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Governors Spencer Cox (R-Utah) and Kevin Stitt (R-Okla.) are giddy at the prospect of working with Democrats to import more migrants.Cox pledged himself to the National Governors Association Task Force on Immigration Policy alongside longtime Trump critic Stitt, Wes Moore (D-Md.), and Matt Meyer (D-Del.) in a Bloomberg interview on Saturday. The four shared a bipartisan love-fest before slamming federal immigration policy and ICE. 'States that did not face the invasion Texas confronted should not dictate terms that reopen the door.'“We all care — Republicans and Democrats — about a secure border,” Cox said.“We were together in February and having a conversation about immigration, and we were all shocked at the level of bipartisanship, cooperation, and agreement,” Cox said. “We were really stunned that everybody had kind of the same opinions on what needed to be done.”Those “same opinions” seemed to revolve around the agribusiness, construction, and hospitality lobbies’ labor demands. It’s an approach that sees illegal immigration as a workforce resource rather than a crime. “The reason I set this task force up is because I realized by talking to my colleagues that they’re having the same issues,” Stitt told Bloomberg’s Christina Ruffini. “They’re having the calls from their workforce community — whether it's agriculture, whether it's construction or hospitality — and they're saying we’re overthinking this issue. Let’s actually have the governors issue workforce permits.”The NGA’s approach mirrors a recent bill introduced by Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) that would allow states to control their own work visa policies and circumvent federal immigration enforcement. RELATED: Pro-amnesty Utah Republican introduces last-ditch bill to import more migrants Heather Diehl/Getty Images“I’m wondering if you think the way ICE and DHS have been going about this process has been effective, by a show of hands," Bloomberg asked the governors. Neither Republican governor raised his hand. When asked about his concerns with Trump’s approach, Cox pointed to “the violence and the deaths that we’ve seen” amid Minnesota enforcement actions, calling them “deeply problematic.”Cox refused to vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020. He intended to withhold his vote again in 2024, but finally relented after Trump was nearly killed in Butler, Pennsylvania. In 2022, Charlie Kirk called for Cox’s expulsion from the Republican Party after the governor supported keeping trans-identifying male athletes in women’s sports. “We’re not using common sense right now,” Stitt continued. “I’ll give you a perfect example. We had a person from Vietnam that's been in Oklahoma City for 25 years, legally in the United States, with a green card, working at Hobby Lobby,” Stitt said. “Twenty-five years ago, they got caught smoking marijuana. At that time, they self-deported, then came back legally. … They’ve been a great citizen chasing the American dream, but they’ve been picked up for deportation now.”Stitt received Trump’s endorsement and fundraising aid in 2022, but endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 primaries. Trump later referred to him as a “RINO Governor” and requested intermediaries tell Stitt to “go f**k himself,” according to NOTUS.Cox and Stitt may have found common ground with Democrat governors, but at least one Republican governor, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, disagrees with them on this issue.“Governor Abbott will not support proposals that create new incentives for illegal entry or that treat those already here unlawfully as a ready labor pool. Texas jobs belong to Texans,” Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mehalaris told Blaze News. “States that did not face the invasion Texas confronted should not dictate terms that reopen the door.”An agenda for the NGA Task Force on Immigration Policy has yet to be released. Cox, Stitt, Moore, Meyer, and the NGA did not respond to requests for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Flock camera debate turns physical. A candidate running for Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District is now facing felony charges after authorities say he admitted to shooting down four automated license plate reader cameras — including at least one made by Flock Safety, the surveillance company at the center of a growing national privacy fight.'Gotta ban these dadgum things.'Last week, Adam Lee Heimerman, 37, of Lenoir City, was arrested and charged with four counts of felony vandalism. According to the Blount County Sheriff's Office and Maryville Police Department, Heimerman admitted to investigators that he used a gun to shoot four automated license plate reader systems over the span of nine days in July.According to a statement from police, the damaged cameras were first discovered on July 25 — three in Blount County and one in the City of Maryville — prompting a joint investigation by the two agencies. Officials said evidence showed Heimerman accessed one of the systems from the "property of a house of worship" while a church service was under way.RELATED: The truth about Flock cameras: ‘We are the sheep, and they are controlling us’ Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThe congressional hopeful is now being held at the Blount County Correctional Facility on bonds totaling $40,000, with a hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Blount County General Sessions Court.Since his arrest, Heimerman has received a remarkable amount of support. A GoFundMe started on Friday has raked in over $12,000 from more than 360 donors.Rather than focus on the felony vandalism charges, the fundraiser casts Heimerman as a longtime Tennessean standing up for personal freedom, privacy, and government oversight, with the money earmarked for his defense attorneys. RELATED: Flock off, Axon on Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty ImagesHeimerman is running as an independent candidate for Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District, facing off against Democratic candidate Michaela Barnett and Republican incumbent Tim Burchett.Burchett, one of Congress' loudest critics of Flock, has been blunt about his objections to the technology. He previously told reporters that lawmakers "gotta ban these dadgum things," arguing that Americans should never have to choose between safety and liberty.He recently introduced a bill that would bar federal agencies from buying or accessing automated surveillance systems and that would prevent state and local agencies from using federal funds to purchase them, citing Fourth Amendment concerns.Under Burchett's proposal, counties could still contract with Flock — they'd just have to pay for the privilege themselves.Barnett, the Democratic candidate, has also spoken out against Flock cameras and other mass surveillance tools — although, as one outlet dryly noted, she has not proposed destroying them.Asked by Military.com about Heimerman's case, Barnett's campaign stood by the underlying grievance but condemned the method. "The answer is not the unsafe discharge of a weapon in public spaces," Barnett said.Beyond Heimerman's case, in neighboring Knox County, Mayor Glenn Jacobs — the former WWE wrestler known as Kane — put a hold on the local sheriff's plan to install 270 Flock cameras, arguing the technology raises Fourth Amendment concerns.