Texas Hispanic voters lean back to Democrats over immigration raids before midterms
Hispanic voters in Texas's Rio Grande Valley, who backed Donald Trump in 2024, are leaning back to the Democrats before midterms amid fear of immigration raids and deportations.
How it was covered
- Sky News was the only channel found covering it, concentrating on Hispanic voters in the Rio Grande Valley turning back to Democrats over immigration raids.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, GB News and ITV: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
Sky News reported that Hispanic voters in Texas are shifting back towards the Democrats on the eve of the US midterms, after the Rio Grande Valley flipped to Donald Trump in 2024. The channel said the valley, where nine in ten voters are Hispanic, had been reliably Democratic for decades before it decisively turned red two years ago.
According to Sky News, immigration enforcement is driving the change. Its US correspondent Martha Kelner reported from Texas that raids on businesses and homes, shootings involving immigration officers and helicopter patrols have become part of daily life. The broadcast aired on the last day of early voting, with polling day due the next day.
Sky News said Texas is still a Republican stronghold in statewide elections, noting that a Democrat has not won a statewide office there since 1994. But the channel reported that the state is now back in play partly because of stories like Carla's. Carla, not her real name, and her seven children are US citizens, while her husband is not, and the family lives in constant fear of deportation.
The channel also reported that a local congregation has halved in size since Trump returned to power and that everyone there has been touched by the immigration crackdown. It described Laura, who has lived in the US for 30 years without papers, and her three adult children, all US citizens. According to Sky News, all three voted for Trump in 2024, did not realise how much immigration enforcement would affect the Hispanic community, and will vote Democrat this time.
Sky News framed the midterms as a pivotal moment for Trump's second term and presented Texas as unexpectedly competitive, with the immigration crackdown weighing on voters in the Rio Grande Valley.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| No Democrat had won a statewide office in Texas since 1994. | |
| The Rio Grande Valley, a heavily Hispanic area, was reliably Democratic for decades before flipping Republican in 2024. | |
| Three adult children of Laura, all US citizens, voted for Donald Trump in 2024. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News built its report around the Rio Grande Valley's swing from Democratic to Republican in 2024 and back towards the Democrats now. It foregrounded the human cost of immigration enforcement through Carla's family and Laura's family, and framed Texas as unexpectedly competitive. The tone was sympathetic to voters affected by raids and deportations.
- “why communities who voted for the president in 2024 are now leaning towards the Democrats”
- “We feel kind of like betraying. Like, you promise us something, but you're doing the opposite.”
- “They didn't realise how much it would affect the Hispanic community, she says. They'll be voting Democrat this time round.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.