"Citizenship should have a high standard": How Scott Walker plans to fight illegal immigration

Newly announced presidential candidate Gov. Scott Walker joined the radio show Wednesday morning to discuss his stance on many of 2016’s key issues, including fighting Common Core and illegal immigration. Walker also outlined his record as a governor of a state infected with progressivism and the conservative victories he had achieved. Has anyone else been able to fight off liberals and progressives in order to push an agenda that works?

PAT: Pat Gray and Stu Burguiere. Jeffy as well for Glenn on the Glenn Beck Program. He's still resting his vocal cords. Should be back, target date, August 3rd. Things are looking so far. He's well on the way to a complete and total recovery. In the meantime, today, we're really excited because on Monday, the official announcement came out that Scott Walker is, in fact -- we've been waiting for this quite a while. He's officially running for president of the United States.

STU: I was stunned.

PAT: We've telegraphed this for a while.

STU: I thought he would come out and say, nope, not interested.

PAT: Is that what you expected? A lot of people announce that they'll announce and then say no. Yeah, I decided not to.

STU: Thank you for your time.

PAT: So joining us now is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Governor Walker, welcome to the Glenn Beck Program with Pat and Stu.

SCOTT: Hey, great to be with you guys. Hey, Stu, what did you think I would just walk out on the stage and drop the mic and say I'm not running.

PAT: Now, that would have been funny.

JEFFY: Yes.

PAT: And then come back out and pick it back up and say just kidding.

SCOTT: Sorry. Just kidding.

STU: Well, you're a welcome addition to the race, Scott. We've talked about your record before as far as Wisconsin goes. Our audience really sees you as one of the top contenders as we go --

PAT: Definitely.

SCOTT: Well, thanks.

STU: Go ahead. Go ahead.

SCOTT: I was saying, one of the interesting things is that there's a lot of great people including a number of good friends out there. People ask, well, why would you run if there's other people you know and admire and like out there? And I said, well, there's really two groups. There's people who are good fighters that have largely not won those fights, and there are other people who are good winners who largely have not taken on those fights. I think what we bring that's unique to this race is we've done both. We have fought, and we've won. Not just elections. Although, we won three elections in four years in a blue state. But we've won good, common sense conservative battles over and over again. And I think that's what people are hungry for not just in our party and our movement, but I think Americans are hungry for that.

PAT: This is an amazing year. Because there's been a lot of years where we've looked at the field and we've thought, jeez, there's nobody. Okay, maybe I could hold my nose and vote for this guy. You know, if push comes to shove, maybe I can vote for that guy. This time, though, there's 17 people that will be in this race. Eighteen or 36. Or whatever it is. And like you said, there's some good people in this. Ted Cruz we really like a lot. We like Rand Paul. Bobby Jindal is a good guy. You probably know him well as a fellow governor.

SCOTT: Very well.

PAT: So you come into this race. So what differentiates yourself and your policies from the rest of the field?

SCOTT: Well, I really think there's a hunger out there. I talked to people all over the country. I was in South Carolina today. Was Nevada yesterday. Will be New Hampshire tomorrow. Over the weekend in Iowa. And no matter where I go, there are Republican and conservative activists who are frustrated because we have a Republican House, we just got a Republican Senate, and they want people to lead in Washington.

You know, it's one thing to fight. A lot of good people, some of the folks you mentioned, great with a lot of issues out there. But they have yet to win those fights. Then there are others that are good at winning elections. But they haven't taken on the kind of fight. If someone wants proof, not just talk, they want proof that if I elect this person president, they will follow through on the common sense conservative reforms they're talking about. I think there's no one in America who has been better tested over the last four years than we have. Think about it. We not only took on the unions in one. We have right to work. We did prevail with wage reform. We cut taxes by $2 billion. We defunded Planned Parenthood and passed pro-life legislation. We passed conceal carry. My state now has a requirement now of photo ID to vote. Who would have thought that in a blue state like Wisconsin? But yet we should -- excuse me -- we showed that common sense conservative reforms can win. And if they can win in a blue state like Wisconsin, I believe we can make them work in America.

