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U.S. House Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, met with members of the Texas National Guard on Friday.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, spent the afternoon of Jan. 6 barricaded in his office in the Rayburn House Office Building, with a sofa and a baseball bat as protection against what he called the terrorists on the other side of the door.
"It was a really dark day for the United States," he told Austonia.
<p>As Congress prepared to vote on whether to certify the results of the November presidential election, former President Donald Trump had spoken that morning to a group of supporters at "Save America" rally at the Ellipse, a 52-acre park south of the White House, where he repeated baseless claims that the election had been "stolen" from him. Afterwards, thousands of attendees marched to the U.S. Capitol, where they breached police lines and scaled the walls of the building itself. </p><p>"The members were evacuated off the floor. The alarms went off," McCaul said. "I barricaded myself in my office, which is right off the Capitol. The terrorists, if you will, (we) could hear them outside of my office trying to get in. So we barricaded the office with a sofa, and all I had, really, was a baseball bat to protect myself and my staff."</p><p>Capitol police were soon on the scene. "The mob were dressed in kind of paramilitary-style uniforms. The Capitol police came up and there was a big skirmish between the two," McCaul continued. "We want to thank the Capitol police for saving us." </p><p>Nearly three hours after rioters began to clash with police on the Capitol steps, the D.C. National Guard <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2021/01/06/dc-protests-capitol-riot-trump-supporters-electoral-college-stolen-election/6568305002/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">was sent in</a> as reinforcement, and congressional leaders <a href="https://twitter.com/Phil_Mattingly/status/1346937291793641475" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">were evacuated</a> from the Capitol complex. By 8 p.m. Congress had reconvened—and four people were dead. </p><p>McCaul spoke to Austonia about his experience at the Capitol that day, as well as his thoughts on impeachment, the inauguration and border security. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.</p><p><strong>After the riot</strong> </p><p>After the deadly riot, McCaul voted against objecting to the electoral votes of two states: Arizona and Pennsylvania. The majority of House Republicans, however, voted differently. Of the 211 Republican members, 121 objected to Arizona's votes and 138 to Pennsylvania's. But they were outnumbered by Democrats, and by 4 a.m. both the House and Senate had voted to certify the votes of the Electoral College, validating then President-elect Joe Biden's victory. </p><p>"It's not our job to overturn or second guess the certificates if they're authentic," McCaul said. "The states have certified. The Founding Fathers gave the states that power, not the federal government or Congress."</p><p>Despite breaking with his caucus on certification and condemning Trump's behavior leading up to the riot, McCaul opposed impeachment on the grounds that the process had been rushed. "We have not been given the time to truly look at the facts and the evidence before this impeachment was hurried to the House floor," he said in <a href="https://mccaul.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/mccauls-statement-on-impeachment-vote" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a Jan. 13 statement</a>. "We haven't been given the opportunity to hear from a single witness, or hold even one hearing." </p><p>McCaul did admit to doubt. "I don't know what's out there, what decisions were being made with respect to the use of the National Guard to protect the members of Congress," he told Austonia, adding that the Senate trial may uncover answers to these questions. But he also has reservations about whether the trial should move forward at all. "I think the country, to be quite honest with you, is ready to move forward with the new administration and not live in the past," he said. </p><p>It remains to be seen whether Trump will face consequences as a result of the riot, but McCaul is optimistic that some of the rioters will. This session, he reintroduced a bill that would allow the Justice Department to charge individuals with domestic terrorism, which would carry corresponding sentencing of up to life in prison or death. "(The riot) was definitely an act of domestic terrorism, and I think we need to address that," he said, adding that he thinks the bill failed last session because of a focus on international terrorism. "But I think what happened on Jan. 6 has changed everything." </p><p><strong>A new administration</strong> </p><p>McCaul was at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 20, one of several he has attended during his 16 years in office. "This one was obviously very different in the sense that we have a global pandemic, and we were at the United States Capitol, which was under attack just a few days ago," he said. