Trump Voters Speak Out, ICE Raids & The RGV Economy

What’s really happening to the Rio Grande Valley economy?

On this episode of the Ranch Hall Podcast, Bobby Pulido sits down with Mario Guerrero, CEO of the South Texas Builders Association, and Victor Sebastian Hadad, former McAllen Mayor Pro Tem and banking executive, for a candid conversation about immigration, inflation, housing costs, ICE enforcement and the future of working families in South Texas.

Mario Guerrero, a three-time Trump voter, opens up about why he believes the current administration’s policies are hurting the Valley economy, impacting construction, increasing fear in immigrant communities and making it harder for families to get ahead.

The conversation dives into:
 • The real impact of ICE raids in the Rio Grande Valley
 • Rising home prices and construction costs
 • How tariffs and inflation affect working families
 • Why the middle class is struggling
 • Trade schools, workforce shortages and opportunity
 • Immigration’s role in the Texas economy
 • Political division in America and the need for balance

This is an honest discussion about the economic realities facing South Texans and why many believe the Valley is being overlooked.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The Trump administration was not gonna consider any paperwork valid that was given to any person to be in the United States legally prior to the Trump administration. That is madness. That's what he told us.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

That's madness.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

That's what he told us. I want all the bad guys out. Oh, we all do. I want all the rapists and murderers and get everybody out.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

I've been blessed to walk a few different roads. The stage, the studio, and lately deeper into my own community. This podcast is my way of listening more, sharing more, and finding common ground with people who inspire me. I'm Bobby Pulido, and this is my Ranch Hall podcast. And today, it's a special show. We want to talk about the economy in the Rio Gran Valley. Um, I really feel like as I'm a Democrat and I'm running for Congress, District 15, I feel like we don't really talk enough about business. We do talk a lot about social justice and other things and helping people out, which I think is great and admirable, and we need to continue to do so. But the economic language is kind of absent a lot of times from our side of the aisle. And so I brought in some people that I think can help give us a little better enlightenment on what we're seeing with our economy in the environment that we're living in right now. Um I have the CEO of the STBA, South Texas Builders Association, Mario Guerrero. Thank you for having me. Who's like somebody I consider a friend? Yes, sir. And uh he's in he's been really famous coming out on New York Times articles, and I mean, you know, I've seen you everywhere, man. You've probably gotten more exposure than me. And Victor Sebastian Haddad, known otherwise known as Sebi, that's right, um, who's mayor pro tem of McCallan. Yes, chief lending officer at a local community bank, correct, right? And also candidate for district 41. Correct. Right. So um I want to get get into it, right? Because obviously the elephant in the room, Mario, is you've come out, I not I'm not gonna say anything that you already haven't said, right? Right. You're a three-time Trump voter, right? Yeah, and and and you voted for this last time, and I think everybody, it doesn't matter who you are, when it's a binary choice. We always choose what we feel is the better option. Yes, and I never like to chastise. I want to start off with that. Like, as a friend of yours, I it bothers me to see people kind of like you know, try to bully or attack you. And and because I I think if we're gonna grow our our side of the aisle, we need to be welcoming to people and not try to shame people. I don't think that's something that we should do. People feel the need because there's a lot of chaos going on right now, right? But you have your reasons, and I I really wanted to get into this because you've been very vocal and you've come out and said, you know what? It's gonna change. And what's happening right now is affecting the the politics. You're seeing it as a small business owner. Tell me a little bit about yourself, right? Your your father is is also a builder.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Right? Yeah, so so I think he kind of you grew up in that environment, and now you know you're your own businessman.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Yes, sir. So uh I just want to say thank you for having me on. Yeah. Uh, senior, seen in many of your episodes. I'm a fan, uh, not just of your music, but uh I consider you a good friend. And um obviously I know I've known Sebi for a long time as well. You guys are good friends of mine. And yeah, I mean, I don't think it's an elephant in the room anymore because I keep saying it that I did vote for Trump, right? Yeah, and I think to myself, um we live in a we live in a point of time in society where we can all just voice our opinion on social medias. Yeah, and it's easy to do that, right? Yeah, it's easy to do that because you don't have to do it face to face. You know what I mean? There you go. And and I would like to believe that it would it would be a little bit more admirable for people to realize that hey, it takes guts, yeah, and it takes it takes serious, um, serious willpower to admit when you do something and maybe it didn't go your way. Of course, and you should say, you know what, at least this person's being honest because when I'm being interviewed by these uh New York Times, Washington Post, um, the Houston Chronicle, uh, Texas Monthly, and all these different places, and they ask me this question, I would like to believe that I'm not a liar. You're not, you're not. I I that's an admirable trade. You tell it like it is. I like I like to believe that I'll tell you how it is. And and maybe that's a good thing and a bad thing. It's probably why I'm single, but but you know, it's one of those things where I think it's one of those things where we should, as a society, where everything around us is fake, where where we live in a world where anybody can be anything on social media in any given time. You know, tomorrow you can wake up and you can become an astronaut. And we should look at when people are being honest and admit to, you know, people would like to say, Did you make a mistake in voting for Trump? I believe that it was I don't believe that they're mistakes, I believe that they're lessons, right? Of course. And and now more than ever, I'm starting to understand that it was it it was a betrayal that we faced.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Of course, you know, we were you want to be the first one to get duped? Exactly. It happens, right? I mean, sometimes people say I voted because I thought they would do this. Yes, sir. And they did that. Yes, sir, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:37