STU: You brought up having a majority in the House and the Senate for Republicans. What is the point of that? If you can't do something about this Planned Parenthood video that just came out just yesterday, where you have them on tape allegedly saying that they were essentially selling these baby parts, they're denying part of that. They're not seemingly denying the fact that they're skirting federal partial birth abortion law. I mean, they pretty much straight-out admit that that's going on in the video. What can be done about Planned Parenthood?

SCOTT: You look in the states. Others have done it as well. In the states, we've been aggressive in defunding them, which they've screamed about. Ran millions of dollars -- their supporters ran millions of dollars in attack ads. At the federal level, not only is this the right thing, but just fundamentally the right thing to do to crack down on this. So it's the right policy.

But also politically, strategically, I think it makes a lot of sense. Put that legislation on the president's desk. Make him veto it. And then make some of these -- particularly some of these Democrats who live in and represent somewhat vulnerable areas, for them politically, make them explain -- not just people like me who are pro-life. But I think most Americans look at that and say, that's just wrong. This is one of those where we have to get on offensive, instead of being defensive.

Same way we need to put a bill on the president's desk that gets rid of Obamacare, once and for all. That takes on one issue after another, to show Americans, this is what you get if you have a Republican House, Republican Senate, and you have a Republican as president, these are the kind of positive things from tax reform to -- to education reform to legal reform. You name it, we can do it in America. But the sooner we can show it, the more people have confidence.

Because most independents, I believe, aren't independents because they're moderates. They're independents because they're tired of being burned by candidates who promise one thing and then fail to deliver it after the election. This is why we carried our faith more than just about any government in America, and yet won independents in my state by 11, almost 12 points because they want someone to lead.

PAT: Governor, you -- if you were to win the presidency, you inherit, I mean, this guy talks about what a mess he inherited from the last guy. I mean, you look at the things that have to be unraveled that have gotten America enmeshed in such socialism and such wrongheaded policies. First of all, I mean, you have Obamacare, which you have to deal with. Is your policy to repeal Obamacare? Is it repeal and replace?

SCOTT: Repeal it entirely you have to put patients and families back in charge. I believe -- I was asked out at the Western Conservative Summit would I support going into a so-called nuclear option in the Senate? I said absolutely. We can't let rules that aren't in the Constitution, let the minority on an issue, particularly as important as this, when you have checks and balances in the House and the Senate as far as branches. We need to have an all-out attack to repeal Obamacare and put patients and families back in charge.

We need to day one, pull back on this outrageous -- we need to terminate this outrageous deal with Iran and put in place crippling economic sanctions against that country, which is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and convince our allies to do the same. We need to get rid of this action the president has taken on illegal immigration, which is completely wrong and why I joined the federal lawsuit. But we shouldn't need a federal lawsuit to do that. We need to get rid of things like Dodd-Frank and other regulations out there. We need to do that right away, just like we did four years ago, where we took on the big reforms right away.

STU: Talking to Governor Scott Walker. Governor, obviously as a governor, you have executive-level experience, which is something obviously beneficial when you'll run a country. But the other side of that is you have not necessarily dabbled in or at least are heavily involved in foreign policy, and that's something you'll get hit on at least. You have this Iran thing that comes down yesterday. The sanctions were working against Iran which is why they're on the table, I suppose. Now that this deal is supposedly in place, what can you do to unwind it? And is there any teeth in that sort of movement?

SCOTT: Sure. Well, two parts.

First, I should point out for anyone who doubts -- in my lifetime, at least I would argue, the best president on foreign policy and national security was a governor from California. So I think it's important to remember it's all about leadership. Here's a guy who helped us rebuild the military. He stood up for our allies. He stood up to our enemies. He stood for American values without apology. That led to one of the most peaceful times in modern American history.

The bottom line is, it's not so much about the position as it is about the ability and the capacity to lead. And I think we've shown in the most difficult of circumstances, at the state level, we can lead. And we've applied that to the federal level as well. Surrounding us with a great cabinet, listening to our military leaders.

