U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott participate in a roundtable with first responders and local officials after catastrophic floods, at Hill Country Youth Center, in Kerrville, Texas, U.S., July 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

Washington Post writer Sabrina Rodriguez reports Latinos may not be the Republican lock-in the party is expecting from new gerrymandered Texas maps.

“Am I going to say it’s just Republicans from now on? No,” said Yzeña Cuellar, who lives near the U.S. southern border. “I’m not going to be a shut door. I’m going to be open to both sides.”

Republican leaders believe five new congressional districts that Trump wants created in Texas will be reliably GOP, but that’s only if the party continues to keep the new Latino voters they drew in the last election, and if they expand their reach further.

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The 28th Congressional District, which is currently held by a Democrat, will be 90 percent Hispanic under new GOP proposed maps. The Post reports Republican leaders plan to fold in voters who went for Trump in nearby Hidalgo County in the last election. However, that same county also voted for Democratic U.S. House and Senate candidates and other Democrats down the ballot.

And while Republicans did open new territory along the border, sources speaking to the Post say this does not mean the party has locked down a reliable new generation of GOP voters.

Cuellar’s partner, Rick Salinas, told the Post that his vote for Trump last November was “a question of trying something else — trying something new.”

“We voted for him because we want prosperity,” said Salinas, who now complains that Trump is deporting people “who are working hard” and who have been in the country for years. He added that the deportations are doing nothing to help the local economy.

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“It’s not helping anybody. The price of construction just went up, and I don’t see a bunch of U.S. citizens lining up to take those jobs,” Salinas said. He also warned that many South Texas voters who put their trust in Trump late last year may just “go back to what they had before.”

“You’re counting on a Mexican American to vote Republican again? crazy-a—— bet, bro,” Salinas said. “Because down here, what makes a difference is dollars and cents.”

Read the full report at this link.