The Texan Podcast - Texas Rep. Eddie Morales Jr. on Immigration and Border Security, Data Centers

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

State Rep. Eddie Morales Jr. (D-Eagle Pass), who is running for re-election in Texas House District 74 against Republican challenger Robert Garza, joined The Texan's Reporter Meridith Dyer to discuss the leading issues.Morales discussed how immigration policy shaped the 2024 election and what Democrats can do going forward, how to handle the state's influx of data centers, property tax reform in the 90th Legislative Session, and more.Listen to more interviews from The Texan wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, follow us and leave a review.

Hi everyone, I'm Meredith Dyer, reporter with the Texan. And joining me today is Representative Eddie Morales, Jr., who is an Democrat from Eagle Path, who was represented HD-74 since 2021. His district covers 11 counties and more than 7070 miles of the Texas-Mexico border. So Representative, thank you so much for joining us. Can you just tell us a little bit about yourself and why you love living in your district? Well, I may be a little bit biased, but I think that the District 74 is by far the most. beautiful district in all of Texas. You know, it spans south central Texas down on the border and goes all the way to El Paso. And of course we have Big Bend National Park and Big Bend State Park.

We have the Jeff Davis Mountains. We have the McDonald Observatory. We have Amosat Dam, Fort Duncan Ruins, and so much more in between both El Paso and Eagle Pass. I am an attorney during the day, as I'd like to say. I've been practicing for 26 years. We're also the proud owners of our family Tortilla factory that's been in the family for 38 years. We're now been running it for 8 to 10 years, my wife and I, and it's now on its third generation where my adult daughter is actually a general manager of the store and running the day-to-day operations. So this has been a blessing for us.

You know, I started when I was 12 years old, and I think that I've implemented a lot of what I learned in that running a small business and being from starting and being a worker, working on the back and making sure that I was listening to dad and mom at 12 and onward. And my kids grew up in that same environment. And so I think that, you know, our public service and being state reps for the largest district in the state of Texas, I think we focus and one of my main goals with our staff is to focus on customer. service. And that's what I learned. You know, at the tortilla factory, that's the same plan that I implemented when I started running the Eagle Pass office of Langley and Banach. We're now 85 attorneys in the law firm. And my youngest son is also an attorney in the San Antonio office. So we're very proud of all three of our kids. Our oldest was a teacher. And then she turned and finished her schooling so she could become a clinical counselor there in San Antonio. So I think what I can tell you is small business can teach you many opportunities. It's given us many blessings. And I know that I can keep in tune

with the pulse of the community and the district by continuously being there and advocating for people that end up being our regular day-to-day customers. So the most hard-hitting question I have to ask you today is that the Google reviews say that I should order barbacoa when I come to the tortilla factory. Is this the right call? Do you agree with this? Do you concur? You know, it's been a phenomenal experience. My parents learned quickly when they first thought it that it was only They only made tortillas. And within a week or two, they found out, you know, just tortillas alone, when they're going to make it. And so my dad, you know, he's always been a serial entrepreneur.

And he knew it's like, I know how to cook barbacoa, the traditional method. And that's what we do. We provide Mexican meat delicacies. We have people from all over Texas that have actually come. We have, we're right in front of the Union Pacific Railroad Depot. So we have people from out of state engineers on the. those locomotive trains that will actually stop in front of the railroad depot, walk across, and say, they told us when we were in Eagle Pass that we needed to visit this place.

So we're very proud of it, and I think it's put us, my sister and I through college, it's given us so many opportunities for our children as well. And so we're very proud of that. And I'm proud to say that I'm the son of a tortilla manufacturer and tortilla maker. Let's talk about your district, though, because it is, I believe it's the largest, district in the state. It represents this large area. And it is, it's very competitive and it's very different than other areas in the state. The Texans, we have our partisan index and we have you guys at R-52 leaning now, where in the past it was Democratic 53% leaning. Trump carried the district by

for almost 15 points, but you still won at that district with over 50% of the vote, 51.7, which means that a lot of Trump voters voted for you. And so what changed in your district between the last cycle and this one? And do you think it's a Trump effect or is there something more permanent that's going on? I think it was twofold. Trump was right on messaging with his base. And then he exploited the whole issue of the migrant search that was taking place. There were a lot of people that didn't like where the state of the conditions along the border.

