MCALLEN, Texas — Julio Cesar Requena’s first steps into the United States at the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge were an answered prayer.
“I waited four months for my appointment,” said Requena, a Venezuelan migrant. “We just had faith in God that all was going to be all right.”
The journey was far more tumultuous that even he expected. Requena and six others in his group were kidnapped and mugged. On a cold night, only him and another were dumped on a desolate Reynosa street to fend for themselves. He has never heard from the five other migrants again.
Reynato Berenguer, another migrant just allowed to enter South Texas, recounted 12 months of living in danger in Mexico while his Cuban family waited for an asylum hearing appointment he wasn’t sure would come.
As Requena experienced his first legal moments on U.S. soil, he was overwhelmed with relief, but he couldn’t help thinking about the other families left behind in Mexico.
“There’s still so many good people waiting in Mexico for their chance to cross legally,” Berenguer said as he finally loaded his family’s suitcases into a McAllen taxi. “People have kidnapped and assaulted them. There’s just so many bad things that have happened to them over there.”
On Inauguration Day, a sudden, hardline shift in immigration and border security policy spread quickly across the vast Texas border. There was no shock and awe — instead disappointment for migrants and a time to celebrate for MAGA supporters.
President Donald Trump moved swiftly to end the only legal pathway for migrants to seek asylum — immediately pulling the plug on the CBP One App. It was the outgoing Biden administration’s answer to dealing with the mass migration crisis at the southern border.
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Congregations of migrants arriving at the border had taken its toll on communities, and Trump seized on nearly four years of images of migrants crowding the southern border to reclaim the White House.
At their own inauguration gala in a McAllen hotel, South Texans reveled at the start of the Trump presidency on Jan. 20. Supporters expressed hope the Trump administration will find a “commonsense” border solution.
McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos, who joined in the Trump inauguration celebration, noted the campaign season has ended and now he is looking for meaningful changes when it comes to the 1,254 miles of southern border in Texas.
“It’s not just this new administration, but everyone in Washington needs to be involved, including Congress, to get our immigration system back in line because it isn’t right now,” Villalobos said. “Unfortunately, they haven’t done it in the past eight years, and the gridlock has stopped both sides from getting together and taking care of issues.”
Joever Freites, a Venezuelan migrant who arrived in the U.S. before Trump took office, was adjusting to the start of her new life at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen.
She is mapping out her next move as she starts the process for seeking asylum. Freites doesn’t have much hope that migrants will be welcomed in the U.S.
“I don’t think that many people will be allowed into the country now that there’s a new president,” she said. “I expect much less help for the immigrants now that we have Trump as the American president.”
In the days leading up to Trump taking power, Sister Norma Pimentel saw the changing coming in her work to provide humanitarian aid to migrants who endured much for a chance to seek asylum.
She operates the Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley Humanitarian Respite Center.
While locations like the respite center vow to continue to offer services for migrants, they have seen the impact of the new administration.
Pimentel explained the fluctuations in the number of migrants at her center have run the gamut from up to 600 daily to as few as 150 daily visitors. The dip in numbers is a clear indication that the rhetoric about sweeping immigration reform is reaching the migrant population.
Some residents stay because they need temporary housing, while others prefer a brief stay before moving on to their final destination.
“I’m seeing that many of the migrants who come here now are very scared,” Pimentel said. “I’ve been here for 10 years and that’s included a number of administrations, but the Biden administration, in creating CBP One, made a helpful and orderly way to request an appointment. Losing that sets us back and it loses a good option for families.”
For Pimentel, she foresees the faith-based center only continuing the mission of helping migrants with the help of the community.
She called out the hyperbole that swirled around mass migration largely in the political sphere.
“The reality is that it exists in the political narrative rather than reality. I see our community come together and work to ensure everyone is safe,” Pimentel said. “We’re told immigrants are invaders and dangerous, and that’s not true. Everyone in this center is part of a family with mothers, fathers and children.”
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Jennifer Harbury, a retired attorney and founding member of the Angry Tias and Abuelas organization in the Rio Grande Valley, has been a longtime migrant advocate and has witnessed firsthand how migrants can be harmed once they are deported.
“To understand the need for (asylum), I invite anyone to come with me to Reynosa and I’ll show them around and we’ll interview some people,” Harbury said. “Let them look at the wounds on children and the blunt force trauma to the heads of several people recently deported.”
“Immigration reform will be like the first time Trump was in the White House, and migrants will die in larger and larger numbers here,” Harbury said. “They won’t get the necessary care either, and it will be because we’ve created a bottleneck at the border.”
“People will still flee north because of the cartel and political violence to the south,” she added. “Meanwhile, we’ll be deporting people back to places like Tamaulipas that is the most dangerous place for migrants anywhere.”
Late on Inauguration Day, the Republican base in McAllen gathered for its own gala complete with cutouts of President Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
Villalobos explained the immigration debate is not just the stuff of the presidential campaigns and must remain a paramount federal issue. Yet he also extolled the virtues of a commonsense approach to border policies given his unique perspective in a growing border city.
Villalobos contended the United States needs immigrants but is also requiring a means of stopping the flow of migrants between ports of entry.
“We also need to provide the necessary workers to keep our country going,” Villalobos said.
Gayle Runnels, a longtime McAllen resident who co-organized the ball, noted her support for the President Trump and the subsequent black-tie event started eight years ago after his first election as president. For Runnels, the event is not a political event, but rather a victory celebration for the 47th president of the United States.
Strong conservative values were enough for Runnels to support Trump yet again, and she echoed Villalobos’ sentiments about a logical approach to immigration reform.
“I don’t support the idea of open borders, and we’ve grown up in this part of Texas. So we love the Hispanic culture as it’s part of where we grew up,” Runnels said. “I have no problem with people wanting to come to the United States to work, but we need them to have work permits to do so and they’ll pay taxes like everyone else.”
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Kristian Jaime covers top stories for the El Paso Times and is reachable at Kjaime@elpasotimes.com.