But when it comes to Iran, I really do believe that we can terminate that deal. The only good part about this is because the president doesn't have the courage to take it to Congress, particularly ratified by the Senate. The next president is not bound by it.

So as president, literally on my first day, I would terminate this deal, and I would put back in place the sanctions, even greater I would argue, crippling sanctions, economic sanctions against Iran. And I believe, unlike the Obama and Clinton doctrine of leading from behind, if we lead again, I believe major numbers of our allies would follow suit.

PAT: How do you get the allies back on -- how do you get everybody involved in these sanctions back on board?

STU: Because Russia is getting billions and billions of dollars in arms sales.

PAT: So you just do it unilaterally at that point, Governor?

SCOTT: I would acknowledge it's not easy. I've looked at this for some time, and it's not easy. In many ways, it's kind of like putting a genie back into a bottle. It would be tough with places like Russia and China, although I don't consider either of them allies. But the United Kingdom. For certainly -- think about it. Who would have thought that France would be to the right of us on this issue? But that's what happened, you know, earlier this last year and how that shook their way of life there. They saw firsthand what happens when you don't deal with elements of radical terrorism.

Which, by the way, the president earlier this year proclaimed that the greatest challenge to future generations is climate change. And I would say, respectfully, Mr. President, I disagree. The greatest challenge to future generations is radical Islamic terrorism. That's not just ISIS. Iran is part of that problem. They're the chief state sponsor of terrorism in the world, particularly in that region, whether it's with Hezbollah or Hamas, certainly what they're doing with Syria and connected to Assad there. What they're doing with the Houthis in Yemen. What they're doing with the Shiite-based militias in parts of Iraq. These are bad actors that have not changed back from the days when they held 52 Americans for 444 days. We should not be doing business with them.

STU: The foundational issue with all this stuff is that we put a lot of the wrong people in control for a long period of time. Part of that goes back to our education system. Our audience is very passionate about Common Core. They do not like it at all. Can you tell us what the status is in Wisconsin about Common Core and what -- how do you see this developing going forward?

SCOTT: You know, we passed the budget. I included language that removes any requirement for the state -- or, excuse me -- that the state has on local school districts. So they're no longer bound by Common Core. That's completely out. It was put in place before I was governor. We finally got the legislature to approve that as part of the budget I proposed. We got rid of the funding for the so-called Smarter Balanced Tests.

But I think even more importantly, not just what I'm doing in the state and others are trying to do in Washington, even though it clearly is not a federal law, that's what proponents -- it's not a federal law, but it has become a federal policy in part because of the Department of Education interweaving that into their funding issues for state and for schools across the country. It's yet one more reason why I believe the country would be better off if we took money and power out of Washington, particularly when it comes to education, and send it back not to just our states, but our schools, where local decisions are better made by local parents, tax payers, teachers, families, instead of the bureaucracies in our nation's capitol. It's much more effective. Much more efficient. And definitely more accountable. No Common Core. No nationwide school bar.

PAT: Okay. And finally, probably the hottest topic going right now especially with the sanctuary city situation and the tragic death of that young woman in San Francisco, and I imagine in Wisconsin I'll bet Madison and Milwaukee are probably both sanctuary cities which you don't have control over, obviously. But what -- what do you do about the out-of-control illegal immigration situation? I mean, I would suspect the first thing is we secure the border. But then what do you do with the sanctuary city policies that are nationwide, with the illegal aliens that are estimated anywhere from 11 to 30 million here, what do you do about that?

SCOTT: Yeah, well, in specific, sanctuary cities, you have to enforce the law. I've said that about all our immigration, particularly when it comes to these sanctuary cities. And if they're dealing with someone, particularly violent criminals -- I mean, these cases where we've had these tragic occurrences, that typically involve situations where someone has been in and out of the criminal justice system.

They're not assisting -- I think there's huge problems with that. But even before you get to those specific examples, I believe you secure the border. I took Governor Abbott on his request earlier this year, and I went to the border, not only up in the air and on the ground, but saw the videos, spoke to not only federal officials, but state and local officials. And it is -- I knew there was a problem, but it was so eye-opening.