If you recall, legal pass in Maverick County were at the tipping point, the tip of the spear, as it said, you know, with 10 to 12,000 people crossing daily through the river. And so it was unsustainable. Something needed to happen. I repeatedly, you know, would message also the White House. And finally, I was able to visit with the White House staff and let them know of the issues. And shortly after around late December, early January of the year before the election, Majorcas and Blinken went out to Mexico and secured a deal. But it was a little bit too little, too late. the damage had been done. I really thought that we could recover from January until the November election and show that, you know, we were looking, we were moving forward and the federal

government was actually implementing immigration and reform policies in place so we wouldn't have this daily surge. But the people remember, and it's important to know that at the end of the day, it's the people that communicate to us by how they vote. And so we learn from those lessons. We need to be better when it comes to border and immigrant, an immigrant, And more than anything, we need to also call out that we've got a broken immigration system for the last 30 years. And without us fixing it at the federal level and with Congress, this should be their number one priority. And it isn't because they use it repeatedly to stoke their base for whatever purpose they need. And it's the time to put an end to it.

It's time that we be more effective and more efficient also with our federal government. And, you know, when I go and talk to farmers in the district, to ranchers, when I talk to contractors, the hospitality industry also, they all need these workers. And we need to find a way to make sure that we process them correctly in a dignified matter. And that we also make sure that they're actually paying into the system, not taking from the system, which is one of the biggest concerns from Trump and the base that he has. I think there's always learning lessons. and I think that we can always do better. And this is one of those opportunities. We survived.

And we always generate in Maverick County where people have known me. You know, I usually get close to 70% of the vote. I knew this last election that there was something going on because we ended up with, I believe, like 63% of the vote when the tallies were coming in for Eagle Pass in Maverick County. And you saw that red wave that hit all along the Rio Grande from Brownsville all the way to El Paso. We were one of the few that survived.

And I think it's because we've always been consistent. right on messaging and making sure that we represent all even those that don't vote for us. And I say this continuously in my town halls. So you mentioned these South Texas districts that are now being referred to as these purple districts. Tell us a little bit more about what it's like to represent a district that doesn't fit a one-party label and that has that gotten harder in the last few years. It's definitely gotten harder.

It feels like for my wife and I who are very active and visiting these 11 counties that we represent, it really takes a toll on your body, on your mind, especially when you have the practice of law and you have small businesses also to operate. But we made a commitment to the people of House District 74. And I think that they've seen time and time again that we've delivered. We addressed this at that Trip Fest Festival also, the whole gerrymandering issue and how we need to put an end to it.

Look, the technology is there. We have AIs also that can work and make sure that we can have maps that are non-biased that are truly representative and that provide equal opportunities to everyone within the district. And I think that complacency is the biggest killer of innovation and our ability to be able to move forward with bright ideas to continue to propel the state forward. And what I mentioned by that of complacency is the fact that we have a number of districts in Texas that are so solid for either a Democrat or for a Republican, that there's no effort in making sure that you are also being a voice for those folks that may not see eye to eye with you. And I think being in a district like mine, as you mentioned, we won by close to 52% this last time. And obviously we're going to improve those numbers this time by far and the stuff that we've delivered.

But it allows us to remain committed to continuously being out there in the community, visiting with them, understanding what are their concerns, what are their issues, important to them on a daily basis? What are we seeing so that we can be their voice for them in Austin? Yeah, I definitely, I've talked to some other people with these districts where you can't take it for granted that you're going to get that vote. You have to pay attention to the issues that people care about. Can you give us an example of a time that maybe you broke from the party because you knew that a bill was important to your constituents? I can do the border and immigration issue. For example, I would repeatedly break from the Democratic Party. And then there was consensus.

