Eagle Pass and Del Rio residents share hopes, fears ahead of Trump inauguration
EAGLE PASS – For the past several years, immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border has become an increasingly polarizing topic — debated by even those who live far beyond the border's stretches.
With 23,000 residents, Eagle Pass, located in Maverick County, isn't the largest border town in Texas, but it has become the focal point in the ongoing immigration debate. And in 2024, for the first time since 1928, a Republican presidential candidate won the county when President-elect Donald Trump earned 59% of the vote.
In the weeks leading up to Trump's inauguration, Ken Molestina and a CBS Texas crew traveled to Eagle Pass to speak with residents and activists about their hopes, fears and expectations for the incoming administration.
This is part one in a three-part series. See the other stories here.
Jessie Fuentes and Amerika Garcia Grewal are two of Eagle Pass's most vocal activists in the debate over immigration and border security.
In the summer of 2023, Fuentes unsuccessfully sued the state in an attempt to remove the controversial border buoy barrier from a small stretch of the Rio Grande, which he claims disrupted his kayak business. Both Fuentes and Garcia Grewal have spoken out against the heavy military and law enforcement presence that has popped up in Eagle Pass.
"What this is, is the greatest theft of tax dollars that the state of Texas has ever seen and soon what the United States has ever seen," Garcia Grewal said.
The activists said they're not looking forward to the incoming Trump administration, with its promises of more patrols and mass deportations.
"The worst is yet to be seen," Fuentes said. "What's coming is ugly, and we tried to prepare people for this."
While Fuentes and Garcia Grewal may not be excited about what the next four years will mean for immigration policy, plenty of others along this border region are. It's not just Maverick County that went red in 2024, so did Val Verde County and 12 others.
How the border turned red
In Del Rio, which is the seat of Val Verde County, business owner Gary Humphreys said he voted for Democrats in local elections but he wanted Donald Trump in the White House. Humphreys, who has owned and operated a gun shop in the city for more than five decades, said he's eager to see how the new president addresses immigration.
"It's already changed," he said. "The traffic has slowed down here in Del Rio."
Humphreys also said he believes a major factor that led border residents to vote Republican is the economy.
"A lot of them are on a limited income," he said. "And when they're going to the grocery store, they're seeing what's happening."
Karla Fernandez, another Del Rio resident, said she agreed that the economy played into Trump's victory in border counties. While she didn't vote for him, she understands why so many others did.
"We are at the point of let's just see what happens," Fernandez said. "We're still going to keep living and keep working and be ready for what's to come."
Fernandez works as a restaurant supply sales representative and said she has seen firsthand how inflation has impacted business.
"I speak with a lot of customers and they tell me everything's so high right now," she said. "They buy very minimal sometimes."
Back in Eagle Pass, business owner Jose Perez said concerns about illegal immigration drove him to vote for a Republican for president for the first time.
"I'm looking forward for them to close the border and not have so many people come in at once," Perez said. "My personal car has ended up at the checkpoint, where I just woke up in the morning to a phone call telling me that my vehicle was at the checkpoint and had been stolen out of my driveway."
Perez owns Doobies, a local chain of legal cannabis dispensary stores. He said he's not sure a Republican presidential administration will be good for his type of business, but he was willing to take the risk.
"I believe at this point voting Republican can go against me because of the type of business that I own," Perez said. "But at the same time, I feel like we need this."
Garcia Grewal attributes the shift right in the region to a turnout problem.
"The Democratic Party needs to investigate the issues that people care about and go back to their working-class roots," she said.
Both Garcia Grewal and Fuentes said no matter what changes the incoming administration brings, they plan to continue their activism.
"We are prepared and resistance is important," Fuentes said. "It's always been in our history. Nuestra gente, our people, people of brown skin, whatever they throw at us, we will be there."