A trend has developed in South Texas in the last year or so, with more traditional Democrats flipping parties to become Republican. Congresswoman Mayra Flores has flipped to the party, with plenty of other typically Blue districts becoming Red in the last election cycle.
That big flip of the switch is due to a culmination of things. But none of the reasons may be bigger than the open influx of illegal immigrants at the southern border. In December alone, border patrol reports over 10-thousand encounters per day, with a record 12-thousand illegally crossing on MOnday, which was a new record for a single day.
Rafa Bejar of the Texas Public Policy Foundation says it is no surprise that this massive new wave is flipping lifelong Democrats.
"The whole system...from the asylum process to getting citizenship....is broken. It is failing, and people see this," he says.
A TPPF survey found that even Texas Hispanics who self-identify as Democrats are more moderate to conservative. 36% were self-identified Democrats, 31% were Independents; and 26% were Republicans. Which stands to reason, Hispanics typically fall value wise into the Conservative ideologies.
Crime has surged during this massive wave of immigration, and that is another contributing factor to the flip.
"They want to see protection, and who is protecting them...that is why you are seeing this shift," he says.
Spending hundreds of billions on aid to other countries like Ukraine and Israel, while a war rages just miles away from their communities, does not help the situation either. All they are seeing is doom and gloom now, the byproduct of a Democratic-run, President Biden America.
The always touted 'Bidenomics' is yet another player in the swing.
"Food prices have increased 11 percent since 2021....from 2021 to 2022, there has been the largest increase in forty years," he says.
There is even more beyond that as well. Those border towns in South Texas are first in the line of fire for these waves of illegals. Which means their civil services are the first things used up.
"Schools, hospitals, local law enforcement...that is a problem. America is a generous country...but things need to happen the right way," he says.
Regarding the border, 73% of Hispanics surveyed agreed that there is a crisis at the border. Respondents in the South Texas region overwhelmingly agreed that there exists a border crisis by a margin of 80%.
When asked about what should be done, 83% of Hispanics thought that border security measures should at least remain the same or be increased-including 69% of liberals.
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