That happens, and a lot of people did vote for Trump because they saw somebody that was um successful, uh successful and a and a businessman, and they wanted to see that same success within the economy. Um, you had you had a situation with the Biden administration where you had an administration that was really extreme in letting foreigners from other countries into our country that we saw here in the in the valley. Right. And I would like to believe that's the reason that the valley did sway to the to another direction than it was for the past 45-50 years where it was a democratic issue. Now, I would like to state now that uh be as we're getting into this podcast, I'm not a politician. I'm the furthest thing from it. Um that's why you just tell it like it is I'm the furthest thing from it. I have no uh political ties. Yeah. Um I uh I'm a second generation business owner. My my company's been around now for 32 years. We do developments across from uh uh Zapata, Texas to southern San Antonio. My dad's been uh around for a long time, very proud to say we don't have any investors, we do everything ourselves. Uh my dad raised me to be a uh a straight shooter, and um the reason I wear I raised the random as to what was happening was because I saw a lot of my constituents inside my organization um crying for help, man. I mean, we saw people where they were being apprehended by ICE at a certain level to where there's no more respect for people that have proper documentation to be here in the United States and to be here legally working. Right now, I would be the first to say I want all the bad guys out. Oh, we all do. I want all the rapes and murders and kids. Everybody out, and as a matter of fact, I will get in the damn ring and I will throw, let's go. You know what I mean? If it came down to it, I don't want hey, I'm a father. I have a I have a daughter. I wouldn't want my daughter living in an America that's not safe. Right. I want my daughter to have every opportunity that we believe is the American dream.

unknown 7:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Do you feel that the valley is unsafe? Have you ever felt that it's been unsafe? I feel the valley is the most safest place to be able to do it. So do I? So do I. I love the valley. I mean Well, I can interject there.

SPEAKER_05 7:42

Please, Edmund. From the city of McCallan, you know, only a few years ago we were the seventh safest city in the nation. Just this past year, we were the third safest city in the nation. And I think that's largely in part due to not only the investment that we've made in public safety, which is police and fire, and the overall infrastructure that we have within our city. But I think it's also a testament to the community, the people. That's exactly right. We look out for each other, we care for each other. Latinos and Hispanics are a very compassionate, yes, community-driven uh uh group. And it really is about the people. We we to us, you know, Mexico is really our neighbor, our friend, our family. Uh, you know, the the crossings, it's just you know, get going from your your other home to your to your home across in the United States.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Even the No Kings rally that are that are here are kind of chill, they're not crazy. Yeah, right? Like are people like they're peaceful, people are voicing their opinion.

SPEAKER_05 8:42

We see people celebrating their their democratic rights. Right. And uh fighting real really fighting for the preservation of their civil liberties, fighting for the democracy that they've they've grown up to know. Uh we've come to find out that it's a lot more um you know, it's it's but we don't protest like they protest in LA.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Oh no. No. There's a difference, right? You see a protest down here and it just doesn't look like anything.

SPEAKER_05 9:13

Maybe they look different. Right, right. But they all have the same premise. I mean, they're fighting for what's being torn away. And we see that the Trump administration, we see the governor's office in Texas stripping away rights, due process, civil liberties. And so whether it's here or in LA, I think people are standing up for what's right. That's what it comes down to.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

And I and I agree 100 percent, right? I I I encourage people to protest peacefully. I think that's a great civic duty. Let's make sure we say peacefully again. For the clippers out there, oh yeah, they'll clip right protest peacefully. Right, we gotta we gotta watch that. Yeah, you know, you know. But I what but I want to talk, you know, this whole thing is this there's we're live, we're living in a different reality, right? Yes. When Trump came in, I think Trump 1.0 is very different than Trump 2.0. I think it's safe to say, right? Like when he first came in in 2016, there was things I didn't like, but overall it wasn't as not what we're seeing right now.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Oh no, it's like it's like he got some jet fuel in him. Right. Right?

SPEAKER_01 10:13

It's like he's like a different person.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

He knows exactly how to work the system now.

SPEAKER_05 10:16

I might disagree with that it's a different person. I think Trump's always been the same person. I just think that uh he realized either he ran out of time or he knew he could be more brazen, or he could put in a cabinet or leadership or uh people within government infrastructure to get what he wants. I think Trump has always been a person of poor moral character. Of course. I think uh That's why I never voted for him. Yeah, yeah. That's right, that's right. I think he's a crook.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Uh you know, I would like to know why. I I I don't think the public knows where where you were at at one certain point in life when you lived in New York and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_05 10:51

Yeah, I've lived I've I've I lived in New York. Oh, did you? Yeah, I did. I lived in New York for a couple years back in uh early 2000s. And realistically, if you look at Trump's history as a businessman, as a family man, as a community member, he's never really he's he's failed at almost everything that he's done. He's lied his way through uh any type of venture or success. He's left uh he's been leaving workers and trades and people.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

He's stiffs contractors. Like really famous for that.

SPEAKER_05 11:20

He's obviously has a slew of uh allegations personally, right? And uh from from a large amount of women. And all this goes back decades. This isn't Trump 1.0, Trump 2.0.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

But he's governing very differently, Sebi. I mean, we did not see ICE enforcement not at this level. No, not like this. Not not not for those first four years. No, right? No, no, no. We didn't.

