Zapata County, a rural border region in South Texas, is one of the poorest counties in the state. Democratic presidential candidates carried the county for more than a century. In 2020, that all changed when Zapata, a county with a population that is 94 percent Latino, voted for Donald Trump. Trump won the county again in 2024.
Less than two years after Trump took office for a second time, the administration’s border policies are weighing on Zapata residents. The federal government began bulldozing land across the county in June. Landowners are beginning to fight back and some say their private property has been seized illegally to build the wall.
The federal government’s plan to build a “Smart Wall” includes the ongoing construction efforts and roughly 500 miles of giant river buoys being installed across the Rio Grande. These buoys are worsening conditions in a highly flood-prone region of Texas and could potentially disrupt billions in trade with Mexico
Experts say the Smart Wall efforts, combined with increased immigration enforcement, are causing the region to shift back towards becoming the Democratic stronghold it once was ahead of a a tight midterm race between Democratic incumbent Henry Cuellar and his Republican opponent Tano Tijerina in Texas’ 28th Congressional District.
Freelance Reporters from the Medill School of Journalism traveled to Zapata and Webb County in recent months to speak with affected landowners, Zapata residents, activists, and Rep. Cuellar about these issues.
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This piece contains original music by Zak Allnutt.
Jamie Gareh and Wisdom Howell are graduate students at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