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Pennsylvania Democrats have long enjoyed an incredible advantage: a massive lead in registered voters that gave the party a built-in edge heading into every election. But according to BlazeTV hosts Nick Freitas and Christian Hines, that advantage is disappearing — and it’s all thanks to a boots-on-the-ground approach headed by the late, great Charlie Kirk. “While the Senate fights over the SAVE Act and whether or not we can actually rely on our elections anymore, Pennsylvania, of all places, has handed Democrats a huge loss,” Freitas begins. “Democrats used to have a major voter registration lead in pretty much every election. This week, that lead got cut significantly, and the number left standing should terrify anyone planning a Democratic campaign in 2028 in Pennsylvania,” he says. And as Hines notes, “For as long as the records have existed, Pennsylvania has been an overwhelmingly Democrat state in terms of party registration.” Even as recently as 2012, there were “over a million more registered Democrats in the state than Republicans.”Now, he says, there’s “not even evidence, there’s hard numbers that show that that advantage has basically disappeared.” And head of the Citizens Alliance of America Cliff Maloney had a lot to do with this change. “For many years, I’ve kind of had this idea that door-knocking is the lost art on the right that the left has kind of mastered, right?” Maloney tells Freitas and Hines. So, when Charlie Kirk and Turning Point reached out and asked Maloney if Citizens Alliance of America would focus on door-knocking in Pennsylvania, he jumped at the opportunity. “Not registering voters, not doing GOTV, but solving the major problem, which was failing to compete when it came to vote-by-mail,” he explains. “We knocked 510,000 doors, and Trump ended up getting 34.5% against Kamala Harris. This changed my life,” he says.“When I went out and we were delivering the White House on that night, the Democrats had an active voter registration advantage of over 200,000 — 200,000. ... The fact that that is down into the 20,000s is just absolutely wild to talk about which direction Pennsylvania’s going,” he adds. “Things are getting done,” Freitas comments. “You proved it with respect to what you can do when people stop just complaining on X and actually get up, start knocking doors, start doing the things that actually move the needle within these races.”Start watching Nick Freitas now at blazetv.com and use the promo code NICK40 for $40 off your BlazeTV+ subscription.

The WNBA's Atlanta Dream held a Barbie Night on Monday in celebration of star player Angel Reese getting her own doll, but Reese's pregame comments are what stole the show.With her mini-me sitting on the table in front of her, Reese made a bold claim for the ages that brought more unneeded politics into a league that could sorely use a break.'I didn't have dolls that really look like me.'Barbie basicsReporters were lobbing softball questions to Reese before the game, with one journalist referring to the player as "Barbie" before asking how it feels to be the first Atlanta-based athlete to have a doll modeled after her."It feels amazing," Reese replied. "To be at first always means a lot. Especially [since] there's a lot of women that have come before me."Following up with another beach ball, the reporter asked, "What were some of the dolls you played with when you were little?"Reese immediately turned to identity politics for her answer:"Honestly, I didn't have a lot of dolls because I didn't have dolls that really look like me much," the baller claimed. "And that's why I kind of really wanted to make sure this was super intentional because, now that they have a doll that that looks like you and nails and hair, but also you can be a killer on the court as well. So that was something that was important for me when getting the doll."Reese's baffling claim defies all known Barbie history, which launched its first black doll named Francie in 1966, billed as Barbie's cousin. Christie followed in 1968, Barbie's friend. Creator Mattel then went against its own storyline in 1980 when it released Black Barbie.RELATED: WNBA coach counter-protests Sophie Cunningham with 'trans kids' shirt — Caitlin Clark responds Doll partisansReese was born in 2002, the same year several major doll lines featured prominent black characters. This included Bratz doll Sasha and My Scene doll Madison. My Scene released a Jamaican line of dolls in 2003 as well.In 2005, music group Destiny's Child (which included Beyonce) had its own Barbie dolls. These dolls are not cherry-picked; the examples are widespread.Reese's new doll is part of the Barbie Signature lineup that is now sold at $38 each on Mattel's website. Other dolls in the same line include one modeled after singer Miley Cyrus, astronaut Ellen Ochoa, and Juneteenth activist Opal Lee.NBA icon LeBron James even has a Barbie doll too.RELATED: WNBA deletes 'lighthearted' video that would actually get players in other leagues banned for life Paras Griffin/Getty Images Celebrity thoughtsReese's statement is reminiscent of bold celebrity claims in recent years that likely sounded groundbreaking during inner monologues, only to be laughable when they were verbalized.This includes actor Jennifer Lawrence's 2022 idea that "nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie" before her "Hunger Games" films. This was debunked in seconds when viewers pointed to Sigourney Weaver in 1979's "Alien" or the many subsequent "Resident Evil" and "Underworld" movies.In 2024, action star Lucy Liu claimed that before her film "Charlie's Angels," the media "had never before had three women on a magazine cover.""They didn't even know how to do it. It was such a strange thing for women to collaborate and be seen as colleagues and friends," she added.This claim ignored the history of the original "Charlie's Angels," who shared not only a 1976 cover of People magazine but also Time magazine that same year. Liu went on to make false statements about female television leads as well.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!