SPEAKER_05 11:44

But I I think I think all he did is he's finally doing what he always wanted to do. Right. I just think you know, when he first came into office, maybe he left it up to someone else, or he didn't know exactly maybe what his how far he could push his powers. But I think when he came into office a second time, he was determined to push his power to as far as he could take it, obliterating any any part of our democracy that had any he wants he wants to break down the institutions, he wants to uh destroy the infrastructure of government, and he wants to overrule courts, right? Right. And so now it's it's his own.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

The things that we're living in, I'll ask you first, and then I want Mario's opinion. How has these how have these policies of putting a tariff, taking it off, putting changing the number, doing it again, no? I got mad with this person, no, it's a different number. How have these policies of tariffs, ICE enforcement, right, all the things get into war and a how have they affected the economy? Because you're a you you're you're a lending officer. You literally have your pulse on the economy of the valley. You see how many loans you're given, what what what the economic anxiety what is it?

SPEAKER_05 12:57

Is it something so from from an economic standpoint, if you go from an economist standpoint, yes, monetary and interest rate policy rely to some extent on historical trends, on what countries are doing today. So this sort of uncontrolled manic way of governing creates a significant amount of instability. Right. What does that end up resulting in? When you've got instability in the market, when companies have uncertainty, they can't project their supply chain, they can't project uh what projects they're going to move forward on. You're gonna typically see an increase in cost. You're gonna see a burden on working families, which I think is what we're seeing today. Because all of that will eventually trickle down to consumer goods, all of it will trickle down to the cost of homes, all of it will trickle down to the cost of imported vehicles, uh, especially tariffs. And tariffs now that you've seen with this with the Supreme Court ruling, we're gonna see a tremendous amount of industry and large corporations, international companies get refunds for the tariffs that they paid. But who really paid those tariffs? The consumers, and the people are not gonna be able to get the yeah, they're getting their checks that they were promised. They're not gonna get that check just like they didn't get their dose check, just like they didn't get uh any of the other promised checks.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Uh yeah. And I think it's important to note, right, because we're we're here talking literally in the lowest per capita income, arguably in the country. I know for sure in the state.

unknown 14:23

Right?

SPEAKER_01 14:24

So I I I tell people like here in the Rio Gran Valley, when inflation hits, you feel it. Oh gosh, we don't make a lot of money to begin with.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

Well, there's not many avenues to make money right in the valley.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

So inflation really hurts us harder than it gives I tell us if it gives people in San Antonio a cold, it gives us the flu. We feel it that much harder. Uh do you feel that? Because look, yes, is there a lot of people that have trouble getting loans because their credit score is not up to par or whatever? Because they just don't make enough money here.

SPEAKER_05 14:55

Yes, of course. And I think that's one of the important things of a community bank, right? I'm not I don't work for a large investment bank or a big national bank. We work for a community bank, or I do, that was started by a migrant, right? Alonso Cantu, who was a migrant, and he started the bank specifically to serve the local Hispanic community and provide them the access to capital or resources or financial tools that weren't weren't available to him or his friends or business owners at the time. And so our bank is heavily focused on primarily serving uh small mom and pop shops, little retail owners, and that's who we really deal with. Uh, you know, and you do feel it. You're working with them each and every single day. I've spent 20 years working with the community and small business owners. And I've gone with some from the time they started to now they've expanded into eight locations. And I've seen some that, you know, stick to their little uh shop and all the way through retirement. And so it's great to be part of their family in that regard. Uh, but you see, you see how this hurts them because the valley itself, as you stated, we have to acknowledge it is heavily low income. There's a lot of there's a high percentage of low income, and there is high poverty, and we're always trying to fight that through by creating opportunity. And we always focus on education. Education will always be sort of the catalyst towards future opportunities and towards growth. And in that regard, in order to give people from the Rio Grande Valley opportunity, we always focus on driving industry or bringing investment down to the region or getting federal legislators or state legislators to pay attention and realize that we really are an economic powerhouse for the rest of the state, given our dynamic location, our workforce, uh the land, and our resources, we do a very good job of creating opportunity for the people. But we still have a lot of retail, hospitality, and service industry related jobs that typically pay a little bit on the lower end and are harder to create careers out of. You know, a small percentage of those people will end up creating management type careers or be able to grow in them. So we have to bring jobs down to the Rio Gran Valley that propel people into higher income brackets. Right. Whether it's trades, right, that help the construction industry, uh, or even tr electricians and uh uh plumbing and even uh uh aestheticians and uh the beauty schools, the nursing schools, the medical industry is huge down here. So it's critical that we focus on a lot of these industries because we want people to have opportunity. But we also have to take care of the community because they're struggling today. And that struggle that they're feeling today is something that I know you will definitely address at the federal level. Or something that I think our congresswoman has failed to do. And you know, I'm gonna do my part uh here at the state level, hopefully to also drive resources down here while keeping working on property taxes, focusing on job opportunity, uh, ensuring that they've got affordable and accessible health care. Because if people could have a good quality of life, they can focus on their family and fulfilling the needs of their family.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

And we and we always used to we had a better quality of life when inflation wasn't so crazy, right? I mean, the dollar we would make it stretch down here. Yeah, we would make it stretch, yeah. And right now, it's it's it's tougher than ever. It's it's tougher than it's ever been. You go, you know, you walk into a store and spend 200 bucks and you come out with a little bag. Like literally, it's it's it's it is crazy. How has this environment affected bit the businesses when it comes to the builders module? Like, did you see like all of the contractors, people, you know, small business owners?

