Most Significant American Women

Newsmax has posted a List of the Most Significant Women in U.S. History, including:

Phyllis Schlafly (Aug. 15, 1924 – Sept. 5, 2016):

Schlafly was a prominent conservative activist, attorney, author, and political activist. She became one of the most influential figures in modern U.S. conservatism, especially for her successful grassroots campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.

Schlafly argued it would eliminate protections for women (like military draft exemptions, alimony preferences, and Social Security benefits for dependent wives) and force unwanted changes. The ERA fell short of the required state ratifications by 1982, largely due to her efforts.

Schlafly founded the Eagle Forum in 1972, a conservative organization focused on "pro-family" issues. She opposed feminism, abortion, gay rights, and comprehensive sex education, arguing for traditional gender roles and "family values."

Progress on Returning Refugees

The Phyllis Schlafly Report
By John and Andy Schlafly

A bright spot in immigration policy, the issue on which President Trump polls the best, is the progress being made toward removing unwanted refugees from our country. On Monday Trump won the second of two court victories in March in favor of his policy to roll back Democrat practices to import massive numbers of refugees from the third world.

Ten days after taking office, President Trump ended the misuse of the refugee program by issuing Executive Order No. 14163, “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program.” Biden had brought in more than 100,000 so-called refugees in fiscal year 2024, which was the highest level in 30 years.

Trump has properly sought to revoke the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of whole communities of Haitians and Syrians who were brought into our country under the fiction that they were being politically persecuted back home. Haitians famously settled mostly in Springfield and Columbus, Ohio, totaling about 350,000 people nationwide, and Trump won the election by campaigning on sending them and other mislabeled refugees back home.

Haiti is a poor country victimized by crime, but has strict gun control that impedes the ability of law-abiding residents to defend themselves, and no death penalty to deter murder. Visitors who have valid U.S. gun permits are not allowed to carry their arms in self-defense in Haiti.

As to Syria, the Biden Administration and liberals supported the toppling of the Syrian regime in December 2024 while Biden was still president. The theory that allowed thousands of Syrians to remain in our country as refugees from the former Assad regime no longer applies, and it’s time for them to go home.

Yet lower federal courts in liberal New York, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., have stymied the Trump Administration’s revocation of the “temporary” status that Biden conferred, in order to prevent Trump from sending refugees back home. Trump’s phenomenal Solicitor General, John Sauer, applied for emergency relief with the U.S. Supreme Court to stay two of these lower court decisions against Trump, and the Ninth Circuit ruled directly for Trump in the third case.

On Monday, the Supreme Court mostly granted Trump’s requested relief, by scheduling oral argument on this issue by late April and thereby signaling that a full decision will be rendered by the end of June. While the Court did not authorize the immediate removal of these refugees, it appears that their return will become possible by summer.

Earlier this month, in Pacito v. Trump, the Ninth Circuit held in favor of Trump’s Executive Order that halted the flow of so-called refugees into our country. That court recognized the nearly unlimited authority granted by Congress to the President to halt this misguided program.

More good news came from the First Circuit concerning the deportation of illegal aliens. Two of the three judges on the panel, including a Republican and a Democrat-appointed judge, ruled that Trump may be allowed to deport an illegal alien to a third country if his homeland refuses to accept him.

As a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) explained in response, “the Biden Administration allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood our country, and the Trump Administration has the authority to remove these criminal illegal aliens and clean up this national security nightmare.”

The DHS spokesman said that if “activist judges had their way, aliens who are so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won’t take them back, including convicted murderers, child rapists and drug traffickers, would walk free on American streets.”

Last year Trump prevailed on this issue in the U.S. Supreme Court, but then the district judge said the facts had changed and continued to block Trump’s deportations to third countries. The district judge wanted a process by which the illegal alien would have a “meaningful opportunity” to object to being deported to another country after his homeland rejects his return.

But the ongoing campaign of deporting illegals has slowed, and there are reports that someone in the White House has told Republicans not to use the phrase “mass deportation.” Other than a few reposts on his X account, White House Border Czar Tom Homan has been quiet for several weeks now.

The self-deportation campaign, by which DHS was paying illegal aliens $2,600 each to voluntarily leave through the use of a government phone app, depends on involuntary deportations to be effective. A total of 2.2 million people had self-deported through January of this year, and Democrats were furious about an ad campaign encouraging more illegal aliens to self-deport.

