It seems that the Trump administration’s policies can be defined by a single word: chaos. From DOGE‘s destruction, to ICE being deployed in peaceful neighborhoods, and now the unjust attacks against Iran, every action leaves innocent people in the crossfire.
U.S. Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) joins Jen to dive into all the chaos. Rep. Garcia provides an update on the ongoing standoff over ICE funding and the push for basic accountability. The two also discuss the economic fallout hitting Texas, high cost of recent military escalations, and the threat to global trade routes. Of course, Garcia also highlights the midterm elections and the historic surge in Latino voter turnout.
Sylvia R. Garcia is a Democrat representative from Texas. Garcia was the first Latina to represent the Texas 29th Congressional district. Congresswoman Garcia was a social worker and legal aid lawyer early in her professional career.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of the Contrarian. I am delighted to have with us Representative Sylvia Garcia from the 29th District of Texas. Welcome, Congresswoman.
Sylvia Garcia
Hello, how are you? How’s the weather up there?
Jen Rubin
It’s a little cold in DC, but it’s probably nicer in Texas today. talk to you about where things stand with ICE. Obviously, for now, the so-called shutdown continues. What do you think needs to happen in terms of funding and then reform of ICE?
Sylvia Garcia
Well, I think what needs to happen is the Republicans need to face the facts that the American people do not support ICE and its tactics in its current form, and they do want to see reforms and changes made before we give them one penny. That’s what all the partial shutdown is about, and it’s been very simple from the beginning. We’ve said, we’re ready to vote for everything else, just carve out ICE funding, and Border Patrol funding, we’ll vote for Coast Guard, we’ll vote for FEMA, we’ll vote for the security gurus that, you know, do the work that they need to do for cybersecurity will support everything else. Just carve this out, and we’re ready to vote. The Senate proposed the same thing. I think they voted now 8 or 9 times. We have voted 4 or 5 times. And they have said no and walked it all the way. They have not been serious about it. We gave the White House, you know, 10 points of items that we wanted to see changed, everything from Ice removing their mask, ICE having body cameras, ICE having name tags, ICE having real warrants before they break into one’s house, just basic you know, police standards of conduct, you know, making sure that they’re held accountable, if they commit a crime. Just like a police officer, they get suspended, and they investigate, and if they violate a state law, the prosecutors prosecute them. The same thing should happen with ICE, so it’s all those kinds of things, and they just won’t agree to it. And for some of us, the deal breakers are, you know, the masks, and the warrants. And those are two things that they absolutely don’t want to change. So we’re kind of… working, trying to figure out when they’ll ever realize that the public just doesn’t support them on this. I was at an event today where a police officer told me, and he said, look, y’all are right, you know, we don’t… we don’t wear a mask, you know, we have a badge, people can get our badge number, they can get our name. You know, if they want to be police officers. they need to act like police officers. But the point really is this is about people’s freedoms, you know? It’s unconstitutional, what they’re doing. They’re going against not only state law, common sense. and humanity, but against our Constitution. So we’re not going to vote for one more penny until some of these reforms are done. And, you know, just… Interestingly enough, the Senate finally passed a bill that kind of said that. We’ll carve those things out and vote on it. They voted on it, they sent it to the House right before the Easter break. And they said, no, it’s ridiculous. It’s not worth its… the paper it’s written on, we’re not going to support that, and they passed something different. That includes ICE and CPB, and I think funding for 2 years. And of course, we’re not going to vote for that. So, now we’ve got the Senate passing one thing, the House passing one thing, and TSA workers are stuck in the middle. And the public is stuck in the middle, because this chaos was created by Donald Trump to put pain on people so that we could feel it, because quite frankly, just like he… issued his order and took money from the big, beautiful bill to pay for their salaries, and said, no, I’ll go ahead and do it. He could have done that the second day. Because this is an appropriations process. It’s the money we appropriate. They’ve already given them $75 billion, additional dollars, to ICE, their own little slush fund, through the big, beautiful bill, that the money’s there. So they’ve been able to pay ICE and everybody all along. Donald Trump just wants the chaos, just like he wants the chaos that he created with a war we don’t need.
Jen Rubin
It seems like after all that hullabaloo, Mike Johnson, after everyone left town, said, oh, maybe we’ll take the carve-out bill, but he couldn’t get his troops organized. Are you optimistic when they come?
Sylvia Garcia
Yeah, he changed his mind there for a minute, but then once the Freedom Caucus and the arch-conservatives, it’s like arch to the fifth degree, right, these days, they all said, hell no, we don’t want to do that. We, you know, we want to pass it, and we’ll do it through reconciliation, and we want to fund them, I forget if it’s 3 years or 4 years. and find the whole thing. So then he had to backpedal yet again. And now, we are where we are, and now we’ll see what happens. We get back next week. Some of us wanted… we’re urging Congress to go back, you know, yesterday so that we could deal with the nonsense and the horrible statements and the, you know, the war crimes, the intent to commit crimes. by Donald Trump regarding the war. I mean, we are at great risk of getting involved in a war that’s more serious and that meets the I, that meets the I. And we’re at an juncture in our, in our democracy, that if this man has basically thrown away the Constitution, we’re at risk of our democracy being in peril. And we’ve got to act, and many of us were ready to go back yesterday. Some of these issues.
