West Texas Billionaires Set Aim At Forcing Hispanics Out Of Texans

Trigger Warning: This article contains shocking screenshots from well-funded white supremacists. First they targeted women, then the LGBTQ community, next they've set their aim on Hispanic Texans.

The two men pictured above are Tim Dunn and Ferris Wilks, two oil oligarchs from West Texas. A few years ago, CNN made a documentary about these men called Deep in the Pockets of Texas. You can see the video below if you haven’t already.

They’ve been in the headlines again recently, paying Dan Patrick $3 million to acquit Ken Paxton. Their ultimate goal is transforming Texas into an authoritarian, white, Christian Nationalist state.

Over the last decade, Dunn and Wilks have bought the top politicians in Texas with over $100 million in contributions. And it’s not just politicians. They fund a sprawling network of PACs, think tanks, and media outlets.

This week, several of their paid operatives have taken to social media to espouse vile and hateful rhetoric aimed at both Hispanic Texans and immigrants. This is their worldview, and they are spending a lot of money to spread their worldview to the masses.

Ella Maulding is one of their operatives. Here are some of the things she has spread on social media this week:

Maulding recently moved to Texas for a job at Pale Horse Strategies, a consulting firm that works with far-right groups and candidates. Pale Horse Strategies is run by former State House Rep Jonathan Stickland and funded by West Texas oil oligarchs Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks under the Defend Liberty Pac.

Why Pale Horse? Because it is what Death rides before Hell descends on Earth in the Book of Revelation. Nice, huh?

But the mullings of Ella Maulding were far from the only racist tirade by Dunn and Wilkes operatives on social media this week.

Texans for Strong Borders claims to be a non-profit citizens advocacy organization that bridges the gap between grassroots activists and the Texas state policy process. Here are just a few of some of the outrageous posts they’ve made this week:

When they speak about the 14th Amendment, they may only be talking about Hispanic immigrants now, but all people of color will be at risk in America if they get their way. Remember, the 14th Amendment is what gave formerly enslaved people their citizenship.

People born in America are United States citizens, no matter who their parents are, but these racists have a problem with it.

It should be noted that during Nazi Germany, one of the key measures by the Nazis was to strip Jews of their citizenship and civil rights. They formalized that process with the Nuremberg Laws, which classified Jews as non-citizens.

The Defend Texas Liberty PAC, funded by Tim Dunn and Ferris Wilks, is Texans for Strong Borders’ top contributor.

Why is this language by Dunn and Wilkes operatives so dangerous?

Every Republican State Senator and over half of Republican House members in Texas have taken money from Tim Dunn and Ferris Wilks. For some Republicans, nearly half of their campaign contributions are from these two billionaires.

As we saw, these oligarchs are willing to throw their money around to get what they want. They bought Paxton’s acquittal, proving that Dan Patrick and most Republican Senators are profoundly corrupt and motivated only by money.

During the last legislative session, Republicans in the House pushed extreme legislation under HD20, which would have deputized vigilantes in all corners of the state to stop any brown person and ask them for their papers.

And before you say, “That’s unconstitutional,” remember that constitutionality has never stopped Republicans before. Now that they have a majority on the Supreme Court, their goal is to change the Constitution, one law at a time. That’s how Roe v. Wade was overturned.

We all should fear the future that these oligarchs envision.

You are not safe under a government controlled by them. And if you think this madness will stay in Texas, it will not. Eventually, it will seep into other states as other far-right billionaires imitate Dunn and Wilks model.

The only way to rid ourselves of this madness is to vote against every Republican up and down the ballot. We outnumber them. All we have to do is show up. Please show up, before it’s too late.