MISSION, Texas (Border Report) — The president and CEO of the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization says the U.S. economy and families are being “devasted” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Janet Murguía, president and CEO of UnidosUS, told Hispanic Latina leaders on Thursday that employees throughout the country, including the South Texas border, are afraid to go to work and families are scared to go to school and doctor’s appointments for fear ICE agents will arrest and deport them.
“The Rio Grande Valley is also seeing the impact of ICE raids and the administration’s increase in funding for mass deportations,” Murguía told about 400 people attending the Latina Leadership Conference 2025 hosted by the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“Any of those who would meet us harm or are a threat to our national security should be deported. But that is not what is happening. The vast majority of those we detain and deport are not criminals, contrary to what is being said by the Trump administration. Instead, the administration is focused on targeting workplaces such as restaurants, construction sites and shopping centers,” she said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement Thursday that ICE continues “to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our streets.”
The agency said 70% of ICE arrests are of undocumented immigrants who have been charged or convicted of a crime in the United States. “This doesn’t even count illegal aliens with rap sheets in foreign countries, gang members, and suspected terrorists,” Noem said.
However, this contradicts data from Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which says 70.3% of current detainees have no criminal convictions.
As of Aug. 24, TRAC says, 43,021 out of 61,226 being held in ICE detention have no criminal conviction. Many of those convicted committed only minor offenses including traffic violations.
Murguía says the fear of arrest by ICE officers is taking a tremendous toll on the economy nationwide and in the Rio Grande Valley.
“We’re seeing the humanitarian impact on families that are being devastated by some of the separations and deportations. But really, the biggest point I want to make is how hard it’s hitting the economy. These raids and targeted deportations are really impacting workers and businesses in ways where folks are afraid to show up at work. They’re connected to families who may or may not have someone who’s fully documented, and they don’t want to put their families at risk. They don’t want to put their businesses at risk, and so we’re seeing the economy shut down in areas that should be thriving,” Murguía told Border Report after her keynote speech.
“Folks really are retreating, being isolated, and we’re seeing a direct impact on the economy,” she said.
She urges residents to stay inform and to express frustrations at the polls in upcoming elections.
“There needs to be accountability and that they can say something. They need to voice their displeasure with these policies and with these investments. Taxpayer dollars are being used to fund mass deportations, and we have a say in how those taxpayer dollars are used,” she said.
Murguía was meeting with several local leaders following Thursday’s address.
She says it wasn’t her first time visiting the Rio Grande Valley. She used to work for former President Bill Clinton as a deputy director of legislative affairs, and came to the Valley nearly 30 years ago with Clinton and Vice President Al Gore as they were forming an Economic Empowerment Zone on the South Texas border region to encourage local community planning and economic growth.
The program used tax incentives and federal investment to boost local infrastructure in distressed communities.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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