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aea6629addc3023b9f2b375757a6bc3d" id="1f364"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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</div></blockquote></div><p>Although there was heavy police presence and no crowd, the ceremony was similar to past inaugurations in other ways. "It's really the day our nation comes together as Americans first to honor the peaceful transition of power that we've done for over 200 years," he said. "So it has a very sacred feeling to it." </p><p>McCaul is serving his eighth term as the representative of the 10th District of Texas, which spans from Central Austin to the northwest Houston suburbs. He ranks middle-right in terms of ideology and high in terms of leadership, according to the <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/michael_mccaul/400654" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Congressional tracking site GovTrack</a>. He is married to Linda Mays McCaul, whose father is the billionaire founder and former chairman of Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia. They have five children.</p><p>Prior to holding elected office, McCaul served as the chief of counter terrorism and national security in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas and as a federal prosecutor for the Department of Justice. As a self-described supporter of the DOJ and intelligence communities, he stressed the importance of nonpartisanship in those areas. </p><p>"You have political appointees, but you don't want to inject politics in our federal criminal justice system. Our intelligence community should be protected from that as well," he said. "I hope the Biden administration will move forward in that way of thinking."</p><p>McCaul has a balanced view on the issues of border security and immigration reform. "Trying to tackle immigration reform is very difficult, and it brings out the best and the worst in people," he said, adding that he believes any policy needs to combine technology, infrastructure and manpower. "We need to know who's coming into this country to be able to control and protect Americans." </p><p>Where many Republicans flaunt their ideological rigidity, McCaul believes that the two parties can—and should—work together. He is hardly a centrist, however. A <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/michael-t-mccaul/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FiveThirtyEight analysis found</a> he voted in line with Trump 93.6% of the time.</p><p>"You know, I got ranked by Georgetown University as the <a href="https://www.thelugarcenter.org/ourwork-Bipartisan-Index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=20abfc4c-e01c-49d2-8a26-5d420d4918fb" target="_blank">most bipartisan lawmaker from Texas</a>—and <a href="https://mccaul.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/mccaul-named-third-most-effective-lawmaker-of-the-115th-congress?fbclid=IwAR3atoTb4eLwoUvcOm5jLJwa0mGKG4Nmh_P-8oiQ8O7P465oG3SDdtfOSjs" target="_blank">third most effective</a>," he said. "The way I get things done is I work across the aisle."</p>
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Greg Casar in 2019. (Greg Casar/Facebook)
Greg Casar lobbied City Hall for the first time 10 years ago. Recently out of college and working as the policy director for the Workers Defense Project, a progressive advocacy group, he joined construction workers in a six-hour thirst strike on a hot day in late June. The next month, Austin City Council passed an ordinance requiring rest breaks at construction sites.
Despite this success and other workers' rights gains, Casar said he was disillusioned with the council's response. Former Mayor Lee Leffingwell wouldn't respond to meeting requests. Former council members told him, if he really cared about social justice and workers' rights, he should focus on the Texas Legislature rather than City Hall. "That attitude needed to change," he told Austonia during a recent interview.