I talked to others in Arizona and other states as well about this. It is so eye-opening. Because what you have are -- you have international criminal organizations penetrating our land-based borders in a way that if it was happening on our coast, on the east or west coast, we would be sending in the Coast Guard, if not the Navy out here.

So it's people trying to bring over drugs, they're bringing over firearms. They're bringing over people, not just people that work, they're bringing over people to (inaudible). So we have to deal with that issue. People say, oh, you can't secure the border. That's nonsense. We can do it both through infrastructure, but also through technology and personnel.

I was -- earlier this year, I looked at the fence that they built and staffed and monitor in Israel, and after they were effective, it's about 500 miles. For a small country, that's a lot of fencing. They saw something like a more than 90 percent reduction in terrorist-related activities by having a secure fence there.

We have a border four times that, but we're a lot bigger country. We have plenty more assets. We should be able to secure the border. Along with that, enforce the law. No amnesty. Citizenship should have a high standard. And then when people want to talk about legal immigration, my priority is this, we should be looking out for Americans, working families and their wages in a way that will continue to improve the American economy.

STU: Governor Scott Walker.

PAT: Too bad there's not a place people could go and help your campaign.

SCOTT: ScottWalker.com.

PAT: That's an amazing coincidence. There is a place.

STU: Governor, we only have time for a one-word answer. Are you going to go see Brett Farv (phonetic) retire?

SCOTT: Absolutely. I'm looking forward to the big event on Thanksgiving. It will be a lot of fun.

STU: Thanks, Governor Scott Walker. ScottWalker.com.

PAT: ScottWalker.com.

Featured Image: LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 14: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks at Red Rock Harley-Davidson on July 14, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Walker launched his campaign on Monday, joining 14 other Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential race. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Why do Americans feel so empty?

Mario Tama / Staff | Getty Images

Anxiety, anger, and chronic dissatisfaction signal a country searching for meaning. Without truth and purpose, politics becomes a dangerous substitute for identity.

We have built a world overflowing with noise, convenience, and endless choice, yet something essential has slipped out of reach. You can sense it in the restless mood of the country, the anxiety among young people who cannot explain why they feel empty, in the angry confusion that dominates our politics.

We have more wealth than any nation in history, but the heart of the culture feels strangely malnourished. Before we can debate debt or elections, we must confront the reality that we created a world of things, but not a world of purpose.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

What we are living through is not just economic or political dysfunction. It is the vacuum that appears when a civilization mistakes abundance for meaning.

Modern life is stuffed with everything except what the human soul actually needs. We built systems to make life faster, easier, and more efficient — and then wondered why those systems cannot teach our children who they are, why they matter, or what is worth living for.

We tell the next generation to chase success, influence, and wealth, turning childhood into branding. We ask kids what they want to do, not who they want to be. We build a world wired for dopamine rather than dignity, and then we wonder why so many people feel unmoored.

When everything is curated, optimized, and delivered at the push of a button, the question “what is my life for?” gets lost in the static.

The crisis beneath the headlines

It is not just the young who feel this crisis. Every part of our society is straining under the weight of meaninglessness.

Look at the debt cycle — the mathematical fate no civilization has ever escaped once it crosses a threshold that we seem to have already blown by. While ordinary families feel the pressure, our leaders respond with distraction, with denial, or by rewriting the very history that could have warned us.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

We have entered a cultural moment where the noise is so loud that it drowns out the simplest truths. We are living in a country that no longer knows how to hear itself think.

So people go searching. Some drift toward the false promise of socialism, some toward the empty thrill of rebellion. Some simply check out. When a culture forgets what gives life meaning, it becomes vulnerable to every ideology that offers a quick answer.

The quiet return of meaning

And yet, quietly, something else is happening. Beneath the frustration and cynicism, many Americans are recognizing that meaning does not come from what we own, but from what we honor. It does not rise from success, but from virtue. It does not emerge from noise, but from the small, sacred things that modern life has pushed to the margins — the home, the table, the duty you fulfill, the person you help when no one is watching.

The danger is assuming that this rediscovery happens on its own. It does not.

