TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY MANY LOCAL HISPANICS SUPPORTED TRUMP'S IMMIGRATION POLICY

Donald Trump

In 2015  Trump walked down an escalator to announce his candidacy for President with these words describing Mexicans who immigrate to this country:   "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists and some, I assume, are good people."

While those words were racist, they were also disparaging, as if the character of Mexican Nationals is inferior to that of American citizens.  Statistics show the opposite as the crime rate among immigrants is lower than that of the nation as a whole.

Yet, if you think these and other racist remarks would mean Trump would get no support among Hispanics in Cameron County, you would be sorely mistaken.  Cameron County, 90% Hispanic,  voted 42.9% for Trump in 2020.

For starters, the Chairman of the Cameron County Republican Party, Morgan CISNEROS Graham, recently declared herself "pro-Trump."  Knowing Morgan and her deep respect and commitment to Carlos Cascos, it's doubtful the former Secretary of State and County Judge shares a different view.  

In my personal experience, many locals, with roots in Mexico, are happy to be U.S. citizens, but not entirely welcoming to Mexican Nationals wishing to do the same.  One could easily see them not objecting to the former President's efforts to block the border.

My former father-in-law, Manuel Perez, a native of Ciudad Victoria, literally swam the river daily to find work in Brownsville in the late 30's before marrying a Brownsville woman in 1940 and joining the U.S. Army.  He served in the army 30 years, followed by at least a decade in the Border Patrol.

Yet, as proud and appreciative as my father-in-law was of the benefits of being a U.S. citizen, he constantly referred to people from his birth country as "wetbacks," disparaging their intelligence and initiative.  At my father-in-law's funeral I met his brother from Ciudad Victoria, an elegant man of 90 years wearing a blue blazer with matching pants with no evidence of his back being wet.  

Dagoberto Barrera

Former Brownsville teacher and frequent City Commission meeting commenter Dagoberto Barrera, himself a native of Mexico, married to his former maid of the same background, spoke more than once about residents of his former country as if they were subhuman:  

 "They are  not of our culture. They eat with their fingers, their heads bobbing up and down to the table like ducks."

Bradshaw

Current District 3 City Commission candidate Jessica Puente Bradshaw once told me that she was not opposed to Mexican National immigrating, but just that they should "get in line as she had done."  Later I learned that her Matamoros mother marrying an Anglo man when she was around 6 greatly facilitated her entry in the U.S., so it wasn't the typical "standing in- line."

Some would say that the anecdotal evidence above just illustrates the "crab" mentality of many locals.   I'm not sure about that, but I've noticed over the years that locals are not as pro-Mexican immigration as you might think and Donald Trump seemingly has an audience here.