The gulf between undocumented Central American migrants crossing the border and Hispanic residents of the Valley is deep and wide.
Many residents are Mexican Americans who have lived in the region for four or five generations or who proudly claim that their parents and grandparents came to the United States legally. They know both border agents and undocumented Mexican immigrants who have been living and working in border towns for years. Republicans say they don’t see their views on immigration as hypocritical or anti-Hispanic. Instead, they see themselves as a bulwark of law and order. Several thousand Border Patrol agents live and work in the region, many of them Hispanic, adding to the ethos of law enforcement that is evident in churches, schools and local politics.
“We are at war – a war of ideas,” said Jessica Martinez, 33, a Brownsville housewife who said she never voted until she voted for Trump in 2020 after she became disillusioned. with inexorable indignation against him on the part of the liberals. “This is how we Christians see it. We feel under attack.”
In Harlingen, Mr. Cabrera converted the church entrance into a commercial space. He displays and sells T-shirts that read “Make America Godly Again” and “Make America Repent”. For many years, he said, he avoided speaking about politics from the pulpit. But last year he hosted several Republican leaders at church, including Mr. Abbott.
“I want to bring God back into politics,” Mr. Cabrera said. – That’s what I do.
“I’m worried about our values”
Joe Cadriel, a 57-year-old Gulf War veteran of Desert Storm and a retired social worker, rarely ran campaign ads on his front lawn. But he made an exception for Ms. Flores, a Brownsville Republican running for Congress.
Mr. Kadriel and his wife, Diana, a retired educator, voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and four years later cast their votes for Mr. Trump, convinced he would best protect the southern border, just 10 miles away. Houses. Veslako at home.
The couple grew up in the Rio Grande Valley as children of conservative Democrats and had a proud independent streak. Mr. Kadriel has been furious about illegal immigration for as long as he can remember. He said he once quit his job because he was too angry to see food stamps and other benefits go to children of illegal immigrants.