Hispanic voters helped bring Trump to power - in Texas, the tide may be turning

Hispanic voters in Texas who helped return Donald Trump to the White House may be drifting away from him ahead of next month's midterm elections, according to a BBC report from the Rio Grande Valley.

The report centers on Father Roy Snipes, a Catholic priest known locally as the Cowboy Priest, who resisted efforts during Trump's first term to seize his chapel's land for the border wall. “There's no good excuse to detain, incarcerate and deport poor, good folks who are our neighbours,” he told the BBC, criticizing immigration enforcement that he said now sweeps up ordinary workers on their way to their jobs.

Texas accounted for roughly one-third of all ICE arrests nationwide in July 2026, the report says, and border crossings have fallen to their lowest level in decades — the very promise that helped pull many Hispanic voters toward Trump in 2024.

But recent polls suggest much of that support has ebbed away. Mario Guerrero, who voted for Trump three times, told the BBC he plans to vote Democrat in November. Javier Villalobos, the Republican mayor of McAllen, praised the administration for securing the border but added: “But if you start deporting people that are productive and law-abiding, that is where the problem is.”

Democrats hope the shift could put even a US Senate seat in play in Texas. In the redrawn 15th congressional district, Democratic candidate Bobby Pulido — a popular Tejano singer — is courting conservative-leaning voters. “This isn't New York, this isn't LA,” he said.

With Latinos more likely than any other group to identify as independents, both parties see turnout as decisive. “The midterms are just purely a game of turnout,” said student volunteer Alexis Uscanga.