Montgomery County State Rep. Donna Scheuren (R-147) and approximately 40 other Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers signed a letter on Wednesday urging Governor Josh Shapiro and Attorney General Michelle Henry to provide “vital support to the efforts undertaken by the state of Texas to secure the southern border of the United States.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Operation Lone Star Texas in November 2022 using “disparaging and alarmist language about migrants and asylum seekers, echoing the terminology of white nationalists who have carried out mass shootings in Texas and elsewhere,” noted Human Rights Watch. The nonprofit calls it “abusive system of border policing” that “targets people based on race and national origin, disregards due process, and subjects them to abuses in detention.”
The letter, drafted by Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Cabell (R-117), appears to undermine a recent Supreme Court ruling that would allow federal agents to remove 29 miles of razor wire barriers along the Texas-Mexico border. The decision “maintains long-running precedent that the federal government — not individual states — has authority to enforce border security.”
Scheuren, elected to Pennsylvania’s state house in 2022, served on the Souderton Area School District Board of Directors for approximately 12 years before resigning in May 2023.
William Formica, Scheuren’s treasurer during her 2022 campaign, was appointed as her replacement, prompting criticism of the board for its lack of transparency and perceived failure to consider other applicants, according to constituents in the Souderton School District.
Formica subsequently secured the seat in the 2023 municipal election, in part by pledging transparency to voters.
READ: Transparency Issues Mar Appointment Of William Formica To Souderton Area School Board
Since taking office, Scheuren has sponsored several pieces of legislation related to public education that align with positions advocated by Moms For Liberty, an organization that has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
HB 1269
Prohibiting the integration of culturally relevant and sustaining
education into education preparation, induction and continuing professional development programs.
HB 216
Providing for sport activities in public institutions of higher education and public school entities to be expressly designated male, female or coed.
HB 319
Sex education including classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity and for parental notification of student health care services.HB 1934
Mandatory instruction of cursive handwriting in public schools.
The Souderton Area School Board has recently come under criticism for not posting required financial documents, specifically monthly expenditures, as mandated by Pennsylvania law. Additionally, there have been concerns about the board’s failure to provide complete copies of contracts, policies, and other documents that impact the district and its use of tax funds.
The board is scheduled to convene for committee meetings on Wednesday, February 14, at 6:30 p.m.