SPEAKER_00 18:35

I think right now what we're seeing is uh because of the war of what's happening, uh, we're seeing um price increases across different different um uh sectors of the construction. So as we all know, construction starts with your grading, and then from grading you go to foundation and you put your rebar and you go ahead and throw your concrete slab and then you race your walls and all that good stuff. Well, there's different sectors of materials that we need. One of the ones that's very important is your insulation. Insulation, we just got an email from the people that are manufacturing the insulation that we use inside of houses, is gonna go up 15%. Um by May 13th. We're gonna have another uh 24% increase on shingles. For the people that don't know what shingles are, and most people do. Yes, shingles are made out of uh we need oil in order to produce shingles, and shingles are are what basically you see on top of the roofs of the houses. Yeah, insulation is also very important because it's what helps keep your house cool. Um these these factors that are coming in and affecting these businesses, just think about it like this. And and Mr. Sebi here can correct me if I'm wrong. Most of these contractors are working off of loans that they're acquiring from banks. Right. So let's say that a normal contractor would get a loan of $150,000 to $200,000. They itemize every line item that goes into construction, like I said, from grading to foundation to exterior walls, interior roughing, and so forth. And you get that change of 15%, and then you get that change of 20-something percent.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

And the pebbles keep growing and make the water keeps going up.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

And and then so what happens? You know, the the most of the time that is tacked on the consumer, right? Right, but and then if you start looking at the way the market is moving, hey, there's houses that are sitting on the market about a year and a half. Correct. There's some houses houses that are sitting on the market for about two years.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Imagine having that investment sitting there for two years.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

And then when people are like, well, you're you're you you have slave labor. You have slave labor. I want to talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Let's talk about that because that's something that gets thrown around a lot.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

A lot, right? A lot. So let's make one thing clear. One of the reasons that the South Texas Builders Association started, I started talking about this out loud is because we were seeing ICE take people with proper documentation. Right. When we went to Washington, and and shout out to Mr. Henry Guayat on this one for setting up these meetings. When we went to Washington and we sat down with the ICE official that we did sit down with, a very high-ranking official in that administration, told us that the Trump administration was not gonna consider any paperwork valid that was given to any person to be in the United States legally prior to the Trump administration.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

He's like that is madness.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

That's what he told us. That's madness. That's what he told us. Imagine that. Yes, and we were in a room smaller than this, and we're face to face, and he's like, the Trump administration is not gonna consider any paperwork valid.

unknown 21:31

And I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

My question to him was what is the difference between the Biden government and the Bush government, the Obama government? We should have the same.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Or what about the first Trump administration?

SPEAKER_00 21:43

What is going on, right? Yeah. So that was the reason that we we raised this issue. You have builders that unfortunately, if you're not building custom homes, you're taking a gamble, man. Imagine the gamble that you're taking. Oh, yeah. You have to purchase a lot. Nowadays, your lots don't come down in 50. Grand, 60,000. And I'm being modest. Right. That's modest. Yes. So you say you buy your lot for $60,000. Right. You acquire a construction loan for two for $200,000 for construction, which to me is high, right? $200,000. So you're in the whole $260,000. So in order to make a profit, you have to sell the house for $325,000. If you want to make $40,000, $50,000, almost like that. What profit are these builders making if the house is on the market for two years, the loan has already exceeded what it can give you. The interest is already out of the damn way. They're starting to pay interest out of the damage. Exactly. If you're telling me you're going to make $40,000 in two years, what money is there?

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Now you're making a lot less houses than you are because there's a labor shortage. Exactly. Right? Now I don't know anybody. You correct me if I'm wrong, because we know that there's a minimum wage. Right? But I don't know many people that are working for minimum wage. Okay, right. What's the what I mean? You mean in the construction industry?

SPEAKER_00 23:00

In anything to be able to do that. Let me give you an example, Bobby. Let me give you an example. And and this is so we can clarify. But we're talking of construction. Yes. Primarily construction. Let's talk about construction. Let's clarify this for the people. Yes. Because I believe that the United States has conditioned our population not to do hard labor jobs. We have been conditioned not to want to do these jobs because we have been conditioned to go to college, which is great. Yes. My mom and my father always pushed us to go to college. Hey, go get a college degree. You'll do better in life. My dad never wanted me to do what he did for a living because he would always tell me I'm dying because I had to deal with clients. I had to deal with stress. Hey, this environment is very stressful. Imagine having four or five million dollars on the ground and you don't know if it's gonna sell.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Imagine you're putting everything back into the ground. And it's it's all your money, it's a risk. Let me give you an example of what we pay people. I have a 4,300 square foot home that I'm building in Rome. I'm about to finish it. I paid my tile guy $2.30. He made $9,000 something dollars. It took him four days to build it. It took him four days to lay down the tile. He would show up to the job side like around 10 and he would leave at three for four days. It's one guy. Two. Two guys.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

They made nine grand in four days. Right. That's more than minimum wage. You're talking about four hundred something dollars in six hours that they worked, right? Right. So when people say there's no money in construction, no. The problem is that you don't have the skills to do these jobs. Correct. And I cannot hire you if I don't if I can't trust you to lay tile down. If I can't trust you, you think it's easy to frame a house?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

No.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

What if you show up to a foundation a foundation and a job site that the foundation's all messed up? Because it didn't, it didn't set correctly. Correct. Now you as a framer, you gotta work that. And you take the you take the less.