<p>After a grassroots campaign fueled by volunteers and pizza, Casar was elected to his first city council term in 2014, serving on <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-strong-mayor" target="_self">the inaugural 10-1 council</a> and as the first-ever direct representative for Northeast Austin's District 4. Since then, he has gone from lobbying council as an outsider to advocating for Austin's working-class residents on the dais, where many consider him the most progressive member of the state's most liberal city council.</p><p>"It's not just about any one elected official," he said. "It's about really trying to shift the culture."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1366" data-rm-shortcode-id="bafa8a9207e7c494d1c4954ab84db3eb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUwNjI1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Nzg2MjE1OX0.I4bOWam1jSfNAOOozAtGorYx-eKsgkzhgcajcHg0oog/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="2048" id="6440c" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Greg Casar campaigns for the District 4 seat on City Council in 2014. (Greg Casar/Facebook)</small></p><p><strong>Leading the charge</strong><br/></p><p>Casar, 31, was born in Houston to parents who had emigrated from Mexico. He was active in the immigration reform movement in 2006, carrying on that work while a student at the University of Virginia, where he <a href="https://www.c-ville.com/Living_Wagers_hopeful_new_administration_means_fair_wages/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lobbied the administration</a> to implement a fair wage for all of its employees. He moved to Austin in 2010 to work for WDP. </p><p>Since joining Austin City Council as its youngest elected member, Casar has been the architect of many of its most progressive policies, which have often led to conflict with state officials and, sometimes, his own council colleagues. </p><p>Casar sponsored legislation to mandate paid sick leave, which passed in Austin but was thwarted by the state, and to overturn the city's public camping ban, which led to intense pushback from local business owners, residents, Gov. Greg Abbott and many of the candidates who ran for council last fall. He remains sanguine in the face of these outcomes. </p><p>"It's been really important to see Austin community members demand at Austin City Hall that we serve as an example of what progressive and good governance can look like," he said. "We're constantly hindered by the state … but that makes it all the more important to do the work two or three times harder. They can't preempt everything we do."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1056" data-rm-shortcode-id="f6eb247a7f06513c8dea7b230218f92f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUxMTU1NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDI4NDc0OX0.jFUz57xwDyljE6X-Zlxw1VDyt3yRenVCWQLvtCs7aBI/img.png?width=980" data-width="1592" id="cc727" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">(Greg Casar Campaign)</small></p><p>Casar knows how to build consensus. Amid a contentious, years-long effort to rewrite the city's land use code, he introduced the Affordability Unlocked program, which removes barriers to affordable housing throughout the city and received unanimous approval in 2019. He also crafted a plan to cut the Austin Police Department budget and set aside additional funds for further consideration in the wake of mass protests against police violence and racial injustice; council voted unanimously in favor of it last August.<br/></p><p>This was the cornerstone of Casar's argument for why he should serve as mayor pro tem, a largely ceremonial role that could be useful in a future race for mayor—or some other higher office. He announced his interest and the support of four of his colleagues last month. "Based on another contentious election cycle, it is clear that we must continue to advance our shared values—but the only way forward is to bring the whole community forward with us in new and different ways," he wrote on <a href="https://austincouncilforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1383" target="_blank">the City Council message board</a>. </p><p>The next week, however, Alison Alter announced she was also gunning for the role, arguing that it should be held by a woman given the council's current makeup: eight women and three men. In response, Casar said he would support a woman from the Eastern Crescent. Natasha Harper-Madison, who represents East Austin's District 1, threw her hat in the ring, and Casar seems poised to endorse her. </p><p><strong>Core values</strong> </p><p>From his perch on the left of the council's ideological spectrum, Casar may not seem like a natural consensus builder. But he emphasizes that most Austinites can agree on core values, even as they may disagree on specific legislation.