Look, when I first came in in 2020, 2021, I didn't want to be the immigration guy. I mean, I think there were so many more things that were important to the district. And at that time, in 2020, a migrant surge. And it was a federal issue, right? The other party was trying to make it immigration into a state issue also. And so I was trying to stay away from that. But when I saw that nobody was actually talking and saying the right things that are going along the border. And then also, it's a very secure border for the most part unless we have these issues.

And on many of these sentences, 99% of the migrants that come, they just want a better life. We knew this. There was studies that were done 10, 15 years ago that we knew that there was going to be these level of displacements from climate changes, from the ongoing issues that South American countries have, that we knew that these were going to be issues that we were going to face. And we actually, we weren't prepared for them at the state or at the federal level. And I think seeing and thinking outside the box on how to best address these issues would make us so much better better than just vilifying a particular party just by either their skin color or the fact that they come from south of the border and making sure that we're actually there to be a voice for our communities also that are asking for some of these laborers and some of these workers and that need them in order to be able to grow their crops, to be able to run their farms and their operations. operations for them to be able to have cleaning crews for the hospitality industry, for example,

or contractors. We have so many contractors that have mentioned to me that they cannot keep up with the status of their projects because they don't have the manpower right now as they used to before. So those are all issues that impact us in our pockets. You've seen it day in and day out for the last year and a half, two years. Inflation keeps going up. Our groceries keep going up. Gas keeps going up. I put $105 to fill up my SUV. just last week. And so if I'm going through that and I'm having to think about it twice or when I see what I have to pay, just think of what a normal middle class Texan or House District 74 constituent is going through. And I try to make sure that also stay visually connected, for example,

to the tortilla factory so that I can have also that ability to communicate with those customers and so that they can better explain. We were there this Sunday. We were giving away our, our campaign shirts or merchandise, we're visiting, we're making sure that people were registered. And it was so interesting to see so many people that were not inclined to go into the tortilla factory initially, but they just wanted to visit with us and tell us what they're going through. And then eventually they would pick up some merchandise and also get a little hungry and then step into the tortilla factory. So I think it's good for us to be able to have and be that level of being in tune.

with your citizenry and with your constituents. Just to wrap up the immigration, not that can we wrap this issue up, it's pretty big, but just the last question is, you mentioned people wanting the labor or needing the labor and wanting better ways of processing those workers. Is there anything else that your constituents are telling you that they is working when it comes to immigration

and then anything else that they would want changed? So I don't do immigration. That's one of the few areas. for example that our law firm doesn't focus on immigration work but i do a lot of referrals on immigration related material or cases and so when you constantly visit with those immigration attorneys they tell you that the system has broken has been outdated for over 30 years so we need to do things differently some of these immigrants give their best years of their life 10 15 years through that process of work visas and then at the end of that period even though they've been a positive contributor to the

the Texas or the U.S. economy, there's no pathway for them to either be permanent residents or become U.S. citizens. And so I think that needs to be revamped as well. What's going on right now and what Trump has done is completely sending a message down to Mexico and Latin America that there will be no cross-use, I think, is effective. However, the, and how I've seen a number of times of how ICE agents have actually performed their duties and how they've handled issues with the public. I do have concerns and rightfully so. Everybody should be afforded due process equal rights, make sure that they're not being isolated from just because of their skin color or just because they're speaking Spanish. And it's unfortunate that's been a number of incidents. I think we need to

hold our ICE agents to a high standard. They are law enforcement. They do carry guns. guns, they are our protectors, and I am a proponent to making sure that we actually represent law enforcement folks also, and that they know that state representatives and public officials have their backs. I've been very, very proud to receive the endorsement of the two biggest law enforcement organizations, Texas Municipal Police Association and CLEET, which is a combined law enforcement associations of Texas here in Texas. And I think that shows a commitment that you can be a Democrat, understand the needs of your constituents,

while also being pro-law enforcement and making sure that they're getting the best training, the best equipment, and that they're making sure that, for example, that we're focusing on de-escalating techniques, that there's a better way to address any individual in any interaction, and that we make sure that we leave a lasting and positive experience when people go through those interactions with law enforcement. So your district is more than, I believe, 80% Hispanic. And these voters are, like we've talked about, are maybe split tickets. In your opinion, what do you think both parties still get wrong about Hispanic voters in the district? I think we, for too long, have put them on certain, just isolated them into one segment or the other.