SPEAKER_05 24:49

You know, we also believe that people should be paid for their skill set. Of course. Because you've got a skill set. Absolutely. Getting paid well is is what they've earned it, they've worked for it. I think um, you know, it it's important that we that we also acknowledge that just in South Texas, right? Because a lot of times people think maybe this is a border issue, just down here in South Texas, about 50% of construction industry and uh contractor work relies on immigrant labor. 50 percent. About 50 percent. Yeah. For the the state of Texas, it's less, it's about 40 percent. Right. So this isn't isolated, I mean, this is all throughout Texas. Now, Texas obviously uh is near a lot of ports of entry and in the border. We have a lot of Hispanics. Take it nationwide. The nation itself is about 25 to 30 percent reliant on immigrant labor. A lot less than us. Immigrants have been the backbone of this of this country for a very long time. We were founded by immigrants, we continue to be built by immigrants, and immigrants with this with their skill sets, whether they're working in the sun or working in a restaurant or working in a hotel, they deserve dignity, they deserve respect, and they deserve the recognition for their contribution to this country. And you're just gonna we are better for it. There is a net positive in every regard, locally, regionally, state, and federal. There's a net positive to having immigrants in our country, and people wanting to enter this country is the biggest compliment that we can receive.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

I just saw a Cato Institute study that showed that immigrants pay 17% more in taxes than a standard America, than a than a than a United States citizen. Like, like look they do.

SPEAKER_05 26:34

They're they contribute incredibly and that and and that's they pay a lot of social security, FICA, Medicare, all those federal taxes, but they're paying sales tax with everything that they purchase. They're paying gas tax with every time that they fill up their vehicles, uh, everything that they purchase supplies, they're buying all that type all tax. And I'm paying, they're paying property tax, they're buying property.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

And I'm gonna I want to commend you. I want to give you your props, and you do because when all this started happening and and it was really tight, and the you know, the the raids pissed everybody off. The way that the enforcement, the way they're doing it, right? And you I went to the very first meeting. Oh, yes, sir. And there was there was a gentleman that went there and said, you need to start helping with the trades to train people here that are Americans living here and give them the option also to work in that deal. You're working on doing something by putting a school together.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

That is so admirable, right? Because here's the thing. I think we could have bring everybody to the table that wants to work. It should be it should be available to anybody that wants to make money, right? I don't think we're here sending the message to say no, just immigrant, we only want immigrant labor. No, no, no, no, no, no. I want whoever wants to wants to go out there and work. Yes, sir. And make it and I'll be able to do that.

SPEAKER_05 27:50

There's no one asking, are you are you immigrant? Are you not? No. They're saying, are you willing to work? Do you know how to do the job? Let's get this done together. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

I think as a country, we have forgotten that our immigrant, um, our immigrant, and I don't like to say community, but you know, the people that have been used by our government over and over again, people need to understand that one of the main reasons that in World War II why we were so successful is because the Mexican immigrants came into the country and were working these farms and we're so and we're working these uh facilities that were creating ammunition for World War II. But they don't teach us this in school. Now, going back to the whole labor thing, every everybody has been conditioned to go to college, which is great. Right now, I am working with a handful of people to establish a program to help kids learn a trait. Learn whatever you want, man. This is what we're gonna offer X, Y, and Z. You're gonna be able to learn it. And if you want to pursue this on the long run, we're gonna be able to funnel you to different institutions so that you can take this to another level. But with with what you know right now, yeah, in the summer, we can get you work, we'll put a little money in your pocket because we fail to tell children, and we felt and and and I'm gonna use myself as an example. When I went to college, the only reason I went to college was because I got a I got a full right to play football and run track. That's the only reason. Because when I went to college, I was telling my dad, hey, I want to do what you do. And he was like, No, Miko, you're gonna go to college. I don't want you to do what I do. Yeah, and he made sure that all three of his boys went to college, and uh, one of them is still in medical school. And um, I went to college, I did that, and I realized that I I studied natural gas engineering, I'm not using my engineering degree, and right now I'm still paying my student loans, which I'm not using my degree, right? And I still have $8,000 left. I could have paid it off already if I wanted to, but I'm like, I'm like just a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

But you feel like you spent all that money and you're not using it, so well, it's nice to have the degree.

SPEAKER_05 29:58

But but Bobby, there's a lot of children that I think what you're trying to say is a college degree isn't the only pathway to success. It's not.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

And right now the dropout rate between freshman of sophomore year in in and first year college attendees is 64% in our nation. Oh wow. 64%. Imagine, imagine the debt that we're putting onto these young Americans that are coming out. Let's it let's just say it's $20,000 in debt, whatever it is. Hey, man, that's $20,000. You're in the hole, right? So if you can have a trade that you're like, hey, I learned how to put tile. Hey, I learned how to frame. As a matter of fact, I know how to put shingles, I could stay home. One of the things is unfortunately, the valley does not give people the opportunity to make money how it would be to go to Houston and work in a refinery.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

That's right. You don't understand how many people I've met out of the valley that say, I'm from the Valley, but you meet them in Dallas or Houston or Austin, right? They're like the Valley, bro. I'm talking, we represent everywhere. Yeah. Right? But they went to college and their opportunity was not here. Right. Like, and I think we got to change that. We want to change that.