Democrats view illegal aliens as their future voters, as many Somalis have become in Minnesota after obtaining citizenship. Realistically, this is the last opportunity to deport illegals, while Republicans control all branches of the federal government and public opinion strongly favors border control.

John and Andy Schlafly are sons of Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016) and lead the continuing Phyllis Schlafly Eagles organizations with writing and policy work.

These columns are also posted on PhyllisSchlafly.com, pseagles.com, and Townhall.com.

SAVE Act Lifted by Paxton-Cornyn Race

The Phyllis Schlafly Report
By John and Andy Schlafly

The tight GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Texas has suddenly cast the SAVE Act into the spotlight, and Trump vows not to sign any other legislation into law until this passes. The SAVE Act is short for Save America Act, and its longer name before that was the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.

The SAVE Act would require U.S. citizenship to register to vote, and presentation of photo ID in order to cast a ballot. The House narrowly passed the SAVE Act in early February: Republicans unanimously voted for it, plus one Democrat from Texas (Henry Cuellar).

Last Tuesday, Ken Paxton came within 2 percentage points of incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), despite how Cornyn’s candidacy was propped up with $70 million in spending. They proceed next to a runoff on May 26 where traditionally the more conservative candidate, who is Paxton, would prevail.

Senate Republicans, favoring their own, have been lobbying Trump to endorse Cornyn. Trump said that the candidate he declines to endorse should exit the race.

But Paxton then pulled a rabbit out of his hat last week by promising to withdraw only if the Senate Republicans pass the SAVE Act, which they can do by ending or modifying the traditional filibuster. Paxton was right in expecting Trump to make the SAVE Act more important than the Texas race.

Trump subsequently stated not only that he wants the SAVE Act enacted, but that he wants more provisions added to it. He wants the law to prohibit transgender surgeries on children, and to ban participation in women’s sports by men who say they are transgender women.

Trump also properly demands an end to mail-in ballots, with reasonable exceptions for illness, disability, service in the military, and travel. Mail-in balloting is particularly vulnerable to fraud, as found by the 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform, which was co-chaired by former Democrat President Jimmy Carter.

Republican congressmen rarely lose in their own primary, and senators even less so. The only Republican incumbent congressman defeated last week in his own primary was Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), who had falsely accused Trump of contributing to the death of a Capitol Police officer on January 6, 2021.

A combat veteran who lost an eye serving our country, Crenshaw had posed as an independent-minded Republican like Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) a generation ago. Crenshaw even appeared once on Saturday Night Live, and was considered by many to be unbeatable.

Yet the more conservative state legislator Steve Toth defeated Crenshaw last Tuesday by a stunning 15-point upset, in what he said was a battle for the future of the Republican Party. President Trump stayed out of the race and did not endorse either candidate.

Trump racked up a perfect 124-0 record last week when he did endorse, of which he reminded House members at their meeting in Doral, Florida. Trump does not want to endorse a candidate who is likely to be defeated, or who is not strongly MAGA.

Cornyn’s lackluster performance after spending more than $100 per vote – and more than ten times what Paxton spent – may be weighing on Trump’s decision. A selling point for choosing Cornyn over Paxton is that Cornyn would supposedly fare better against the Democrat nominee this fall, but recent polling is not showing Cornyn with any significant advantage.

Indeed, a Newsweek poll released on Tuesday showed Paxton leading Cornyn by 44-43% in the runoff, even if Trump endorses Cornyn. A Texas Politics Project poll last month showed that Paxton has a stronger net favorability among GOP-registered voters than Cornyn has.

For an incumbent to fare so poorly in his own primary is reminiscent of President Lyndon B. Johnson barely winning the first 1968 Democrat presidential primary in New Hampshire, and then pulling out of the race as a result. Given that the immense power of incumbency and an enormous monetary advantage were unable to make Cornyn a clear winner in his own primary, his candidacy has weaknesses.

Frustration with Congress is growing. Senate Republicans have refused to move on the SAVE Act because of the filibuster rule that requires 60 votes in order to end debate and enact it.

The U.S. Senate has been called the world’s most exclusive club, and collegiality among the 100 senators is legendary as they allow a single member to block nominations, and merely 41 senators can prevent a vote on legislation. Senators also favor their own as nominees to other offices.

Senate Republicans persuaded Trump to appoint fellow Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to become the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in replacement of Kristi Noem. Days have gone by without any comment by conservative Tom Homan, who is in charge of deportations, on the selection of Mullin as his new colleague.