there's many second generation Mexican Americans that don't feel that they're attached to the Mexican part as much, that truly feel they are one and only Americans. And that is their right for them to be able to do that. And in doing so, though it comes to me, it comes, I deeply value the culture of Mexico. I respect it. I still have a lot of family members. I was born in Piedas Negas, Fuila, but lived all my life. life, and Egel Pass, and then the four years at the University of Texas, and followed by the three

years in San Antonio at St. Mary's Law. So I have a deep level of respect. I love what the Mexican government is doing for the common middle class Mexicans and raising the wealth gap that had existed in Mexico. So when you have these migrants crossing, you'll see that it's not that many Mexicans. They're more from Latin America that are doing so. But, because the Mexican government has stabilized their economy to a point where many Mexicans feel that they can have a life and a future in their own country. I think that that's what we need to do. For a longest time, we need to be truthful to ourselves. America has sometimes gone into Latin American countries and kind of pressed their thumb on the scale for one particular leader or another.

and there's consequences that can come from that. And I think we've seen them some of that. And it's an obligation, I believe, on America to be able to make sure that we deliver and that we're working well with our neighbors to the South so that they can feel that they can stay there and that their economies can also and the people can flourish. So I'm going to switch over to another hot topic, which is data centers. And these have taken center stage. They are seemingly touching every district.

I was reading recently about a town hall in Valverde County where the resident. were talking about how they wanted their state representatives and congressmen to get involved in possible data center construction in their county. And someone had mentioned contacting you. My question is when a county judge or a commissioner calls you about a data center, what does that conversation usually look like? What are they asking for? What are their biggest concerns? The biggest concern on the beginning was, are they moving forward? It seems that there's a number of issues that the public has spelled out. And is the state, does the state have a plan?

Does the governor have a plan? Because initially he was 110% for data centers to be built as soon as possible. And then these issues were cropping up. And what I mean by issues for all your viewers, it's like, for example, there were tax abatements that were being issued in some of these data centers. And so they, when you give tax abatements, that means that the local taxpayers are actually not benefiting from that because they're losing. that taxable base. Then you also had, for example, data centers that were tying into the grid

and taking usurping power and the energy for the residential and the commercial and the industrial projects that are in that community. And so that's also something that we need to focus. And then lastly, we're also having either issues with water, for example, and the use of the water that these data, excessive use of these data centers. I like to say and put those, in a bucket of data centers 1.0 and all the issues that came from those. And then I'm seeing a new generation of either developers and or data centers that are coming up and their presentation has been addressing all those issues. For example, we have a commitment from a number of them, specifically in Reeves County, where Microsoft and Chevron did a partnership together for a $20 billion

data center investment project down there. They did all the grassroots. They were able to visit all the local officials first with the the county judge and the commissioners to make sure that they were taken into account with the needs and what any concerns may be expressed by the folks in Reeves County. I think they did it the right way by making sure that they were not going to be asking for any tax abatements and they clearly spelled that out to the public and to the local officials. Then they also said we're not going to tie in and be usurping the energy needs of your community.

We're actually going to generate the power behind the meter and be a positive contributor to the energy needs because when not enough of energy is being used in the data center, they can put it into the grid because all their energy was built behind the meter. And then thirdly, they produce close-loop systems where either produced water is being used or where they can tell you, look, this data center is going to use less water than a Chipotle uses in an annual given year. And so that also kind of sets the mind for you and for your constituents to grasp the issue at hand to make sure that we're protecting the environment

and that we're making sure that these data centers, that we provide a framework for them, that we provide basic guidelines for them, and that we take into account the concerns that are expressed. So what I visited, yes, I visited with Judge Owens in that's particular instance there in Valverde, for example, because a number of people were raising concerns. And for some communities, data centers may not be the answer,

and you may not want them there. But there's parts in deep, far west, Texas, like Reeves County, which is a very big county and very isolated areas, for example, where a data center would work perfectly. We have a generation and a transmission problem in the state of Texas. All our energy needs are being produced in far west Texas, and we need to make sure that we have transmission lines also, that where all that power is being generated come to the more urban areas. And so we need to tackle this issue, just closing our eyes and thinking that the problem is going to weigh is not the solution.