SPEAKER_05 30:59

We want people to be here. We don't want we don't want the brain jane, brain drain, right? We want the brain gain. That's right. We want people to stay here, want to study here. I think uh, you know, in the work that we've done with UTRGV, STC, uh now AM, U of H coming, there's a lot happening in the Rio Grande Valley that's going to give and drive educational opportunity for students, not only for them to gain a better education here, but to stay here. And uh I think that's it's super important. And to your point, the trades are just as important as a college education or a college degree. I think everyone should have the choice of what they wish to pursue, but we need to make sure that they understand all the options in front of them.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

Right.

SPEAKER_05 31:39

Uh because there's a lot of construction trades, but I mean you you there's a lot of engineering trades, there's a lot of healthcare trades, and healthcare is one of the biggest needs down here.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

I got a question for you, Subby. What is the median um salary in the valley? Like give and take?

SPEAKER_05 31:53

I want to say it's in the uh 28 to 34,000. Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

That's really low. It is.

SPEAKER_05 32:02

And it's lower than it's lower than the the state average or you know, probably the national average. For sure. Now, cost of living, you know, can get uh kind of equated into there, but for sure, our our our average income, I think, down here is definitely you know probably 24, 28.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

Okay, so I got another question for you. If you have an average income of let's be modest, that's $40,000. Yeah. Your average income is $40,000. What is the average income a institution looks for in order to have somebody qualify to purchase a home at $250,000?

SPEAKER_05 32:39

Oh, yeah. I mean That's what I'm saying. You're right. And it's difficult because you can qualify if you have zero debts, but everyone's got a car payment. Everyone's got a car. You might have a you might have childcare, you might have, like you say, student loans can affect you. It's a problem. And so it makes it difficult for people to qualify.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

And that's the thing, like I I really believe that and it worries me, brother, because I think to myself, like, where are we gonna be in 10 years?

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Correct. I just saw it. And then we're not even talking about a AI. AI is gonna take jobs. Right? We know that's coming, and it's coming like right down the right. We we can't. That's why I was never to be honest with you, I was never a fan of make America great again.

SPEAKER_00 33:21

I don't even send my own emails, bro. I don't want to touch a computer.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

Yeah, well the thing is, well, the thing is this, we can't go backwards. We there there doesn't exist a time like it used to be because technology has has continually advanced.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

So just imagine where we're gonna be, Bobby. That's my point. The median that a person makes us say is $40,000. Right. You cannot purchase a home at $250,000. Heck no. There's a house that went on the market in Edinburgh for $275,000, a one-car garage home. How many square feet? You're talking about a one-car garage home. $1,800 square feet. They're just saying total $1,800, right? Yes. In total. $200 how much? $275,000. Oh my god. La realidad la vida, it's it's it's ridiculous to think I worry about the day where it's like the jobs here in the in the valley do not provide the proper income for people to sustain the middle class. The middle class has been a component to the economy that has been essential for our country. Agreed.

SPEAKER_05 34:27

The middle class pays the majority of the income taxes. I think everyone knows that. You know, if you're a wage earner, and that's why I'm not a Republican.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

No, no, no. But it's that's why I'm not a Republican.

SPEAKER_05 34:39

It's the basically the policies of the federal government have crunched the middle class. It's created a bigger division between wider gap of income disparity, and it's concentrating the wealth up with even less than the top 1%, and it's diluting it for the middle class, and it's making people on the I think on the on the lower end of the income scale struggle even more. And they're just being seen as a resource or as a commodity to be exploited by whether it's the federal government's needs or uh what we've seen at the state. And it's important that we get real policy that is about working families. That's what it needs to be. It feels like kitchen table issues because we got it. We get we also have to admit that the Rio Grande Valley has had tremendous positive growth over the last few decades. It has. We we've, you know, the Rio Grande Valley is vibrant, the culture has grown, the population has grown, opportunity has has uh increased, there's new jobs, there's new industries. All of that is great, but there's a lot of people that are still struggling from today till tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

I feel like the little people that we have to have neglected gets neglected, right? The Republican Party really, really takes care of the really, really rich that have wealth be far beyond our imagination. That's right. I think their priorities are in the wrong place. Their priorities over there, right? That's and then the Democratic Party a lot of times goes to to to help the poor, but there's the poor and then and and which is a good noble thing to do, but there's people that are just above that income threshold that don't get any government assistance, yeah. That are saying, what about us? I'm working two jobs to make the $40,000 a year. I don't have a life, I'm just working, working, and I'm running in a rat wheel, right? This that's the person that I want to fight for. Those are the ones that we have because because they're the economic motor of what's going on, and they're the ones paying the majority of the taxes.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

So let's let's think about this. What jobs in the valley are sustaining the middle class in the valley? We have schools, we have school districts are.

