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. tx immigration gunlaws kprc2
Guns have long been a part of Texas culture — both in the state's mythology and in reality. But to equate the number of guns with the number of people killed by guns strikes some as a false equivalence.
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.” This week, Texas and other border states were preparing for the end of a policy that allowed the government to quickly expel migrants to Mexico. Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed more Texas National Guard troops in response to the end of the rule. The goal, Abbott said this week: to “secure the Texas border.”
With more than 30 million people, Texas has long been a destination for outsiders from other U.S. states and abroad. Since 2010, it has gained nearly 4 million residents — more than any other state, according to U.S. Census figures. In 2020, Latino residents accounted for half the population growth, and many demographers believe Latinos will soon surpass whites as the state’s largest ethnic group.
“I always thought of Texas as a friendly place. But to be honest, this last decade, it just feels meaner,” said Chris Tomlinson, a fifth-generation Texan and a business columnist with the Houston Chronicle. He has written two best-sellers about Texas history, including “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth.”
At times, it can seem that the Texas population is shifting faster on many issues than the state’s politics, which remain solidly conservative and Republican. A Democrat hasn’t been elected to statewide office since 1994. Yet Tomlinson notes that polling indicates Texans aren’t that different from the rest of the country when it comes to many issues, from abortion to immigration.
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