And we need to make sure that we are being a voice for those constituents when those concerns are being raised and that we're protecting the environment. And then we're also providing a framework and a platform for businesses like these to be able to flourish also and provide the many benefits that we would get from these data centers and AI and the technology that we have. Just like being able to get gerrymandered, non-jerrymandered maps where we actually divide the entire. districts, for example, in Texas, using AI so that we can have a map and a district set up that is taken into account and not just all of the different interests, but not just one party's, you know, request to making sure that that district is favoring a particular party over the other. You had mentioned that this may be the solution for some and not for other counties. It's dependent.

Overall, though, going into the 90th, thinking about how you. you have to vote and this discussion that will be in the House regarding data centers. Do you feel that your constituents in general lean more towards the group that if all of those things are covered, the 1.0, you know, they're providing their electricity and their water, that they'll be satisfied with that and getting rid of the tax abatements? Or do you find that you're leaning a group that's leaning more towards just wanting to preserve Texas land and doesn't want them in general? Where do you kind of feel? I think it depends where community you're talking to me. Have you're talking to me about a more urban community?

I think even fulfilling all those and putting those who are in place and making sure that those points that we discussed are addressed, it's probably going to be like a 60, 40 split in favor of it, but you still have those that are feeling like this is too close to home. This is too close to residential neighborhoods. And so when then you talk to the more rural areas, I think that they invite that type of investment. They provide the tax framework that is needed for these counties, rural and nature, to have the success that they need to have their budget meds need by the cities, by the local county, and then also the school district, because this may be the biggest investment ever that they've had in the last 30 to 50 years. And so having a taxable base on a project like in Reefs County, that's a $20 billion project with no tax payment, just think of what. what that's going to do to the community of 15,000 people in the city of Pecos,

and what that would do with the taxable revenue that would be generated from such a project. You're going to turn school districts that were poor school districts in West Texas into rich school districts overnight by having projects like this. We have a big problem with access to quality health care in those areas. We don't have medical professionals in this area. Think what a taxable base by the city or the county that they can now use that revenue to entice medical professionals to be able to come and subsidize their salaries in one way or the other or pay for their medical school loans and what that would do to the dynamics out in West Texas. So I'm all about thinking outside the box. And you really do, especially in District 74 because you got to find unique ways to be able to deliver for your.

constituents. And so I think it depends, what be my answer. It depends on whether you're talking in an urban or rural area. So you mentioned redistricting, which this has been a discussion. You mentioned Tribfest as well. A couple weeks ago, there was discussion about it from Representative Gene Wu saying that the Democrat should consider, you know, redistricting maps for state house, Senate, SBOE, those different, those areas, if they had the power. And then representative, Republican Jeff Leach saying, why would we not redistrict next session? So you also, last year, you remained on the floor last summer and didn't break quorum, which is another example, I guess, of, you know, breaking to do what's best for your district. You talked about wanting to have a different way of

fighting, and while you respected them, you know, you wanted to stay engaged. How do you see another round of redistricting playing out in the 90th? With so many more pressing issues than redistricting. restricting, when we're talking about people having a hard time paying their utilities, when we have people that are having to decide whether to put gas or grocery or buy some of those staple groceries, when you have people that are telling me, man, I need a payment plan, how can you help me or put me in touch with the university or with the junior college here for a payment plan because I've been unable to make the payments for my daughter's school? Those are all issues I believe that are much more important at redistricting.

