating their right wing base. Democrats basically talked a big game about turning the state blue in 2020 and flipping the Texas statehouse. While Texas has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1976, a major surge in early voting in the Lone Star State is giving Democrats new hope tonight that they could turn the traditionally red state blue next week.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: But that didn't come even close to fruition. It turns out that Democrats, maybe some of them spotted a blue mirage in some of the early numbers and hope overcame facts in this case. So Republicans at this point aren't really worried about a Democratic offensive. The state is solidly red, and incumbent Republicans from Governor Greg Abbott down to state house representatives just want to defend their seats from primary challengers in next year's elections and also prove to Republican voters that they share their values.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: What issues are they trying to prove this on?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So the governor has already signed legislation that removed permit requirements to carry a handgun and also established an effective ban on abortion that's currently facing legal challenges. But there's also a special session of the state legislature underway where lawmakers are supposed to work on legislation that would prevent schools from teaching critical race theory, provide funding for border security, and make Texas's already very restrictive voting laws even more so.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: And of course, this voting legislation thing is getting a ton of attention in particular because state Democrats once again fled the statehouse. Yeah. So it's basically a last ditch effort to prevent the passage of this restrictive new voting law by preventing a quorum in the legislature.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Look, you know, to break quorum, we have to stay out of the state for a long time. We're fighting for voting rights. These bills that they're trying to pass in Texas would make it so much harder for the people of Texas to vote, especially women, people of color and individuals with a disability. They intend to stay in D.C. until the end of the special session in August.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But unless Congress intervenes by passing voting rights legislation in the immediate future, it might just be a matter of delaying the inevitable at this point because Republicans control the Texas legislature and they've been threatening to even arrest Democrats who fled the state.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But why is the state's GOP being so aggressive about passing all of these bills right now?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yeah. So for a while after the 2018 midterm elections, Texas Republicans were more focused on bread and butter issues like property taxes and school finance. But Democrats made some major inroads that year, not just retaking the U.S. House, but also picking up 12 seats in the Texas House and two in the Texas Senate. And that shook Republicans' confidence a bit in the state.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: But 2020 kind of marked the return of the more culture-worry issues in the Texas legislature. And with primary elections around the corner in 2022, Texas Republicans are trying to hold onto their seats and not lose them to more conservative candidates. There's also been rumors flying about that Governor Abbott is trying to boost his image for a potential 2024 presidential run.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: So Republicans at this point are really just returning to some of the really divisive issues that the Trump administration focused on And the Texas governor is kind of chummy with the former president yeah Yeah definitely He recently hosted Trump for a visit down in Texas We had the border so closed the best ever We're going to begin the process of putting the border wall up just like President Trump did, just like what President Biden should be doing.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: He really is trying to align himself with Trump's base at this point. And I imagine the critical race theory, the abortion stuff, the voting bill stuff is all part of that plan.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: But is there anything Governor Abbott is particularly suited to do to sort of adhere to the former president's agenda?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yeah, I mean, at least in terms of Texas being a border state, he's been really focusing on the immigration piece of that agenda and has been trying to attack the Biden administration for perceived failures to deal with migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: He's basically just saying that at this point, the Biden administration is allowing criminals over the border and that the border isn't secure. Some of the same rhetoric we saw under the Trump administration and that Trump himself has repeated in recent weeks in speeches that he's given at CPAC and other places.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: We ended the horrible catch and release where we catch a criminal and release him into our country. we actually said nope it's called stay in Mexico and it worked very well and we had the support of Mexico who else could do that but you know it's not really clear at this point whether those attacks can actually land given that it's not really clear that there is a crisis at the border it's just maybe the result of pandemic related policies that have led to a pent-up demand for migration
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And is Governor Abbott trying to do something about this himself?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yes. He has said that he wants to build a border wall by himself. By himself?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yeah, you're not the only one who's skeptical. Like, is he going to go down there in cargo shorts with, like, a sun hat? Who knows? At this point, it is very much of a theoretical vision as opposed to a practical one, given that there are a lot of concerns legally and also just practically about implementing the project from fundraising to seizing private property to the limited powers of state government over immigration.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it's really unclear if he'll actually be able to do it, but he's still going to try. And so far, he's managed to raise some money for it.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Quick break, then how a Texas governor plans to do what the federal government couldn't, build that wall.
