Thirteen people dead in two mass shootings
. Eight immigrants killed when an SUV slams into a crowded bus stop. The likely approval of legislation that would let the Republican governor overturn elections in the most populous county, a Democratic stronghold. All in the past two weeks.
Yet lately, things here have felt unrelenting. And what troubles some Texans is not how outsiders see the state, but whether those living here can navigate the divisive political climate — and overcome a complicated and sometimes violent past.Leeson is furious at how immigration has become a political battleground.
Chad Hasty, a well-known conservative talk radio host based in Lubbock, mourns the latest killings — “I don’t want to get to a time where we’re not shocked by a mass shooting” — but is adamant that gun rights be protected. He rarely leaves home without his Sig Sauer P365, a small firearm designed for everyday carrying and one of the best-selling pistols in America.“I don’t view it as a uniquely Texas thing,” he said.
Like so much in Texas, her politics are complex. Brashier, who calls herself a political independent, sees immigration as a good thing — “I just think we need to figure out a better way to do it.” Texas’ border cities have tended to be more welcoming to immigrants than other parts of the state, since many in these areas have long seen themselves and their Mexican neighbors as a big, blended community that transcends governments' political borders. In El Paso, for instance, more than 80 percent of nearly 700,000 residents are Latino. Many residents have family just across the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
For nearly a century, Texas has had a one-word state motto: “Friendship.” But many see that easygoing connection changing.
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