SPEAKER_05 36:42

Well, you're gonna have you're gonna have government, government, government's a a big employer.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

What would be government?

SPEAKER_05 36:46

Your police uh department, your police department, your fire, and government government city hall, port of patrol, yeah, uh, homeland security. But the you also have all the isds. The issue are actually the largest employer. I think Edinburgh ISD might be your largest employer.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

So, what is your medium payment for a teacher in the valley?

SPEAKER_05 37:04

Not enough. Under 60, I believe. Yeah. It's not enough. It's not enough. I mean, one of the things that we're fighting for and that we want to fight at the state level is we want to increase teacher pay. We want to take care of retirees. They need a cola that's tied to an actual index that's continuous. And we need to ensure that we also take care of all the support staff. You've got janitors, bus drivers, nurses, admin, right? You would assume that those people are.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

And here's the problem, right? I I'm I'm not trying to be like shamelessly plug myself, but maybe yeah, I am. But here's the problem that I have when they voted for this big beautiful bill. And this is there's a reason why it's hard for a Republican to represent this area because they'll make them take these votes that cut and hurt us.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

Literally. Like they'll go, too bad, there's no money, because they're in their budget, they're looking at the big beautiful bill completely slashes every part of the Rio Grande Valley. Of course, because it hits the people that now don't have the services. But here's what it also hits you know this because your father's a a physician, right? Right? Yes. And and and the majority of the people here are Medicaid or Medicare. Like that's the large part of the case. So when you go when you go cut Medicaid and Medicare, you're also hurting the doctors, too. Yes, that's right. Right? And there's a sc there's a scarcity, uh there's a shortage with nursing.

SPEAKER_05 38:24

There's a shortage in nurses, there's a shortage in specialists, there's a shortage in physicians, and they can't we're there's a massive attempt to continue to train nurses, but we're still hundreds, if not a couple thousand short just for our region. And the state of Texas has failed to expand Medicaid for a long time now. Basically leaving federal dollars on the table that could help supplement and help our community and provide health care more affordably to the people of South Texas. And the govern the state of Texas has failed, South Texas, in that regard.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

Of course, right? Of course it was at all.

SPEAKER_05 39:07

Anytime you drive federal resources or state resources to the region, you're gonna add sort of a uh a boost to the industry that can deploy that into helping the community, uh, which would also help in employing and attracting more more uh professionals to the area uh because of the pay or the or the opportunity. And so it's critical. We we need it. And you know, if you look at one of the recent cases, I sat down with um uh the engineer uh who was picked up by ICE at the airport. Yes, and and just recently released. And he's been he's been in the country for 21 years, he's been working as an engineer here for 12 years. Uh and the interesting part, his wife is in the same process right now. She's been here 12 years as a uh she's she she has a specialty within the pediatric area. There's only two in the entire Rio Grande Valley, and I'm talking about Hidago down to Cameron County. There's only two, and she's one of them, and she chose to come and work here. We can't lose these people. These are the type this is we've built the Rio Gran Valley to attract these people here. They love the quality of life, they love the community, they have found a home here, and this is who's getting picked up by ice. It's a travesty.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

And I'm just, you know, I'm gonna end with this, right? Like, because we can always say, like, well, what is the solution? I believe that absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believe that. And right now Republicans have absolute power. They have absolute power in the Supreme Court, they have absolute power in the House of Representatives, they have absolute power in the Senate, they have the executive branch uh with with with Donald Trump, they have absolute power at the state house, they have absolute power at the Senate, they have absolute power in the state supreme court, they have the lieutenant governor, they have everything. They do we what do we need to change things? We need a balance. We need a balance. We gotta have Democrats in the conversation to actually say, hey, we got good ideas too. Let's work together. Yes, right? Because that's a problem that we have is so much polarization and demonization of the other side. And well, we hey, you have the keys, you've been driving us off a cliff. Yep, right? And you could say, well, you know, I'm Republican or I'm conservative, but I know I'm smart enough to know when things are not working. And whatever they're doing right now is not working for us. So get out and vote. And right, and and and we need we I would love for us to have finally a major win a statewide race or and have a majority in the statehouse. We'd love to take it. We have to win. Because at the end of the day, it didn't used to be that way. It did not used to be that way. The state house. Rep Democrats used to have some uh a seat at the table. Then MAGA came in and went, nope, no more chairs, no more anything, we're not gonna work with anybody, we're just gonna call them names.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Well, but MAGA seems like a little out there normal.

SPEAKER_01 42:03

It is out there, of course. Look, man, I've always said that the best seat MAG is MAGA is a cancer in our democracy. It's it it's it's a cancer. The best seat in the house in a football game is in between the 40 yard lines. Because you get to see both end zones, you see the game and you see what's happening. But if you go camp out in the extreme end, you will only see that side.

SPEAKER_00 42:24

That's a great analogy.

SPEAKER_01 42:25

And when and when stuff's going on on this side of the end zone, you don't need you don't have your depth perception sucks. You don't really see anything, you it you don't know what's going on, you don't have a good view. And I think politically we need to elect more people that are that are in between the 40s. It could be a little left, it could be a little right, but we gotta work together.