Reorientation requires intention. It requires rebuilding the habits and virtues that once held us together. It requires telling the truth about our history instead of rewriting it to fit today’s narratives. And it requires acknowledging what has been erased: that meaning is inseparable from God’s presence in a nation’s life.

Harold M. Lambert / Contributor | Getty Images

Where renewal begins

We have built a world without stillness, and then we wondered why no one can hear the questions that matter. Those questions remain, whether we acknowledge them or not. They do not disappear just because we drown them in entertainment or noise. They wait for us, and the longer we ignore them, the more disoriented we become.

Meaning is still available. It is found in rebuilding the smallest, most human spaces — the places that cannot be digitized, globalized, or automated. The home. The family. The community.

These are the daily virtues that do not trend on social media, but that hold a civilization upright. If we want to repair this country, we begin there, exactly where every durable civilization has always begun: one virtue at a time, one tradition at a time, one generation at a time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The Bubba Effect erupts as America’s power brokers go rogue

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

When institutions betray the public’s trust, the country splits, and the spiral is hard to stop.

Something drastic is happening in American life. Headlines that should leave us stunned barely register anymore. Stories that once would have united the country instead dissolve into silence or shrugs.

It is not apathy exactly. It is something deeper — a growing belief that the people in charge either cannot or will not fix what is broken.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf.

I call this response the Bubba effect. It describes what happens when institutions lose so much public trust that “Bubba,” the average American minding his own business, finally throws his hands up and says, “Fine. I will handle it myself.” Not because he wants to, but because the system that was supposed to protect him now feels indifferent, corrupt, or openly hostile.

The Bubba effect is not a political movement. It is a survival instinct.

What triggers the Bubba effect

We are watching the triggers unfold in real time. When members of Congress publicly encourage active duty troops to disregard orders from the commander in chief, that is not a political squabble. When a federal judge quietly rewrites the rules so one branch of government can secretly surveil another, that is not normal. That is how republics fall. Yet these stories glided across the news cycle without urgency, without consequence, without explanation.

When the American people see the leadership class shrug, they conclude — correctly — that no one is steering the ship.

This is how the Bubba effect spreads. It is not just individuals resisting authority. It is sheriffs refusing to enforce new policies, school boards ignoring state mandates, entire communities saying, “We do not believe you anymore.” It becomes institutional, cultural, national.

A country cracking from the inside

This effect can be seen in Dearborn, Michigan. In the rise of fringe voices like Nick Fuentes. In the Epstein scandal, where powerful people could not seem to locate a single accountable adult. These stories are different in content but identical in message: The system protects itself, not you.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf. That does not mean they suddenly agree with everything that person says. It means they feel abandoned by the institutions that were supposed to be trustworthy.

The Bubba effect is what fills that vacuum.

The dangers of a faithless system

A republic cannot survive without credibility. Congress cannot oversee intelligence agencies if it refuses to discipline its own members. The military cannot remain apolitical if its chain of command becomes optional. The judiciary cannot defend the Constitution while inventing loopholes that erase the separation of powers.

History shows that once a nation militarizes politics, normalizes constitutional shortcuts, or allows government agencies to operate without scrutiny, it does not return to equilibrium peacefully. Something will give.

The question is what — and when.

The responsibility now belongs to us

In a healthy country, this is where the media steps in. This is where universities, pastors, journalists, and cultural leaders pause the outrage machine and explain what is at stake. But today, too many see themselves not as guardians of the republic, but of ideology. Their first loyalty is to narrative, not truth.

The founders never trusted the press more than the public. They trusted citizens who understood their rights, lived their responsibilities, and demanded accountability. That is the antidote to the Bubba effect — not rage, but citizenship.

How to respond without breaking ourselves

Do not riot. Do not withdraw. Do not cheer on destruction just because you dislike the target. That is how nations lose themselves. Instead, demand transparency. Call your representatives. Insist on consequences. Refuse to normalize constitutional violations simply because “everyone does it.” If you expect nothing, you will get nothing.

Do not hand your voice to the loudest warrior simply because he is swinging a bat at the establishment. You do not beat corruption by joining a different version of it. You beat it by modeling the country you want to preserve: principled, accountable, rooted in truth.