John and Andy Schlafly are sons of Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016) and lead the continuing Phyllis Schlafly Eagles organizations with writing and policy work.

These columns are also posted on PhyllisSchlafly.com, pseagles.com, and Townhall.com.

Shooting, Stabbing, and Wrong-Way Trucking

The Phyllis Schlafly Report
By John and Andy Schlafly

Within 24 hours of U.S. military action against Iran, a 53-year-old Muslim from Senegal allegedly shot up a bar early Sunday morning in Austin, Texas. Three were killed and more than a dozen were wounded, some critically.

Nearly two-thirds of public shootings are perpetrated by gunmen under the age of 40, so the age and timing of this massacre suggest an uncommon motive. It seems likely that this massacre was in response to developments in the Middle East, but the FBI says that it is embarking on an extensive investigation and refuses to release any information about the shooter’s motive.

The suspected assailant, Ndiaga Diagne, never entered the bar, but instead shot into it from outside. Students from the nearby University of Texas, which is one of the largest colleges in our country, had filled the bar to enjoy some weekend socializing in Austin’s entertainment district.

President Bill Clinton admitted this suspect into our country as a tourist on a B-2 visa in 2000, and then President Obama naturalized him as a citizen despite how he had multiple arrests. The reasons for those arrests remain sealed, but local authorities vow to release details about them later this week.

Ndiaga Diagne continued shooting into the bar until he was gunned down and killed by police, within one minute of their being called. The bloodshed would have been far worse in the absence of the remarkably quick and decisive action taken by the police.

Meanwhile, the State Department urged Americans to immediately leave Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, and even Israel. But Obama and Biden had a virtually open-border policy for the U.S. for twelve years, allowing many enemies to enter freely and remain without being deported.

This horrifying shooting in Austin transpired during the final weekend before election day in the Texas primary on Tuesday, with the potential to rattle hotly contested races. Republican candidates were quick to condemn the prior immigration policies of Democrat presidents that have led to this.

Casualties continue to climb from other violent attacks on defenseless American citizens by foreigners here from hostile nations. Abdul Jalloh, a 32-year-old native of Sierra Leone, viciously stabbed Stephanie Minter, 41, to death in her neck as she stood at a bus stop at 7pm in Fairfax County, Virginia, on February 23, 2026.

Jalloh illegally entered the United States in 2012, and had an immigration detainer and a final order of removal pending against him. Because of judicial interference with deportations to Sierra Leona, Jalloh was scheduled to be lawfully deported to another third-world country.

Jalloh had previously been arrested more than 30 times. The murder charge should finally keep him off the streets, but to be sure ICE has called “on Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE.”

Jalloh’s arrest record included being charged with “rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing, larceny, firing a weapon, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and pickpocketing,” reported the New York Post.

Yet despite all this crime, Democrat-controlled Fairfax County failed to detain Jalloh to protect the public. Like other sanctuary jurisdictions, wealthy Fairfax refuses to notify ICE before it releases violent illegal aliens in custody, in order to deliberately prevent ICE from deporting them.

The obituary for the victim Stephanie Minter said that “Stephanie will be sorely and dearly missed, with the world missing out on that beam of light we came to know so well.” She is survived by her son and her mother.

Meanwhile, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer was spotted driving the wrong way on a highway near Troy, Missouri. An alarmed observer, who had to swerve to narrowly avert a head-on collision, then filmed this and contacted police, who arrived and asked the driver some basic questions about English as it appears on road signs.

The wrong-way driver was unable to demonstrate English proficiency to the Missouri officer. Wrong-way driving is inevitable by someone who cannot understand our highway road signs. This driver was Abdiasis Ibrahim Ali from Minnesota, who is thought to be from Somalia.

When Minnesota issues a commercial driver’s license that authorizes the driving of big trucks without understanding English, it jeopardizes the safety of everyone nationwide. Fortunately, the Missouri police did not allow this driver to continue behind the wheel of this truck, but he was not arrested either.

Illinois, another state controlled by Democrats, has illegally issued one out of every five of its commercial driver’s licenses, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. A bill to punish truckers who cannot understand basic road signs, HB 2741, is moving through the Missouri legislature.

John and Andy Schlafly are sons of Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016) and lead the continuing Phyllis Schlafly Eagles organizations with writing and policy work.

These columns are also posted on PhyllisSchlafly.com, pseagles.com, and Townhall.com.