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Texas official fights back, cites successful identification of illegal votes

While conceding big problems with their database of possibly illegal voters, Texas officials are asserting their highly polarizing inquiry has so far yielded 80 people who should not have been on the rolls.

Keith Ingram, who runs the elections office for the Texas secretary of state, testified Wednesday that 43 people on his list of suspect voters have since asked to cancel their registrations because they are not American citizens. Another 37 said they should be dropped from the registration roster but did not volunteer a reason.

At the same time, Ingram revealed his agency's original list of 95,000 suspect voters included as many 20,000 who had proved their citizenship to the Department of Public Safety, which issues driver licenses and state ID cards in Texas.


That report last month prompted Republican Secretary of State David Whitley to announce (without detailing his methodology) that as many as 58,000 votes had been cast by non-citizens statewide in the previous two decades – a declaration that prompted President Trump to declare Texas "the tip of the iceberg" of massive voter fraud nationwide.

Ingram will continue testifying Friday at the federal courthouse in San Antonio, were Judge Fred Biery is hearing a class action lawsuit seeking to stop the investigation of voter fraud, and potential purging of the rolls, in the most populous Republican red state – and one that's inexorably becoming more Democratic blue thanks to urbanization and the steady increase in the Latino population.

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The next key witness is supposed to be Betsy Schonhoff, who ran the citizenship-verification effort at the secretary of state's office before resigning without giving a reason two weeks ago. But she has not reported to the courthouse as a subpoena required.

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Fighting the Current Immigration Nightmare

Mother and child at the airport.

Getty Images//Keiferpix

Fighting the Current Immigration Nightmare

I had a nightmare that my mom was being deported. I dreamed of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents coming to our home and taking her away. The current climate has unlocked a childhood fear. My mom did not become a citizen until 1997, and in my early years, I was afraid that I would go to school and never see her again. I was afraid that I would be left behind.

To see immigration through the eyes of the child is to see separation from your parents, your sense of safety and normalcy. My mother had fled from Nicaragua to the United States during the 1980s during civil unrest in Central America, leaving behind my siblings until they could be reunited many years later. Once reunited, there were years to make up for missed birthdays and missed milestones, and at that point, a blended family with new siblings.

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a group of people arranged in the shape of the United states of America map

A group of people arranged in the shape of the United states of America map.

Getty Images, attjeacock

Where Is the “Real America”?

Is there such a thing as a “real America”? A battle now rages over this simple question. Some Democratic party operatives claim the real America are so-called “Trump voters,” who they say they need to better “study” in order to win future elections. Many Republican voices argue the real America are just those who support the new administration 100% of the time. Still, others assert that different demographics or geography comprise the real America. It’s as if the real America is one particular slice or another of our nation.

These caricatures lead us sorely astray. But there is a real America. I work in it every day.

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The African American Mayors Association holds its 11th annual conference, this year in Washington, D.C.

The African American Mayors Association holds its 11th annual conference, this year in Washington, D.C.

Imagine Photography, Heaven Brown

Job Cuts, Climate Threats, and the Power of Now: Black Mayors Seek Strength in Solidarity

WASHINGTON – Black mayors from across the country gathered in the nation’s capital for the annual African American Mayors Association Conference last week and strategized ways to govern their cities despite ongoing federal job cuts and recent actions coming from the Trump administration.

At the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President Donald Trump conducted his second round of mass firings. Those who were not fired were told to go back to in-person work the same week in late March.

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Innovative Local Solutions Can Ease America’s Housing Crisis
aerial photography of rural
Photo by Breno Assis on Unsplash

Innovative Local Solutions Can Ease America’s Housing Crisis

Across the country, families are prevented from accessing safe, stable, affordable housing—not by accident, but by design. Decades of exclusionary zoning, racial discrimination, and disinvestment have created a housing system that works well for the wealthy but leaves others behind. Even as federal cuts to public housing programs continue nationwide, powerful, community-rooted efforts are pushing back and offering real, equity-driven solutions led by local voices.

Historically, states like New Jersey show what’s possible when legal advocacy and grassroots organizing come together. In 1975, the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel ruling established that every municipality in the state has a constitutional obligation to provide its fair share of affordable housing. This landmark legal ruling reshaped housing policy and set a national precedent. Today, organizations like Fair Share Housing Center continue to defend and expand this right, ensuring that local governments are prohibited from using zoning laws to exclude working-class families or people of color.

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