Adam Gray / Stringer | Getty Images

Every republic reaches a moment when historians will later say, “That was the warning.” We are living in ours. But warnings are gifts if they are recognized. Institutions bend. People fail. The Constitution can recover — if enough Americans still know and cherish it.

It does not take a majority. Twenty percent of the country — awake, educated, and courageous — can reset the system. It has happened before. It can happen again.

Wake up. Stand up. Demand integrity — from leaders, from institutions, and from yourself. Because the Bubba effect will not end until Americans reclaim the duty that has always belonged to them: preserving the republic for the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Grim warning: Bad-faith Israel critics duck REAL questions

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Bad-faith attacks on Israel and AIPAC warp every debate. Real answers emerge only when people set aside scripts and ask what serves America’s long-term interests.

The search for truth has always required something very much in short supply these days: honesty. Not performative questions, not scripted outrage, not whatever happens to be trending on TikTok, but real curiosity.

Some issues, often focused on foreign aid, AIPAC, or Israel, have become hotbeds of debate and disagreement. Before we jump into those debates, however, we must return to a simpler, more important issue: honest questioning. Without it, nothing in these debates matters.

Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

The phrase “just asking questions” has re-entered the zeitgeist, and that’s fine. We should always question power. But too many of those questions feel preloaded with someone else’s answer. If the goal is truth, then the questions should come from a sincere desire to understand, not from a hunt for a villain.

Honest desire for truth is the only foundation that can support a real conversation about these issues.

Truth-seeking is real work

Right now, plenty of people are not seeking the truth at all. They are repeating something they heard from a politician on cable news or from a stranger on TikTok who has never opened a history book. That is not a search for answers. That is simply outsourcing your own thought.

If you want the truth, you need to work for it. You cannot treat the world like a Marvel movie where the good guy appears in a cape and the villain hisses on command. Real life does not give you a neat script with the moral wrapped up in two hours.

But that is how people are approaching politics now. They want the oppressed and the oppressor, the heroic underdog and the cartoon villain. They embrace this fantastical framing because it is easier than wrestling with reality.

This framing took root in the 1960s when the left rebuilt its worldview around colonizers and the colonized. Overnight, Zionism was recast as imperialism. Suddenly, every conflict had to fit the same script. Today’s young activists are just recycling the same narrative with updated graphics. Everything becomes a morality play. No nuance, no context, just the comforting clarity of heroes and villains.

Bad-faith questions

This same mindset is fueling the sudden obsession with Israel, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in particular. You hear it from members of Congress and activists alike: AIPAC pulls the strings, AIPAC controls the government, AIPAC should register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The questions are dramatic, but are they being asked in good faith?

FARA is clear. The standard is whether an individual or group acts under the direction or control of a foreign government. AIPAC simply does not qualify.

Here is a detail conveniently left out of these arguments: Dozens of domestic organizations — Armenian, Cuban, Irish, Turkish — lobby Congress on behalf of other countries. None of them registers under FARA because — like AIPAC — they are independent, domestic organizations.

If someone has a sincere problem with the structure of foreign lobbying, fair enough. Let us have that conversation. But singling out AIPAC alone is not a search for truth. It is bias dressed up as bravery.

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

If someone wants to question foreign aid to Israel, fine. Let’s have that debate. But let’s ask the right questions. The issue is not the size of the package but whether the aid advances our interests. What does the United States gain? Does the investment strengthen our position in the region? How does it compare to what we give other nations? And do we examine those countries with the same intensity?

The real target

These questions reflect good-faith scrutiny. But narrowing the entire argument to one country or one dollar amount misses the larger problem. If someone objects to the way America handles foreign aid, the target is not Israel. The target is the system itself — an entrenched bureaucracy, poor transparency, and decades-old commitments that have never been re-examined. Those problems run through programs around the world.