</p><p>Take police reform and homelessness. </p><p>While campaigning last fall, Casar said most of his constituents could agree that the city needs to protect civil rights, reform policing to be less militaristic and keep Austinites safe. So he is focused on policies that meet these three requirements. "If someone's goal is faster 9-1-1 response, our shared strategy should be that our mental health responder program is launched quickly and effectively," he said, which would help supplement police resources and avoid the increasingly common occurrence of officers shooting people with severe mental illness.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM3NzE2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDg4NzU2Mn0.l8H7_tj9aFGqAH67zQ8YoB-83WvIDuxMm9oCOh9lHVM/img.jpg?width=980" target="_blank"><img alt="huston tillotson protest" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e1d7dee95f9c1474f6c67147aa41dfe4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="9cce0" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM3NzE2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDg4NzU2Mn0.l8H7_tj9aFGqAH67zQ8YoB-83WvIDuxMm9oCOh9lHVM/img.jpg?width=980"/></a>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Austinites participate in a Black Lives Matter protest last June. </small>
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(Emma Freer/Austonia)
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</p><p>Although Casar was reelected in a landslide, earning more than two-thirds of the vote in his district, other jurisdictions are less united. Jimmy Flannigan, who also championed police budget cuts and other reforms, lost in a runoff to District 6 Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, who was endorsed by the local police union.<br/></p><p>Still, Casar opposes the notion that recent council debates over policing were divisive. "I had tens of thousands of Austinites contact my office alone," he said. "In some ways, the city was more united than ever in calling for change."</p><p>Alter and Kathie Tovo voted against overturning the homeless camping ban, a move that Kelly also opposed, and many Austinites were dissatisfied with the council's response overall. But Casar believes most people can agree that investing in more permanent supportive housing will help get people off the streets. "We can have a collective goal of getting people housed, whether the concern is more the public aesthetics of the city, which is legitimate," he said. "Or the human crisis of someone living, and potentially dying, on the street." </p><p>With the police cuts approved, there are also dollars to be spent toward this purpose. "2021 has to be the year where we finally make really significant inroads on addressing homelessness," Casar said.</p><p><strong>On deck</strong> </p><p>So what's on Casar's agenda for his third term? </p><p>In addition to police reform and protecting civil rights, he is focused on the pandemic. Last year, the council approved more than <a href="https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiYTkwOGZmYzItODEyNC00ZDA5LWE4YTMtZDFmN2NiNWQxYjU4IiwidCI6IjVjNWUxOWY2LWE2YWItNGI0NS1iMWQwLWJlNDYwOGE5YTY3ZiJ9" target="_blank">$128 million in economic relief</a> to residents, businesses and nonprofits. This included direct cash and rental assistance, including to residents who did not qualify for federal relief due to their immigration status, as well as eviction protections.</p><p>Now the challenges are different. As the one-year anniversary of Austin's first reported COVID-19 case nears, Casar is focused on ensuring there is back rent assistance for residents who may face eviction once the current protections expire and connecting those who are unemployed to jobs, including positions created by taxpayer-funded bond projects and Project Connect. </p><p>He is also working to lobby the state to allocate more vaccine supply to Austin Public Health, rather than to private clinics and pharmacies, a shift the Texas Department of State Health Services has since indicated it supports. "We need to have an equitable and mass vaccine distribution strategy," he said.</p><p>As business leaders and city insiders speculate about Casar's political future, he remains focused on his role as a council member.</p><p>"As the pandemic surged in the city, it became really clear to me that local government was going to be more important than ever," said Casar, who contemplated running for the Texas Senate seat vacated by Kirk Watson. "I didn't know back then that we would soon be in the largest protest movement in American history, with the Black Lives Matter marches over the summer, but I have never felt that this job was more worthwhile than it was in 2020, so I feel I made absolutely the right choice to stay." </p>
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After a contentious week in Washington D.C. following the riot at the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump became the first president in history to be impeached twice, this time on the charge of "incitement of insurrection."