Jen Rubin
The president wants a budget that would increase defense spending up to $1.5 trillion. That’s about a 50% increase. We haven’t had increases like that since World War II. And at the same time, he keeps wanting to cut domestic programs that ordinary Americans rely on. Do Republicans just not get it? Do they think the American people want this? What’s your response to them, and what are you hearing from voters?
Sylvia Garcia
I, I think that sometimes, I do think that the Republican conference, some members Do kind of get it, but they’re afraid. They’re so afraid of being primaried, they’re so afraid of Trump. saying something stupid or exposing them in some way that they just will not speak up. I was surprised, frankly, that one of my colleagues from Texas, a Republican, spoke out yesterday about the nonsense about the war. And I thought, oh my god, I mean, you know, kudos to him, but he needs more people to do it. He can’t be the Lone Ranger. We’re from Texas. We don’t want him to be a Lone Ranger. We want… we need more Republicans to speak up, because I can speak up till I’m blue in the face. But heck, I did that when I was an impeachment manager, and we… we… we didn’t… we didn’t win that one either. So, for me, it’s about making sure that we get enough Republicans, to join us, and I know that we will have the… we have a war powers, resolution… Yes. …that will… that will… is, ripe for discharge petition. And we may just have to force that vote this next week, because we’ve got to put a stop, to this war. We’ve got to put a stop for, and just saying, no, enough is enough. Because this war is costing us about $2 billion a day. A day. And that’s not counting some of the dollars that are spent you know, collaterally by all of the military forces and their pay, and this is about the war. So it doesn’t surprise me that he wants that much more, because it’s costing us a lot. But it’s at the expense of people and people programs, and people are hurting. People can’t afford… I mean, I’ve heard more about gasoline prices, and I’m from Houston. We’re the energy capital of the world.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
Sylvia Garcia
For us, it’s usually… we’re the last ones to feel the impact, but we can already feel that people are complaining about gas prices, they’re complaining about meat prices, and again, we’re… We’re Texas. We grow cattle. I mean, I grew up on a farm, and we don’t usually worry about meat prices, but we are. So, it’s gone… it’s gone beyond the tariffs, concerns about some of the fruits, some of the vegetables. Now it’s, like, everything.
Jen Rubin
Right, right.
Sylvia Garcia
seem to be so volatile, that if you do have a savings account, and you do have a 401K that you’re looking forward to, that’s fluctuating, and you’re, like, getting even more nervous. Absolutely. Then you add in my community, that 77% Latino district. the fear of not knowing if ICE is here, and when they’ll come, and who they’ll take. You know, all that is a lot of uncertainty for people who are hurting. They know that things are not affordable, but they know they’ve got to find a way to just, you know, make it through this period.
Jen Rubin
Okay.
Sylvia Garcia
It doesn’t seem to have any light at the end of the tunnel.
Jen Rubin
You are from Houston, you’re part of the Oil and Gas Caucus, so you know a lot, and you know that the gasoline, the oil market, is international. Donald Trump seems to be ending this war by giving Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz, which could put a permanent chokehold on that. Is that something that you think is wise? Are you concerned about that? That we’re going to have elevated gas prices for the foreseeable future because of that?
Sylvia Garcia
Yeah, because life is already not affordable. I mean, rents are up.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
Sylvia Garcia
Your home insurance is up, healthcare is up. You know, I tell everybody, just about everything is up, except the stock market is going down. You know, so yes, I’m concerned, especially since, from what I’ve read so far, and we’ll get… we’ll be, I think there’s a briefing tomorrow, virtual briefing for us, where we’ll get more detail, but… but… but what caught my eye, it was that they can… the ships can come through with coordination, and they’ve got to check in with the Iranian military forces. That’s still very concerning, because it means that Iran still has control. And what does that really mean? You know, those words on paper, you know, just put two lawyers in a room and they’re going to disagree on what those words mean. You put… political people in a room, and they’re gonna make it even messier in terms of what it means, but I don’t think that we gain anything. You know, it’s almost comical that he has done all this Ships could go through before he created the war and the chaos. Now he’s claiming victory because the ships can go through. Well, that’s what they were doing before you started this mess.
Jen Rubin
And Iran gets to pay, gets to charge people for it as well, which is…
Sylvia Garcia
You know?
Jen Rubin
That’s true.
Sylvia Garcia
And then the other thing that caught my eye was that he suggest… he made some comment, and it was just an aside comment. And I would want to know more that, well, if they want to charge a toll, well, that that may be a way that we could jointly work with them on the revenues. And it’s like, okay, like, what are you talking about, and what company do you have in mind, and who are they friends with that’s going to.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
Sylvia Garcia
with the revenues on the toll deal, if… to go through, through, through that canal. So it’s… you know, I’m still very skeptical about what all this means. I’m just relieved, however, just relieved.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
Sylvia Garcia
that there’s a ceasefire, and I’m relieved that I’ve got a young woman, a family that’s already shared with me that their son is on one of the ships that’s going down there, and they’re just really concerned, and I told them, I said, just… You know, call us if you hear anything. So, you know, it impacts families.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely, absolutely, there’s a human cost.