I truly hope that we were also being asked, what's the number of possible seats that the Democratic Party may gain? And my assumption is they're going to be anywhere from 8 to 12, but if we get anywhere closer to that 12 range or even higher, I think it will put the issue then at hand where we're going to need to be so focused on the House because we're going to have such as, you know, like a 76, 74 type split. But the last thing that we should be doing is focusing on things that can divide us like redistricting and making sure that we focus more on the issues that are more important to us, like what is the effect on our constituency and the people that vote for us? I think that is much more important.

And if we are going to do redistricting, I would hope that we're smart enough to put an end to this and that we use the technology and the software and the AI systems that are available so that we can do this once and for all. We can have a true redistricting plan that is not actually leaning one way or the other and that we're focused on making all of these races very competitive. You asked me a previous question, how does, you know, what do you do whenever you're in a district

where your winning percentage was so low? I think it makes you better. It makes you hone your skills. It makes sure that you're out there with the community. We just came back last night from Del Rio event. The border organization accountability had a meeting with the state and federal officials. The only folks that went to that event were Katie Stout running for Congress. Her counterpart, Brendan, wasn't there.

We had Senator Rowling Gutierrez also there, a Democrat. His contender wasn't there, his opponent. and also I was there. My opponent is from Del Rio. He's 10 minutes away from that event location. And yet he couldn't take the time to actually meet and visit with the constituents. And I had to drive an hour to be able to go over there. And I think, again, it shows when you have competitive districts and you have candidates that truly want to be a voice for their people,

they will make the effort. Rolling Gutierrez drove from San Antonio. Katie Stout drove from San Antonio, too. You only had Democrats that were there in a room-packed, you know, all. seats were filled and people were standing up in the back, they wanted to listen to both sides. And it's unfortunate that they didn't get to hear from both sides because right now, the Republican Party is having a very difficult time from everyone up down the state ballot. We've had 30 years of Republican Party in power.

And I will tell you and ask your viewerships, do you feel better today than you did two or three years ago or five years from now? Do you feel that financially and economically that you're in a better position than you were a number of years ago? Do you believe that your schools are better than they were 30 years ago? That their rankings, how they're focused on students, and making sure that they're graduating with the right education in place. And I would say that time and time again from visiting with the constituents, they're not happy. And I would truly hope that there's this opportunity for us to be able to win some statewide. offices for us to be able to actually also deliver in the state house by having a very competitive

or where the Democrats have taken over on the Texas House. And we'll see what happens with the Senate, but we also need to recognize that we have a great candidate and lieutenant governor for the Democratic Party, Vicki Goodwin, running against the incumbent, the lieutenant governor, and that we need a change in that system as well. So one of the things that the House and the Senate will be spending a lot of time on is property taxes. And that will definitely get probably pretty spicy. A lot of people have opinions about it. I know that the governor and lieutenant governor have put forth plans.

My question is you've called property taxes the number one concern for Texas families. You co-sponsored a couple of bills, which were, you know, raising homestead exemption and different things in the past. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick wants to go further. Abbott says that this approach isn't lasting reform. He wants to eliminate property taxes on homesteads altogether. Are there any parts of these plans, either of them, that you support? Obviously in a world and being a real estate investor and so and owning a number of residential, commercial apartments and also warehouses here in the community, you know, the tax statements have started coming in. I just started opening up like 10 different envelopes, property taxes. But until we can find a mechanism in place to be able to supplant or replace our existing property tax system, we can't just go in there and claim that we're going to eliminate property taxes, even if it was just for homesteads, without making sure that we have a plan B in place. We've seen too many times over the last two years where the federal government and this particular White House has just taken very knee-jerk responses to a number

of issues and then we're left three, five or months later or a year later having to deal with the aftermath of that decision that actually didn't take into account all of the possible options and consequences that could come from it. So I would say to, it's important that we address it. I think we keep putting band-aids on this, but to the regular constituent in my district and all of Texas, for example, they want to know why is it that our property tax, is that the local level continue to go up to fund public schools, even though we supposedly are putting more money into public schools, which we're not at the state level.

