Analysis: Why this Hispanic city ditched the Democrats for the first time since 1928

It was the epicentre of America’s border crisis. But there’s another reason why it voted for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time since 1928, writes Tom Minear.

This time last year, a small city on the US-Mexico border found itself at the centre of the biggest story in America. Every day, thousands of illegal immigrants were crossing the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass, Texas, exposing President Joe Biden’s failure to secure the border.

Republicans called it an invasion. When I visited, locals seemed just as annoyed about another sort of an invasion: the out-of-state politicians wanting to score some points, the law enforcement officers sent to turn the river into something resembling a military installation, and the journalists from all over the world trying to make sense of what was happening.

This is not to say that residents were not worried about the influx of immigrants, who were fanning out to all parts of the US after being processed by authorities. The chaos was placing an extraordinary strain on Eagle Pass’s resources, particularly emergency services.

Texas National Guard soldiers stand guard on the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass. Picture: Brandon Bell (Getty Images via AFP)

What was surprising, though, was how unwilling people were to complain about Mr Biden’s policies that had encouraged the record surge of immigrants across the southern border.

Lifelong residents recalled how people had been arriving illegally in their city for decades, albeit usually in smaller numbers. And they pointed out that crackdowns to strengthen the border disrupted them from going back and forth over the bridge to Piedras Negras, the city on the Mexican side of the border where they socialised, shopped and sought medical care.

Those who opposed Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s efforts to militarise the border, believing it to be a publicity stunt to assist Donald Trump, sometimes remarked that the influx of law enforcement personnel had at least helped local hotels and restaurants.

Donald Trump visits the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass. Picture: Go Nakamura (Reuters)

They were spot on. Eagle Pass was otherwise not an especially prosperous place. Across Maverick County, one in five people were living in poverty, and the median household income of $US48,497 was far below the nationwide average of $US74,580.

I spent several days talking to residents about the border, but after Mr Trump returned to power last week, I realised I should have spoken to them more about the economy.

For the first time since 1928, Maverick County voted for a Republican candidate, with 59 per cent backing the former president. When he first ran, Mr Trump won just 20.72 per cent of the local vote. After his first term, however, support for him shot up to 44.84 per cent.

A shop in Eagle Pass. Picture: Sergio Flores

Maverick County Democratic Party chair Juanita Martinez, a lifelong Eagle Pass resident, told me in March that she could not comprehend the swing towards the Republican.

“I don’t understand how being the most racist, horrible person on this Earth, that intelligent people, Hispanic people would follow such a man,” she said at the time.

“The only explanation is it’s like they’re in kind of a cult.”

As it turns out, there is another explanation. The Hispanic Americans of Eagle Pass, just like Americans across the country, are fed up with feeling left behind. And while they might not like Mr Trump, after a century of voting for Democrats, they are ready to try something else.

Originally published as Analysis: Why this Hispanic city ditched the Democrats for the first time since 1928