International

Latina Republicans deploy tough border rhetoric in chase for Texas seats

Photo: Allison Dinner / AFP

| By AFP | Paula Ramon |

When Mayra Flores made history this June as the first Mexican-born member of the US Congress, the Republican seized her south Texas seat from the Democrats by courting Latinos with strident calls to close the border.

That apparent paradox has made the 36-year-old — whose campaign slogan is “God, family, country” — one of the faces of the Republican Party’s new push in the border region for the November midterm elections.

She is bidding to repeat her victory next month, when fellow Latina Republicans Monica de la Cruz, Cassy Garcia and Carmen Maria Montiel will also vie for nearby congressional seats that for decades have remained Democratic.

The group hope to appeal directly to a community made up largely of immigrants and children of immigrants, who are increasingly calling to expand the wall that separates their adopted home country from Latin America.

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Sara Rodriguez, a resident of Edinburg, 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Mexico border, plans to vote for Flores because she “represents our views as far as immigration goes.”

“There’s an influx of a lot of people coming through the valley, especially here at the south border…. I feel like it’s very unsafe right now.”

Flores won her seat in a special poll this summer after the Democratic incumbent resigned.

Campaigning for re-election in the border city of McAllen, she won raucous applause from a crowd wearing boots and wide-brimmed hats during a speech peppered with fierce rhetoric on further tightening the border.

“Red wave! Red wave!” supporters chanted, referencing the Republican Party’s color, as a mariachi band played traditional Mexican music.

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“The Democratic Party has walked away from the Hispanic community. They just take us for granted every election year,” Flores told AFP after her rally.

‘My hard work’

Democrats in various US states have for years benefited from the traditional support of Latino voters, which in the 1990s played a key role in transforming California into a solidly blue state.

But in south Texas, where Hispanics or Latinos (40.2 percent) outnumbered non-Latino or Hispanic whites (39.4 percent) for the first time this year, the Democrats’ lead has gradually shrunk.

In 2020, Donald Trump’s hardline immigration stance was widely credited with helping to slash the Democratic lead over Republican voters along the Texas border to 17 percent, from 33 percent four years earlier.

While they rarely mention the former president by name in speeches, local Republican candidates have adopted his nationalist and pro-wall rhetoric, while highlighting their community roots.

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“It’s so important that you have people who live on the border, who understand the border, representing the border,” said de la Cruz, who hopes to win a seat held by Democrats for more than a century.

Jesus Contreras, a Mexican who became a naturalized US citizen in the 1990s, plans to vote for her after decades of supporting the Democrats.

“My parents, everybody, taught me, ‘Oh the Republicans are bad,’” he said, switching between English and Spanish. “But they’re not.”

Contreras blames the Democrats for the border situation, and for the rising cost of living.

“The folks that are coming across are helping the economy in which way? Do they pay taxes?” he asked.

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“As far as I know, I’ve been paying taxes all my life. But yeah, they come over here and… get to reap the benefits of my hard work.

“I don’t think so.”

‘Unacceptable’

Between last October and this September, US authorities reported more than 2.3 million “border encounters” — a record.

The figure does not directly translate into the number of migrants, as many people try several times to cross.

Many are seeking asylum, claiming to be fleeing dangerous situations in countries such as Guatemala, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

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Venezuela has seen an explosion in cases, with more than 180,000 of its citizens intercepted at the US southern border in one year.

For Montiel, a former beauty queen who is running in Houston to become the first Venezuelan-American in Congress, the situation is “unacceptable.”

“My constituents want the border to be closed, for there to be legal migration,” she told AFP.

“Even if they are Venezuelans, I do not agree with someone entering this country breaking the law,” she added, although her former country has no diplomatic relations with Washington and no functioning US embassy.

‘Coming from poverty’

Still, in the border city of Laredo, multiple Latino voters told AFP they defined themselves as Democrats because of the party’s humanitarian position on immigration.

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“It is not dangerous here — migrants come to work,” says Gustavo Hernandez, a taxi driver who arrived 25 years ago from Mexico.

“They are just coming from poverty,” he added.

Sandra Ibarra, who spoke to AFP on her way to attend noon Mass at Laredo’s cathedral, said it was “necessary for everyone to get out and vote.”

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, “has done a lot of good things and he is trying to do everything he can to help immigrants, but the governor (Republican Greg Abbott) puts a lot of restrictions on us,” she said.

“We are at a crossroads.”

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International

Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione admitted Friday to fatally shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest health insurance group in the United States, during an appearance before a federal judge.

The case shocked the U.S. business community and dates back to December 2024, when Mangione opened fire on Thompson, 50, on a Manhattan street. Prosecutors have described the attack as being motivated by Mangione’s opposition to the U.S. health insurance system.

“On the morning of December 4, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said as he pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge related to his pursuit of the executive.

Mangione, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, and prosecutors have indicated that they will seek a life sentence.

In addition to the federal charges related to stalking Thompson, Mangione also faces a murder case brought by the state of New York.

Following his guilty plea in federal court, Mangione’s defense asked a state court to dismiss the state charges, arguing that prosecuting him again for the same conduct would violate protections against double jeopardy.

“We have just filed our motion in state court to explain why the charges should be dismissed under New York’s protections against double jeopardy,” Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Friday.

Both the federal and state cases could result in a life sentence. Two other federal charges that initially carried the possibility of the death penalty were dismissed by a judge earlier this year.

International

ICE Plan to Equip Agents With Electric Shock Gloves Raises Abuse Concerns

Plans to equip U.S. immigration agents with gloves capable of delivering electric shocks are raising concerns over potential abuses by a law enforcement agency that critics accuse of using excessive force and providing inadequate training to its personnel.

The plan involves the potential purchase of electric-shock gloves for agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency primarily responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost criticized the proposal on X, arguing that the agency has already faced accusations of excessive force during immigration enforcement operations.

“As if assaulting and shooting people in the streets wasn’t enough,” Frost wrote. He also criticized the reported $20 million potential expenditure on the devices and called for greater restrictions on ICE.

The agency has faced growing scrutiny following a series of deadly shootings during immigration enforcement operations. Among the incidents were the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in January who were participating in protests against the agency.

Critics have focused on the tactics used by ICE agents when detaining immigrants, as well as allegations that training standards for newly recruited personnel have been lowered.

According to a procurement plan first reported by the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, could spend between $10 million and $20 million on the devices.

The gloves are described by the agency as tools intended for “distraction and de-escalation,” rather than lethal weapons. The system, known as GLOVE, stands for “Generated Low-Output Voltage Emitter.”

The device is manufactured by Compliant Technologies, a Kentucky-based company that describes its products as advanced non-lethal tools designed to protect and assist law enforcement and other personnel.

The proposal comes amid an intensifying national debate over ICE’s enforcement methods and the use of force during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

International

Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.

The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.

Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.

In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.

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Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.

The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.

Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.

Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.

The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.