MCALLEN, Texas — Congressional candidate Mayra Flores is like many of those who live in south Texas. Originally from Mexico and having family south of the border, Flores has seen firsthand how the current crisis at the U.S-Mexico border is directly affecting people on both sides of the Rio Grande.
While the safety situation in the Mexican border towns has always fluctuated with violence from drug cartels, Flores said the towns have become much more dangerous this year.
"Illegal immigration funds the cartels, the same cartels terrorize our families in Mexico, so many people in south Texas have family in Mexico...the cartel has taken that opportunity from us to visit our families in Mexico. Because I don't go to Mexico for fear of my life," Flores told Townhall, adding the last time she and her family crossed the border was to go to a sister's wedding two hours away.
"We had an amazing time once we got there, but to get there, I was terrorized. I hate it. I hate that I had so much fear because many years prior to that, I would go all the time. Growing up here at the border, that's what you do...I'm from Mexico. I was born there. Most of my family is still in Mexico. That's what [the cartels] took from me."
The continuing troubles at the border are part of the reason why Flores wants to be the next representative for Texas Congressional District 34. Flores said Americans want people to immigrate to the U.S. "the right way." Current Rep. Filemon Vela Jr. (D) announced he would not be seeking reelection for the 2022 midterms.
Smuggling organizations moving illegal migrants in broad daylight near Laredo, Texas. All of the manpower and resources are tied up processing because of Bidens weak immigration policies. #BidenBorderCrisis @CBP @BPUnion @DonaldJTrumpJr @TejanoRepubs @HidalgoCoGOP @HidalgoYRs pic.twitter.com/N5Qzk7D831
— MayraFloresForCongress ?????? (@MayraFlores2022) August 10, 2021
Pointing to how the trafficking organizations are very different in how they operate from back in the old days, encouraging illegal immigration, in the way the Biden administration has through open-border policies, Flores says it is hurting Americans through a quasi-version of family separation.
"What is happening right now, it's because of the Biden administration. This wasn't happening prior. We had one of the safest, the most secure border, so the blame really needs to be at the federal level. All of this is happening because of the Biden administration, and he doesn't have the blank to come down here in south Texas to see the mess he has created and putting the lives of our Border Patrol agents at risk."
Another reason why Flores is such as strong supporter of a secure border is that her husband is a Border Patrol agent. She said after he was assigned to man one of the overcrowded border facilities, he contracted COVID-19.
Due to the ports of entry still being closed to "non-essential" travel, the Mexican family members who have visas are not able to come, which is hard to accept when south Texans see illegal immigrants being able to come almost freely into the United States.
While the current border crisis is one of the biggest issues south Texas is facing, it's not the only problem Flores hopes to address if she gets elected to Congress. Providing economic opportunities to the youth of southern Texas, who are predominantly Latino, is another thing she wants to address.
"Everybody resonates with their son, their grandson, or family members leaving south Texas for better opportunities. Everybody that I speak to knows someone who had to leave this area to have a better life...I want to bring more economic opportunities for our children," so they can have the choice whether to stay in the area or leave.
