Can Economic Populism Win Back the Rio Grande Valley?

As a rainstorm rolled in last Friday evening hundreds of people eagerly filed through metal detectors at an -seat performing arts center in McAllen the urban hub of Hidalgo County in Texas Rio Grande Valley ahead of Vermont U S Senator Bernie Sanders th stop on his nationwide Fighting Oligarchy tour Normally a stage for orchestra concerts and comedy shows the venue located about five miles from the U S -Mexico boundary filled up now for a different reason People from every age group worried about the country s future under Donald Trump s control crowded in to hear Sanders and Austin Democratic Congressman Greg Casar rally up the working class McAllen Texas can be the birthplace of a new Democratic Party that puts working people first kicks out the corrupt politicians regardless of party and saves our country for everyday people Casar reported as he spoke ahead of introducing Sanders The Valley the four-county region of around million mostly Latino residents at Texas southern tip is no stranger to the controversial influence of billionaires like Elon Musk whose company SpaceX has taken over what used to be Boca Chica Village and turned it into Texas newest city Starbase now mainly inhabited by SpaceX employees Destroyed rocket parts litter Texan and Mexican beaches and a up-to-date SpaceX test ship exploded late at night startling nearby Brownsville residents and littering debris Elon Musk does not own the Valley Casar a second-term U S House member representing a district stretching from the capital city to San Antonio who was in recent times minted chair of the body s progressive caucus declared to the crowd Attendees at the McAllen event Michael Gonzalez Sanders nationwide tour to mobilize individuals especially in conservative regions comes amid increased uncertainty about further impacts of Trump s policies on the working class During a time of restructuring in the Democratic Party following last year s presidential referendum defeat Sanders pushed a populist message urging unity and action against oligarchic control and highlighted the profound impact that Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE raids have had in communities like the Valley Right now in McAllen and other parts of this country we re seeing what authoritarianism is about in its ugliest way the senator reported We re seeing people being stopped on the street being picked up at their workplace thrown into vans and taken God knows where without due process Sanders continued What Trump is doing is not just waging an attack against the working class of this country He is moving America very rapidly and dangerously into an authoritarian form of society Since advocacy for Donald Trump has increased steadily throughout previously deep-blue far South Texas In that year s presidential referendum Hillary Clinton won all Rio Grande Valley counties in a landslide In Hidalgo County Clinton prevailed over Trump by points But in Biden carried the county by only and in Trump won it by three part of a stunning sweep of all four Valley counties Jon Taylor chair of the University of Texas at San Antonio s political science and geography department believes that despite Trump s electoral performance in last year s balloting the Democratic Party still has ample opportunity to seize the narrative and use populism to appeal to voters frustrations and anger Trump had this appeal to South Texas voters apparently because he s strong or he s forceful Taylor narrated the Texas Observer I think Bernie might be really good at being able to just drive home that point about What has it meant to you by voting for this guy Trump cares about billionaires he cares about megacorporations He cares about giving all of them tax cuts and benefits Despite increased aid for Republicans in the region for almost ten years Sanders was extremely popular during the Democratic presidential primary in which he won every populous edge county in Texas Hidalgo County Democratic Party Chair Richard Gonzales describes himself as a moderate Democrat and personally views the region s makeup as conservative and family-based The area s long-time Democratic elected personnel at all levels tend to be conservatives on issues ranging from fossil fuels to guns to abortion No local elected bureaucrats spoke at the Sanders rally But Gonzales sees the appeal of progressive policies saying he thinks they may be part of the recipe for turning his county blue again When we look at what Senator Sanders stands for I think it s starting to become more okay to kind of buy into that idea because we re seeing what the opposite can do to us down here he communicated the Observer Life in the Valley is largely a quiet existence but near-daily ICE raids on local communities and workplaces have changed that These aids have targeted businesses and construction sites from Brownsville to South Padre Island to McAllen Notably a bakery in Los Fresnos was targeted by ICE and HSI agents around mid-February leading to multiple arrests including the owners Pulgas once packed with people buying and selling goods including produce antiques and second-hand items are now oftentimes empty due to the fear of arrests by ICE agents The Republican mayor of McAllen Javier Villalobos in recent months posted on Facebook that immigration enforcement is negatively impacting all sectors of our economic system and called for the Trump administration to relax enforcement on all industries in need of labor Specific locals at the Friday rally like Michael Dutcher expressed deep concern that their way of life is being threatened under Trump s second administration Being a part of something to counter that is fundamental to me Dutcher stated He had only heard of Sanders event hours before the start time and promptly made plans to attend Congressman Greg Casar right with Senator Bernie Sanders Michael Gonzalez Sergio Salinas a business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local in McAllen evidenced up to the rally with several union members who sat on the stage behind the lectern He referenced how Donald Trump threw around the word union on the campaign trail during last year s electoral process yet he doesn t believe that Republicans truly have the backs of unions The Republicans say that the unions are good but where are they at Salinas declared Standing beside vendors selling Bernie merch attendee Danny Diaz a local democratic precinct chair and longtime political organizer revealed he hopes that change in the Valley s political scene is soon to come I don t think Latinos in South Texas are married to the Republican Party he reported I think people respond well to Bernie Sanders down here I am willing to bet that if we really absorb the potency like the ability that we saw tonight that we could bounce back and sweep these counties back to the Dem side The post Can Economic Populism Win Back the Rio Grande Valley appeared first on The Texas Observer