<p>The final vote was 232-197. Ten U.S. House Republicans voted "yes" to the impeachment—not one was from Texas.</p><p>This is how Austin-area members of congress voted on impeachment:<br/></p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Michael McCaul (R), 10th district, against</li><li>Pete Sessions (R), 17th, against</li><li>Chip Roy (R), 21st, against</li><li> Roger Williams (R), 25th, against</li><li>John Carter (R), 31st, against </li><li>Lloyd Doggett (D), 35th, for</li></ul><p><span></span>The vote will now be taken to the Senate, which will make the final decision on whether or not Trump should be convicted. Texas Senators have been very vocal about where they stand on the matter.</p><p>Junior Senator Ted Cruz (R), was one of the six Senators who voted to reject the Electoral College votes. Cruz has shown support for Trump previously, despite running for president against him in 2016.</p><p>Though Cruz did condemn the violence at the U.S. Capitol, his track record says he is likely to vote no on impeachment. </p><p>Senior Senator John Cornyn (R), voted to certify the votes on Biden's win, stating that he did not want to vote for Trump's win "based on unproven allegations." However, Cornyn's certification letter praised Trump for what he believed were a multitude of successes during his presidency.</p><p>Earlier in the afternoon, the Associated Press reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would not approve the motion to hold an emergency session for the impeachment trial. As a result, the trial likely won't get underway until Jan.19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, but if the vote is yes, it would stop a future Trump bid for president.<br/></p><p>So where did Texas Representatives stand?</p><p>In the debate earlier today, Rep. Chip Roy (R), who represents the 21st district, said he believes Trump's actions to incite an insurrection were unconstitutional, but he still didn't vote to impeach him.</p><p>Roy said he believes the verbiage used in the articles of impeachment is harmful and will have negative repercussions in the future of free political speech.</p><p>"The president of the United States deserves universal condemnation for what was clearly, in my opinion, impeachable conduct, pressuring the Vice President to violate his oath of the Constitution to count the electors," Roy said. "Unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues have drafted articles that I believe are flawed and unsupportable. ... Danger for open speech and debate in this body and for the republic is high if the house approves the articles as written"</p><p>Earlier in the afternoon, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D), who represents the 35th district, said the events on Jan. 6 were a reprehensible, "desperate" attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.</p><p>During the debate, Doggett said he was demanding that the president be held accountable for his contributions.</p><p>"For years, Donald Trump has honored thugs worldwide who suppress democracy. For months, with a daily diet of lies, he has made clear his refusal to accept any election in which he was not the winner," Doggett said. "America, we did stop the steal. We stopped Donald Trump from stealing our democracy and imposing himself as a tyrant."</p><p>Though Roy and Doggett were the only representatives involved in the debate at the time of writing, other Texas Representatives gave hints as to how they would vote last week.</p><p>Rep. Roger Williams (R), who represents the 25th district, was one of the officials who voted to overturn the Electoral College results. </p><p>Rep. Pete Sessions (R), representing the 17th district, has been at the forefront on the "Stop the Steal" campaign and voted to overturn Electoral College results.</p><p>Rep. John Carter (R), representing the 31st district, condemned the storming of the U.S. Capitol the same day on Twitter, saying all offenders should be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b7e9b36139a823148717c01073da2d5c" id="2fbc8"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1346912281062305794"><div style="margin:1em 0">Peaceful protests are a fundamental right in the United States, but violence is absolutely unacceptable.
Respect… https://t.co/RaghVT7YL4</div> — Judge Carter (@Judge Carter)<a href="https://twitter.com/JudgeCarter/statuses/1346912281062305794">1609963886.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Rep. Michael McCaul (R), representing the 10th district, also condemned the attack on the Capitol the same day on Twitter, saying he was disappointed that Trump was not reelected, but that the violence was "disgraceful and has to end."</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bb580d903c67b2c2f77496220bb93332" id="fb84f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1346917681778339840"><div style="margin:1em 0">Let me be clear, anyone who breached the Capitol today, or participated in the violence, should be arrested and pro… https://t.co/z1mD8efZnQ</div> — Michael McCaul (@Michael McCaul)<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMcCaul/statuses/1346917681778339840">1609965174.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Trump will head to Rio Grande Valley in final presidential visit—but will he be welcomed?
