The Law of Unintended Consequences is a public policy constant. Few lawmakers, politicians or academics are wise enough to look beyond their own biases or the next election to grasp the potential follow-on effects of their actions.
But in President Biden’s complete surrender of control on our southern border to Mexican drug and human trafficking cartels, we can see political consequences unfolding in real time.
On Dec. 7, Fox News’s Bill Melugin reported that the day before saw a record 12,000 migrant encounters on the southern border with more than 10,200 Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal immigrants.
Fox’s Griff Jenkins added that Customs and Border Patrol reported that they had more than 535,000 since Oct. 1 with "more than 65,000 Known Gotaways – that’s nearly 1000/day – no idea who they are, where they’re from or why they’re here."
Separately, John Rogers, a pollster with Cygnal, authored an opinion piece for the Dallas Morning News on Dec. 7 that contained findings from a poll of Hispanic voters. The key takeaway from the poll was a continued shift Hispanic voters to the Republican Party in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.
What caused that shift? According to Rogers, it was "…the Democratic Party’s embrace of progressive stances on immigration, the economy, crime and foreign policy."
The implications for Texas are striking. The Rio Grande Valley contributes a bit more than 3% of the vote in Texas, with about 90% of region’s 1.4 million people being Hispanic – specifically, Tejanos.
TRUMP GAINING GROUND AMONG HISPANIC VOTERS, POLL SHOWS
Contrary to Democrats’ desire to see Hispanics as a monolithic voting bloc, Tejanos have their own priorities, with 67% holding a favorable view of the U.S. Border Patrol and 61% wanting an "enforcement-based approach" to immigration laws – compared to only 28% who prefer an "amnesty-centered approach."
But immigration takes second place to the economy, and views on Biden’s economy fare better, with 43% trusting the Democratic Party’s policy prescriptions over 40% for the Republican Party. So, if Bidenflation doesn’t rear its ugly head in the form of higher gas and food prices over the next 11 months, Biden may have a chance with this contingent.
As Rogers notes, "The Democratic Party is increasingly urban and progressive, with an activist base focused on electorally niche issues like gender identity and an economic message that income inequality has killed the American dream."
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But, Rogers concludes, "69% of Hispanic voters in the Valley believe the American dream remains achievable," leaving South Texas Hispanics "…open to the GOP."
The shifting political landscape in the Rio Grande Valley, particularly among Hispanic voters, presents a complex picture that reflects broader national trends in immigration policy and political affiliation.
The recent trends observed in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, historically a Democratic stronghold, indicate a significant shift toward the Republican Party, particularly in the context of the 2024 presidential election.
The larger political question is what might happen in other Hispanic communities across America as the Democrats’ White and woke intellectual elite continues its long march to the left.