Sylvia Garcia
I’m so, so, so pleased that they rescued that pilot and that navigations officer. I just, I just hope that we do everything possible to make sure that none of our servicemen and women come to harm’s way.
Jen Rubin
We love that.
Sylvia Garcia
Into this and focus on diplomacy and not bombs.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Let me, wrap us up with, a bit of a discussion on the redistricting that Republicans pulled off. They changed the contours of your district to diminish, the Hispanic, electorate, still very democratic. Do you think that Gambit is gonna win, or do you think they’ve made themselves more vulnerable by reducing the margins in some of the other districts that they may now lose?
Sylvia Garcia
Well, I think you may be right. I think that may be exactly some of the analysis that I’ve seen here in Texas, tells us that although they were trying to to… they targeted five, new districts, including the dismantling of mine, and my… most of the greater bulk of my old district now is going to be a Republican district. You know, we’re a little hopeful that our Democratic nominee there can surprise them. and I think it’s gonna be important, that we focus on the Latino turnout, because obviously for me. we were able already to double, double the Latino turnout, in this new area. Historically, it had not been more than 20%. We upped it to 38%. So it was at 19, now it’s 38. The Latino surge happened not only in my district, but around the county. We doubled the numbers. In the Rio Grande Valley, in Austin, I think they almost tripled the numbers there. So, Latinos, I think, not only here in Texas, but I know that, I read in, Wisconsin, there was a Latino… good Latino… Yes. And that has been the case in other places, so I think they’re going to be surprised, and I’m hearing, back to your original question, that of the 5, they may end up just winning 3 with a net 3.
Jen Rubin
Awesome. Interesting.
Sylvia Garcia
Which means it’s good for us, because I think they did mine to make… to try to make sure that I lost, and I didn’t, but it remains, as you, as you already mentioned, it remains Republicans. I mean, Democrat, but I think they’re gonna be… get some surprises in a couple of the others that they targeted. Absolutely. You gotta be careful what you ask for.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely, it’s the dog that, caught the bus. Last question for you. making this ICE policy not about getting rid of the worst of the worst, but about Everyone indiscriminately, grandmas, workers. Obviously, this takes a toll in Texas, in construction, in agriculture. Can you talk a little bit on the economic side of what you’re hearing from the business and the ag community about whether this is helping or hurting them?
Sylvia Garcia
Well, we’re hearing an outcry, and I heard it early, from a lot, especially our small businesses, the restaurants, the smaller merchants, the construction industry, the landscaping industry, the janitorial industry. You know, they depend on a lot of labor, and right now they can’t find it, and because people are scared. Some restaurants and small shops are closing, because not only do they not have the workers to sustain the business, they’re not getting the customers. We have people that are so afraid to leave their home that they have someone else come to go buy the groceries for them. They’re not taking their children to school, they’re getting someone else to do it for them. And it’s… it’s putting a fear in people that’s very, very different, than… than I’ve seen, in… in other, other immigration scares, because they’ve seen the brutality, the sheer extreme excessive force. is what really is scaring people. I know my friends in the Rio Grande Valley tell me that a lot of companies are just closing or going to bankruptcy because, especially, again, the construction and the home building. You know, we have enough problems with not having enough affordable housing in this city without knowing that a lot of our home builders can’t find the workforce to work on that roof, to work on… and, you know, because you add… most people don’t know, but a lot of the Canadian… it’s Canadian lumber. That is used for home building. There’s high tariffs on that, so you’ve got that problem. Then you don’t have the workers. That’s a double whammy, and the person that gets hurt is the consumer, because there’s no… so it’s, it’s hurting the economy, and for Texas, it’s so reliant on it, because we’re so interdependent, especially at the border, it’s hurting us probably more than other states.
Jen Rubin
Well, thank you very much for taking the time to be with us, Representative Garcia. Good luck when you return next week in, getting the ICDHS… Yes, shampoo.
Sylvia Garcia
Well, but the good news is, you know, at the top of our 10 reform list was always about firing, replacing, or we would impeach Chrissy Noeman. She’s gone, so that’s a big win.
Jen Rubin
That’s one with… there you go.
Sylvia Garcia
You know, and it’s an extra bonus now, Pam Bondi is gone, so, it’s, there is progress, you know, and I think people need to… you know, they’ve already said we’re going to have the body cams. You know, there’s things on our list that we’ve already gotten done. It’s just that there’s always so many things going on that people forget the small victories.
Jen Rubin
There’s no…
Sylvia Garcia
We’re on track.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Well, congratulations on those victories, and good luck in November. We’ll be looking at that race. All the Texas races are critical if the Democratic Party’s gonna win back the House. So, thanks so much.
Sylvia Garcia
Thank you, bye-bye.
Jen Rubin
Bye-bye.
