Melendez is not alone. One in five Hispanic business owners in Texas say they’ve had an employee deported in the past year, according to a new survey commissioned by the U.S. Hispanic Business Council and shared first with POLITICO. Seven in ten said their businesses had been impacted by Trump’s tariffs. Among those surveyed,

Talarico holds a seven-point lead over Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee, even though a plurality of the over 1,000 respondents self-identify as Republican.

Almost one quarter who supported Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary now say they’ll back Talarico, while over half say they’ll back Paxton.

The survey is the clearest sign yet of Paxton’s vulnerability among Texas’ robust Hispanic business community amidst broader signs that Hispanic voters around the country are swinging hard against him, thanks to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the shaky economy.

The survey was conducted from June 2 to 15 and included 1,012 Texas-based USHBC members. Respondents included business owners in construction, food services, retail, manufacturing and other industries.

Those business owners pointed to the fear the deportation push created in the community, as well as their bottom lines, for why they were turning on Trump and toward

Talarico.“The fear factor that it creates, the disruption that it creates, the environment that it creates, is debilitating,” said Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of USHBC. “If you’ve got a small business of 10 people or so, and you get even one person deported, you can imagine what that does to the morale of that business unit and to the fear of the business owner.


”Meanwhile, Paxton, long an immigration hardliner, has doubled down, touting his support for a controversial Texas immigration law and suing to stop publicly funded legal defense for undocumented immigrants.The Texas Senate race will be one of the nation’s most watched — and most expensive — this cycle. Early polling shows it in a dead heat: A New York Times/Siena poll released last month showed Paxton and Talarico tied. Among Hispanic voters, Talarico led by 32 points. In 2024, Trump won Texas Latinos by 10 points.In a statement, Paxton spokesperson Madison Cercy said Hispanic voters want “lower taxes, less regulation, affordable energy, and a strong economy.


https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/12/trumps-deportation-drive-tests-gop-gains-in-texas-00993955

Dont see the poll data but I assume that poll is polling Hispanics only, if so a 7 point Dem lead isn't really that bad of news for the GOP.

The idiots in the article like that Melendez guy are just going to be finnicky no matter what. "I didn’t like what Biden was doing here on the border,” Melendez said. “But now with Trump, it’s all the opposite, 180 degree change. He doesn’t let us work. He’s taking the best we have.”

So I guess he just preferred amnesty for the Biden illegals?

All this being said, I think Trumps support with Hispanics in Texas will collapse more because of his attitude toward the economy rather than immigration.

Yes, hispanics are very pro border control / anti war. I spent years mocking libs for aasuming they are for open borders just because so mant illegals are hispanic just to have conservatives do the same thing

I thought what Hispanics generally said they supported was "law and order" meaning, stop the criminal drug and people smuggling but also provide a path for working people to immigrate. Seems reasonable and in line with the person quoted in the article.

Trump of course took the 3rd, low IQ option of heavy handed, random harassment of brown people because it was easy.

Deport the legal Mexicans too