11 January
(Gage Skidmore/CC)
After a week of controversy surrounding President Donald Trump, he is scheduled to make a final public appearance as president in South Texas on Tuesday. His visit is being met with negative feedback from the community after the president incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week on the baseless premise that voter fraud led to President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
<p>The president will visit Alamo, near the city of McAllen, at an <a href="https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/president-trump-to-visit-rio-grande-valley-on-tuesday/" target="_blank">undisclosed time</a> on Tuesday. According to the Associated Press, his visit will mark the completion of 450 miles of border wall, which the Department of Homeland Security announced last week. </p><p>Trump last visited the Rio Grande Valley in 2019, where supporters lined the street he drove by. </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-vimeo">
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</p><p>The RGV, a historically blue region in Texas, almost turned red in this past election. Trump gained more support in the border towns than he had during the 2016 election, losing to Biden by only 5%. One area did however make the switch. Just south of Laredo and north of the Valley, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/13/south-texas-voters-donald-trump/" target="_blank">Zapata County</a> flipped red for the first time in years, making <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/us/texas-democrats-red-blue.html" target="_blank">national headlines</a>. <br/></p><p>The shift in support for Trump was seen in the form of organized caravan and Trump parades taking place leading up to the election. Such support was not seen in 2016. </p><p>Feelings about Trump have fluctuated in the Valley, where the Hispanic population accounts for more than <a href="https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=soc_fac" target="_blank">90% of 1.3 million residents</a> in the area. With close proximity to Mexico, many residents are immigrants or are second- or third-generation Mexican-Americans. Trump's immigration policies have hit home for some in the RGV. </p><p>Trump's legacy before and after holding office included him calling <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/06/16/theyre-rapists-presidents-trump-campaign-launch-speech-two-years-later-annotated/" target="_blank">Mexicans rapists</a>, <a href="https://www.themonitor.com/2019/02/21/report-family-separations-still-occurring-mcallen/" target="_blank">separating families at the border</a> and his attempt to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-immigration-wolf/trump-administration-aims-to-end-dreamers-immigration-program-in-six-months-idUSKBN23S0QI" target="_blank">end the Dreamers program</a>, which protects illegal immigrants who crossed into the U.S. as children. </p><p>On the other side of the coin, it is also a place where the gap between those who have a college education compared to the state—and country—as a whole is more than 15 percentage points. It's common for Valley residents to work at oil refineries, and many support Trump for his views on the oil and gas industry, which employs them and helps put food on the table for their families. Another industry vibrant in the Valley is the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="488f16ecd5073f23a476147feac2ae13" id="33689"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348457451415367681"><div style="margin:1em 0">@CaslerNoel There are two Border Patrol stations...stations, not just checkpoints...near Alamo, Texas. BP loves Tru… https://t.co/ifMUAzJRqC</div> — Cherie Bozoudes (@Cherie Bozoudes)<a href="https://twitter.com/CBozoudes/statuses/1348457451415367681">1610332284.0</a></blockquote></div><p>This visit from Trump, however, is being met with resistance on social media. Across the nation, the Republican party is facing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/04/power-up-trump-divides-republican-party-his-way-out-washington/" target="_blank">a division caused by Trump</a>, who incited his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol. Some are shifting their support away from him after the incident. <br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fdd26c3b4aeef069169b73a5a5601c62" id="24b8c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348414670663725056"><div style="margin:1em 0">@CityofAlamo Please do everything in your power to discourage Trump from soiling our community on January 12. Stop… https://t.co/CC3TKCD0Z1</div> — KahokFan99 (@KahokFan99)<a href="https://twitter.com/kahokfan67/statuses/1348414670663725056">1610322084.0</a></blockquote></div><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="56157280d2e1a70fe943d96f9884cd1b" id="cfc72"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348684412402200579"><div style="margin:1em 0">I wasn't aware of such planned visit from a president to the RGV.
It it said that Trump will visit the Valley on T… https://t.co/NygLLMWZzo</div> — Elizabeth M. (@Elizabeth M.)<a href="https://twitter.com/izzyluv18/statuses/1348684412402200579">1610386395.0</a></blockquote></div><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a5fcb9776a6feca36bc38ff84960ff13" id="e8147"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348428812586020868"><div style="margin:1em 0">Trump visiting the RGV (Alamo, TX, not The Alamo) is a slap in the face to every single person that has been denied… https://t.co/nUHxhhE1FM</div> — Jenn Longoria (@Jenn Longoria)<a href="https://twitter.com/jennlongoria/statuses/1348428812586020868">1610325456.0</a></blockquote></div><p><a href="https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/mixed-reactions-to-trumps-expected-visit-to-the-rio-grande-valley/" target="_blank">Valley Central reports</a> Hidalgo Democratic Party Chair Norma Ramirez is concerned about Trump's visit amid a growing number of coronavirus cases. But Hidalgo County Republican Chair Adrienne Peña said his visit will be a positive thing for the community. </p>
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