If you want answers, you need to broaden the lens. You have to be willing to put aside the movie script and confront reality. You have to hold yourself to a simple rule: Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

That is the only way this country ever gets clarity on foreign aid, influence, alliances, and our place in the world. Questioning is not just allowed. It is essential. But only if it is honest.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The melting pot fails when we stop agreeing to melt

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Texas now hosts Quran-first academies, Sharia-compliant housing schemes, and rapidly multiplying mosques — all part of a movement building a self-contained society apart from the country around it.

It is time to talk honestly about what is happening inside America’s rapidly growing Muslim communities. In city after city, large pockets of newcomers are choosing to build insulated enclaves rather than enter the broader American culture.

That trend is accelerating, and the longer we ignore it, the harder it becomes to address.

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world.

America has always welcomed people of every faith and people from every corner of the world, but the deal has never changed: You come here and you join the American family. You are free to honor your traditions, keep your faith, but you must embrace the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. You melt into the shared culture that allows all of us to live side by side.

Across the country, this bargain is being rejected by Islamist communities that insist on building a parallel society with its own rules, its own boundaries, and its own vision for how life should be lived.

Texas illustrates the trend. The state now has roughly 330 mosques. At least 48 of them were built in just the last 24 months. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex alone has around 200 Islamic centers. Houston has another hundred or so. Many of these communities have no interest in blending into American life.

This is not the same as past waves of immigration. Irish, Italian, Korean, Mexican, and every other group arrived with pride in their heritage. Still, they also raised American flags and wanted their children to be part of the country’s future. They became doctors, small-business owners, teachers, and soldiers. They wanted to be Americans.

What we are watching now is not the melting pot. It is isolation by design.

Parallel societies do not end well

More than 300 fundamentalist Islamic schools now operate full-time across the country. Many use Quran-first curricula that require students to spend hours memorizing religious texts before they ever reach math or science. In Dallas, Brighter Horizons Academy enrolls more than 1,700 students and draws federal support while operating on a social model that keeps children culturally isolated.

Then there is the Epic City project in Collin and Hunt counties — 402 acres originally designated only for Muslim buyers, with Sharia-compliant financing and a mega-mosque at the center. After public outcry and state investigations, the developers renamed it “The Meadows,” but a new sign does not erase the original intent. It is not a neighborhood. It is a parallel society.

Americans should not hesitate to say that parallel societies are dangerous. Europe tried this experiment, and the results could not be clearer. In Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, entire neighborhoods now operate under their own cultural rules, some openly hostile to Western norms. When citizens speak up, they are branded bigots for asserting a basic right: the ability to live safely in their own communities.

A crisis of confidence

While this separation widens, another crisis is unfolding at home. A recent Gallup survey shows that about 40% of American women ages 18 to 39 would leave the country permanently if given the chance. Nearly half of a rising generation — daughters, sisters, soon-to-be mothers — no longer believe this nation is worth building a future in.

And who shapes the worldview of young boys? Their mothers. If a mother no longer believes America is home, why would her child grow up ready to defend it?

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world. If we lose confidence in our own national identity at the same time that we allow separatist enclaves to spread unchecked, the outcome is predictable. Europe is already showing us what comes next: cultural fracture, political radicalization, and the slow death of national unity.

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

Stand up and tell the truth

America welcomes Muslims. America defends their right to worship freely. A Muslim who loves the Constitution, respects the rule of law, and wants to raise a family in peace is more than welcome in America.

But an Islamist movement that rejects assimilation, builds enclaves governed by its own religious framework, and treats American law as optional is not simply another participant in our melting pot. It is a direct challenge to it. If we refuse to call this problem out out of fear of being called names, we will bear the consequences.

Europe is already feeling those consequences — rising conflict and a political class too paralyzed to admit the obvious. When people feel their culture, safety, and freedoms slipping away, they will follow anyone who promises to defend them. History has shown that over and over again.

Stand up. Speak plainly. Be unafraid. You can practice any faith in this country, but the supremacy of the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian moral framework that shaped it is non-negotiable. It is what guarantees your freedom in the first place.

If you come here and honor that foundation, welcome. If you come here to undermine it, you do not belong here.

Wake up to what is unfolding before the consequences arrive. Because when a nation refuses to say what is true, the truth eventually forces its way in — and by then, it is always too late.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.