I think we're at 48% I think that the state contributes, and then that means that the remainder has to be contributed by the local school government and their tax base. And so I would say that we have a constitutional obligation, the state of Texas, to fully fund public education. And before we can get to fully funding at a 100%, I would urge, and the goal would be let's get to 65, 70% of our state revenue to be used for public education. And that will keep the local property taxes low. Right now, it's the opposite. it. And we're putting the funding on public education at the local level on the backs of our

constituents when they already are having problems with their groceries and they're with their gas bills. Is there any part of these that you would vote for at this point? You are against both of them. Well, I haven't seen the specifics of the governors or the lieutenant governors. I'd be happy to continue to explore more of this specific. There's no legislation that has been actually submitted. it. We can't do this until I believe mid-November when we can start submitting legislation and filing legislation. So I really would like to take the opportunity to have my staff and I and experts also that are very good advising us. We have a superintendent in Alpine, Texas, that is just amazing. And she was able to break down for me the way financially that public schools are financed.

And it took the superintendent of Alpine out in Brewster County, but she's just so knowledgeable and knows and understands the system that it's a breath of fresh air when you're able to talk to a constituent who also is educated and has the right experience and is able to generate and give you options for rural communities and rural school districts like that. So I want to make sure that these plans also take into account what effect, and specifically what negative effect, if any,

will rural counties be faced with if we're to implement this property tax plan either from the governor or the lieutenant governor? As we're waiting for a session to start, we're waiting for things to be filed. You guys are having interim hearings, and you were recently at one that made a lot of news, a lot of ways on Twitter, at least the House Select Committee on governmental oversight. It's a marathon 12-hour meeting that you're talking about quite a few different things. But just I'm curious, you were sitting next to Representative Raymond when he, showed his firearm while describing prosecutors in action. Oh yeah. He flashed a piece, right, on a threat against him. I'm just curious. What was going through your mind when that happened? Look, Richard is one of my close friends, very close friends there in the Texas House. I've enjoyed

visiting with him all these years. And he has a wealth of experience and knowledge. He comes from the Laredo, which is only an hour and a half down on the Rio Grande to us. And so I've really loved and listening to all his stories. I knew, I know that he packs the gun. I usually pack a gun also and just that morning I left it in my vehicle rather than in my satchel. And she usually puts it in his front pocket. So when those comments were taking place, I think we made, both of us made a comment about, hey, are you gun ready, you know, in case something goes down? And sure enough, that's all you needed to give Richard, you know, that little start and then he took off with it. And yes, I saw a number of memes on X. I saw a number of posts salsa. That just tells you,

we can be Democrats. We can believe in the Second Amendment. We can believe in concealed carry or open carry also. We can be positive contributors to our community, making sure that we're keeping our community safe. And that's what I've never liked about these echo chambers. that you end up putting people just because of the party affiliation. Because I think that there's so much more nuances and intricacies into any one of the state leaders. And I think Richard Raymond is a perfect example of that. I mean, he's unique in his own way. He's the longest serving a Mexican-American member in the state house.

And we're very proud of his achievements. And he's a good friend to me. I just made sure that he wasn't pointing the gun at me when he took it out. And I think there's some memes also of my face when he did bring it out. That would have, if you had your gun as well, that would have been quite the picture. During the meeting, though, there were some serious things talked about, some very, like, heartbreaking stories of victims of crime that were talking about the prosecutor, feeling the prosecutors had dismissed or mishandled them. Where do you stand on Governor's Abbott proposal for a statewide prosecutor? And also, you're a lawyer.