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--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Nicole, so when we left off, you said that the Texas governor, Governor Greg Abbott, plans on building the border wall by himself. How exactly does a governor go about doing that?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: So he is planning on picking up where Trump left off And the Trump administration built about 450 miles of barrier on the border but most of it was in Arizona So Abbott looking to finish the wall along the Texas border and has so far put down a $250 million down payment that was drawn from state disaster relief funds.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: And he's also crowdfunded almost another half a million dollars as of June 23rd. But that's still kind of a drop in the bucket of what he might need to finish the project. And the federal governments estimated that it could cost as much as $46 million a mile in some sectors of the border.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So it's not really clear at this point where that money is coming from.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Is that like a thing you can do? Can a state governor just take disaster relief funds and put it towards a vanity project, a construction project, or, you know, as he probably would like to phrase it, an essential security spending project?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yeah, it's not clear whether that's legal under Texas state law. He basically declared a disaster for 34 counties in the state last month, citing a recent increase in unauthorized immigration at the border. And that freed up some resources to deal with the problem and also allowed him to suspend any state laws and regulations that would stand in the way.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: But as I mentioned before, it's not really clear that the current levels of unauthorized immigration actually constitute a disaster as it's defined legally.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Fair.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Assuming he does raise enough money and doesn't run into legal challenges for using emergency funds for this, which who knows, but where exactly in Texas would this wall go?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yeah, so this is going to be another challenge for Abbott. We have an obligation to take care of this land. Been in my family since 1750. It's in our DNA.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: He basically needs the consent of private landowners on the border to build the wall on what is currently their property.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: My name is Mauricio Alejandro Vidauri. I'm a retired CBP officer, now turned farmer and rancher. My name is Jose, and my last name is Vidauri. We're standing on the United States side. The landowner that you see is Mexico.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: And these landowners have already fought both the Trump and Biden administrations and the courts to prevent the federal government from seizing their land in order to construct the wall. Army Corps engineers already came in. They took their soil samples. They did some survey. They did some cleanup. We have not received anything from the governor's office.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: I would not personally donate any land for that use or for any use. And the Texas Civil Rights Project, which is a legal aid organization, is currently representing more than 130 property owners that want to keep their land.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: What are these landowners' reasons for fighting the wall? Do they just not believe in walls? Do they want to keep their property wall-less?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yeah, so this is Texas, and the idea of big government taking your property isn't all that popular. These 65-plus acres of family land in Mission, Texas, sit right on the banks of the Rio Grande. It's belonged to the Cavazos family for three generations, and it's no secret how they feel about a border wall going up on their property.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: How would you like the government to come to your house and say, we're going to put a gate right in your house? It's actually been an issue not just in terms of constructing the wall, but also it's been an obstacle to various infrastructure and rail construction projects over the years.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: And you also have to remember that the region of South Texas has been really hard hit by both the pandemic and the resulting recession. So voters there are more focused on boosting the local economy and resuming cross-border trade, which has been a huge source of jobs and economic growth for the region for a long time.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So if locals aren't crazy about this wall and the governor is probably going to face a lot of challenges using this money to build the wall, why bother? It seems like state Republicans aren't really that interested in capitulating to the predominantly Hispanic communities along the border where a wall would actually matter to them.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: It's really much more of a political ploy than an actual project at this point. And much like the other laws we talked about before, this is an attempt to fire up a conservative base before 2022 and 2024.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And we reached out to Governor Abbott's office for comment and his press secretary said that this wall is not about politics. Quote, border security is not a red or blue issue. This is a public safety issue. She went on to say that until the Biden administration starts doing their job, Texas is stepping up to secure our southern border and protect Texans.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So clearly the governor office is saying they see this as like some sort of public safety issue.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Is this border wall going to be popular among Texans though?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: It could work in the way that it did for Trump but it could also backfire So in 2016, immigration was seen as an issue that helped mobilize white grievance voters, as well as some swing voters in places like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania in favor of Republicans.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: But in 2018, when Trump really focused on the quote-unquote invasion of migrant caravans and smugglers, it really didn't help the Republicans' case. And Democrats, who focused on health care for the most part instead, ended up taking back 41 House seats.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So it's definitely proved a risky strategy for Republicans nationally in the past. But if there's a place where that strategy could succeed, it's probably Texas.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: You mentioned the Texas governor might be gearing up for a presidential run in 2024. But before he gets there, he has to run for reelection in Texas next year. And he's going up against what, like a clean shaven Beto O'Rourke?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yeah, I think that's a question that a lot of people want to ask. But the Democratic Party at this point in Texas is pretty demoralized after the results of 2020. And I just don't see them launching an offensive that threatens Abbott in any way, even though he's faced a lot of challenges over the last year with the pandemic and also this crazy winter storm that left a lot of people without power in the cold for days.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: But he's hearkening back to the issues that his voters care about. And it's a strategy that's worked for Texas Republicans in the past and that he's hoping will work for him in 2022.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Is that dream of flipping Texas blue sort of dead now with all of these initiatives from the Texas GOP that sort of run so hard and fast in the face of everything that the state's liberals probably want to see happen?
--:-- Nicole Nerea: Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people thought that 2020 was Democrats' best chance to make some progress in Texas. And when that didn't come to fruition, especially in terms of, you know, the Texas legislature now being controlled by Republicans, it means that they'll be in control of redistricting, which could basically harm Democrats for the next 10 years.
--:-- Nicole Nerea: And also these initiatives to clamp down on voting rights leave Democrats in a really precarious position and pretty much unable to make progress for the foreseeable future unless there's some federal intervention here.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So pretty bleak for the state's Democrats, but there's always the question of Governor Matthew McConaughey?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Well, I want to talk to you about a couple of things. One is there's speculation that maybe you might one day run for governor of Texas. Right. It's something I'm giving consideration. Absolutely.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: What an honorable thing to even be able to consider.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And it's not even clear whether he would run as a Democrat or Republican or an independent. But he has expressed interest in the governorship.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: So the 2022 race could shape up to be quite interesting.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: And we've got to keep realizing that we're a place where our individual pursuits and desires need to be appreciative and supportive of our collective responsibility. as Americans, hence the United States of America.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Has probable candidate McConaughey weighed in on the wall, on voting legislation, critical race theory, abortion, handguns?
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: I can't believe I'm asking what Matthew McConaughey thinks about critical race theory. He seems to be staying out of the fray for now, but he has said that he would take an aggressively centric approach to his platform, whatever that means.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Nicole Nerea covers politics and immigration at Vox. Find her work at Vox.com. I'm Sean Ramos for him. It's Today Explained. The team includes Halima Shah, Will Reed, Victoria Chamberlain, Emily Sen, and Miles Bryan. Afim Shapiro is our engineer. Matthew Collette's our editor, and Amina Alsadis, our supervising producer.
--:-- Sean Rameswaram: Music from Breakmaster Cylinder, facts checked by Laura Bullard, Liz Kelly Nelson's The Veep of Audio at Vox, Jillian Weinberger's The Deputy. Today Explained is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. You can reach us with an email, todayexplained at vox.com. Thank you.