SPEAKER_00 42:44

Can I tell you something that we we're talking about at lunch today? Or uh so at lunch today, one of the things that we brought up was that it's so tiring to hear that there's always a division between parties, right? Yeah, and you know, there's one party that's always pulling in their direction, and there's another party that's always pulling in their direction. I I can't wait for a change to happen where we have representatives from the valley that are not tied to these parties and are just representing the area from all across the board and understanding that we need to stop representing parties for their beneficial agendas, for their agendas to be moving in a certain way, but we should start representing our area and what could be because but in order to do so, Mario, I'm gonna tell you in order to do so, you do have to work with your party to get it done, and you gotta fight. I'm not saying no, yeah but if you look at it so But you can't let the party dictate to you.

SPEAKER_01 43:42

Yes, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:42

That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 43:43

You've got to go fight the party, say, hey, I need to help me.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

If people want to know you everything is public information that your representatives are doing, so if you want to see who is voting in what direction, look it up. And when you start looking at who's voting what, it's kind of to me. When there's bills like the big beautiful bill that is getting voted on that is going to slash the the valley, why did why did we have representatives in the valley that are representing us vote with the bill instead against it, right?

SPEAKER_01 44:15

Because they wanted to c they wanted you to be f happy with saying no tax on tips. Yeah, exactly. Right? Like that was also which was also a bit of a scam if you really look into the details of it.

SPEAKER_05 44:25

And it is a scam. They're still taxed on their tips. There's thresholds that need to be met. It's it's difficult to track, and no no tax on tips sounds good, I think, as as a sales pitch. And I actually appreciate that sort of initiative. Of course. I think I think it would be good if it was properly implemented. But those cuts hurt us a lot. But it can't be a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

But they're using getting taxed on tips.

SPEAKER_05 44:48

But they're you they're using things like that, talking points with no tax on tips, without giving you the minutiae of the details of how it works, to shove down this ICE funding, to push down and slash Medicare and health care needs, to eliminate uh funding that goes to social resources and counselors and continually taking money out of the company. They're defunding Hispanic serving institutions. Right?

SPEAKER_01 45:13

That's all we are in the valley, bro. Every single university we have here is a Hispanic serving institution. No more scholarships. You talk about you got a you got a scholarship because you ran track and played football.

SPEAKER_02 45:23

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 45:24

Well, a lot of people who are really smart aren't going to be able to get those those scholarships anymore. Right? Like we are under attack.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

Yes, sir. It feels like that.

SPEAKER_01 45:33

And people do not have a lot of people.

SPEAKER_05 45:34

We are the richest country in the world. From a federal level to a state level. Yes. We have the resources to take care of the people. And the current administration, the Republican Party at this point in time, is absolutely not prioritizing the working families, is not prioritizing the health care of every citizen, is not prioritizing education, which is the greatest investment that we can make. They are prioritizing Trump's ego. They are prioritizing a war that no one asked for. They are prioritizing uh foreign needs uh above ours. And you know, now and and now we're facing the repercussions. We're facing higher costs at the grocery store. We're facing higher uh we're facing now a lot of people are facing uh over a hundred dollars at the gas pump. I was about to say, yes, sir. And and when it hits over a hundred dollars, you feel it when people, you know, or you can't drive as far uh when you fill it for twenty dollars a week.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

We just stopped. We were at a job site, extremely hot. Let's get some water. We stopped. A lady goes, and and 14 on 14. She said in Spanish. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:51

It's so sad, man. But that's what they most a lot of people when you go to the gas pump always do. They do, they know they do $10 on Monday because that starts their work week, and they knew it used to get them till Thursday. They're lucky if it gets them till Tuesday now. Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01 47:03

It's just tough, bro. But uh I appreciate you guys for coming, right? And and and talking about this because at the end of the day, I'm uh I I'm not about just complaining. It's what are we gonna do? Let's get on the field. Let's get out there. We gotta take action, we gotta get involved. And and I'd like to invite everybody that's watching us, right? Get involved. Get involved, get educated, go see what's going on, um, talk to your people, talk to other people to get involved because that's what it's we're literally gonna take. Yes, sir. And and I appreciate you coming. I uh you know, I have the I think we all have the same dream. We want this beautiful Rio Grande Valley to flourish, we want it to succeed, and to be on the map nationally, to be like, that's the valley, brother. That's the 956. Right. And we gotta change our economic situation. And as Democrats, Sebi, I know you're independent, but we have to speak to people in an economic language because we are all aspirational.

SPEAKER_05 47:58

Well, you're right. I think we have to take ownership because some of the best economies have happened under democratic leadership. They have. And uh some of the best, some of the the strongest and best um uh bills were passed for under democratic leadership. Of course they were. Uh whether it was for world trade or local investment investment and infrastructure.

SPEAKER_01 48:16

Last president to balance the budget that's right.

SPEAKER_00 48:20

I like that guy.

SPEAKER_01 48:21

And he worked and he worked with a Republican Speaker of the House, which means you can work.

SPEAKER_05 48:28

Yes, sir. Yeah, and unemployment was lowest during most Democratic leadership with the highest number of job growths. Democrats deliver on the economy, and I think that's what we need to let people know. For too long, the Republicans have taken ownership of a successful economy. They're just good. History does not show that. They're just good marketers. That's exactly what it shows that Democrats produce incredibly strong economies. I agree. Thank you so much for coming.

SPEAKER_01 48:57

Appreciate you, man. Thank you very much. Thank you. All is good.