Like, where do you believe the line is between prosecutorial discretion and a DA not doing their job? I think it's a very narrow line that needs to be obviously kept in check. I was prosecutor also, not of these more serious crimes and felonies, but as a city attorney, you have to handle Class C misdemeanors in municipal court. So you handle everything from a DUI, from a speeding ticket, running a stop sign, from, you know, the sort of conduct type cases. And at the end, you know, we have to also sometimes determine whether there's enough evidence and have that prosecutorial discretion. So I can put myself in the shoes of the DA. I think I've been in that situation as prosecutor. But I can also put myself, even though I don't practice criminal law on the defense side, but I can see also that other side. And personally,

for families that I have represented, both either as victims, for example, on personal injury catastrophic cases were on the defense side where the company that I'm representing it truly the investigations of the fact revealed that they did nothing wrong other than just being the deep pockets and we had an incident for example where an 18-wheeler tractor trailer driver killed three people outside of Eagle Pass here because he fell to recognize all of the designations on the highway where it showed that there was road construction ahead and a flagman ahead. And so I was representing the highway construction company in that instance. The company was sued for $200 million.

That's what they asked for at the start of Vordire. And it really sets a tone because in that situation, for example, there was, without a doubt, in my view, from all of the evidence, there was criminally negligent homicide elements there for the DA to be able to arrest the tractor, driver in that situation and make sure that he faced criminal consequences from his conduct and from killing three people yet nothing was done. And so I think also people need to recognize that and we need to make sure that we are there being the voice of victims like that and making sure that prosecutors do their job and do it right. And so I would strike that there is a balance.

I would not support like a state prosecutor. We already have the Texas Attorney General for that. And they can come in in situations where either a DA or the county DA feels that they either need to not get involved in that particular case or that they feel that they don't have the necessary tools to be able to handle such a particular case and that somebody from the outside come in. So I wouldn't support that unless I would see more about it, but I think that we definitely need to make sure that DAs are doing their job. They're doing it right and they're also being a voice for the victims of the people that are hurt. Well, we're almost done. I have one question. should I ask people at Dan?

And that is, is there an issue or something that you feel is not being talked about enough in this campaign cycle or on the statewide level? Yes. I truly believe that we've never had a governor that has focused on the border. I have a term for the border and it's the last frontier. I truly believe when it comes to the eyes of those people and power in Austin that can make decisions to better the lives. of not only the people on the border, but everyone in Texas. Now, understanding that after COVID, we as a whole, as a country, made a change and moving away from Asia and having our products in China, having our products, you know,

developed there and brought over. And we really doubled down and making sure that we had a much closer relationship. And Mexico has become our biggest trading partner and has supplanted China as far as the partnership, not only in Texas but in the United States. And with that has come, and I've seen personally firsthand the billions of dollars in investments that are taking place on Mexico. But we're creating a bottleneck of sorts

because we, on the Texas side and the U.S. side, we are not actually doubling down and making sure that we are narrowing the actions and the investments of the country of Mexico. We need to focus on bigger and better ports that are much more efficient that we're using 21st century technology to make sure that people that are coming in their vehicles or tractor trailers and commerce and goods are not spending one, three, five hours or more at the port of entry before they can get through. Those are all issues.

And again, I go back to the tortilla factory mentality of being and delivering the best type of customer service. If those customers have an opportunity to go elsewhere rather than cross through a United States port of entry. And if they had that facility, because we were providing such bad customer service and making them wait so long, what they go somewhere else? And the obvious answer is, yes, they would. And so I think that we need to be introspective at the state level, as well as the federal level, and know that there are things that we can do that are much better to make sure that we have the economy that we can have because not only the border will benefit if we're to implement those infrastructure changes. And I'm talking also about water lines, sewer lines. We have many colonias that still exist with subsidized infrastructure that's not up to city standards, for example, that we need to also fix. And focusing on the border and making sure that we have a governor and statewide leaders that are doubling down and making sure that the border is actually growing will end up benefiting everyone in Texas.

This commerce and the folks that come in through these ports don't stay just on the border communities. They end up going San Antonio, Houston, Austin, and then out of state also for many of these commerce and products that get delivered. And so I think that that is what we need to focus and where the border goes, the rest of the state will go. And I truly feel that actually doubling down on the border and making sure that the investments are there will make everyone in Texas that much better. Okay. Well, thank you so much for joining us for sharing all those thoughts. And I loved hearing about the tortilla factory and your family down there. We really appreciate it.

You're going to have to come visit us. Thank you so much. Yes, sir.