Progressive organizers in the Rio Grande Valley find new footing as they protest to save ‘working-class’ programs

Residents joined grassroots organizers in McAllen, Harlingen, Brownsville, and South Padre Island for a political action on Saturday under the “Hands off!” banner — a national protest movement sparked by growing fears that the administration of President Donald Trump may move to privatize, defund, or disrupt some of the country’s oldest and most relied-upon public federal programs, including Social Security.

Attendees estimated that at least 100 to 200 people were present at each protest, held alongside Social Security offices across the Rio Grande Valley. Residents demonstrated against cuts to the program, along with Medicare, Medicaid, and educational funding, among others.

“There was a lot of energy both in Harlingen and in Brownsville,” Thomas Ray Garcia said. Garcia, a professor of English at South Texas College, attended two of the events.

“They’re cutting programs that low income and working-class people rely so much on,” Garcia said. “It's our own grandparents who rely on Social Security or Medicare. It's friends of ours who might be on Medicaid. Or it might be our veterans.”

Garcia ran for election to the Texas State Board of Education to represent District 2 three years ago. He said he also works “in the college admissions realm,” and that cuts sought by the Trump administration are creating new political awareness.

Garcia said he sees it not just across the country, but in the Rio Grande Valley, as the funding that some of his own students rely on may face deeper cuts.

“Every morning is like a damage report,” Garcia said. “There is a sense in the region that things in this country are not going well. These programs, that I think we’ve taken for granted for so long, now they're on the chopping block. People are waking up to that.”

Garcia said he sees not just awareness but also an uptick in local political participation since Trump took office.

“It’s not simply organizers,” Garcia said. “People are calling their elected officials, and whether they're showing up for town halls or not, they're hosting their own events. Today is a great example.”

Mary Helen Flores runs a local Facebook group called Citizens Against Voter Abuse and serves as a Democratic precinct chair. Last week, she planned to protest alone in Brownsville in solidarity with the national “Hands off!” event. But her plan quickly turned into the grassroots Valley-wide mobilization that happened on Saturday in just a matter of days.

“I was just going to go stand out there with a sign,” Flores said. “But I posted it, and a friend saw it. And then Fabiola Escalon helped make a flyer. Suddenly, it was bigger. Then Harlingen organized something. Then McAllen jumped in. It just snowballed.”

Flores said the issue that led her to first joining the national action was Social Security.

“This is not a gift. This is earned income,” Flores said. “Every working person pays into the Social Security system. We earned it. The idea that someone like Elon Musk could just step in and mess with it? That’s outrageous.”

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Trump-appointed Elon Musk, is seeking access to the Social Security Administration’s database. The request comes as deep cuts in funding for other federal programs have already been implemented in a similar move, including to education and housing.

“There’s a lot of outrage right now. There’s a lot of fear. But people here, they’re not passive. They’re finding each other, and they’re responding,” Flores said.

Still, Flores said that since Trump returned to office in January, grassroots political organizing across the Rio Grande Valley has struggled to keep momentum with what she described as the disorienting and rapid-fire pace of his administration.

Rosemary Martinez, secretary of Democrats of Southern Cameron County — a political nonprofit that works alongside but is independent from the Democratic Party — said she knows that feeling well.

“We’ve been on our back foot since January 20,” Martinez said. “It’s just been a whirlwind. Every time you think you’ve got a handle on something—boom, the story changes. Something new happens. A new executive order, a new threat. It’s constant.”

Martinez said that, for her, what was once political has become deeply personal since Trump took office.

“My dad is 91. He’s a Korean War veteran. My mom is 85. They’re not tech-savvy,” she said. “If the checks stop, or if it all goes online, they’ll have no way to keep up. There are a lot of people in the Valley who still write checks at the grocery store. This idea that you can just flip a switch and move Social Security online? That’s not reality here.”

Starting April 14, some Social Security applicants will no longer be able to apply for benefits in person—a burden for those who may struggle with technology or live in remote or rural areas.

The Trump administration also plans to cut about 7,000 jobs from the agency and close several regional offices as part of a broader effort to restructure federal agencies.

In her organizing experience, Martinez said, the past few weeks since Trump’s inauguration have been some of the most overwhelming she can remember.

“You can’t plan anything because by the time you put something together, it’s already out of date,” she said. “And that’s by design. Keep people disoriented, keep the chaos coming. It makes it harder to organize.”

But Martinez said that despite the pace and pressure, local organizers have not backed down. Instead, they’re adapting.

“People are forming message boards, city chats, grassroots coalitions,” Martinez said. “Mothers for Democracy RGV broke the Valley into regional chapters. That’s been huge. It’s how people in Brownsville know what’s happening in McAllen or on South Padre.”

Martinez said the community’s response hasn’t followed a formal strategy—it’s been improvised, built on urgency, and rooted in long-standing community ties.

“It’s loose. It’s messy. But it’s working,” Martinez said. “We’re not waiting for direction. We just connect with each other and do what we can. We don’t have time for perfect plans.”

In some ways, this kind of activism in the Rio Grande Valley is nothing new. Groups like Citizens Against Voter Abuse, Democrats of Southern Cameron County, and Mothers for Democracy RGV have existed for years—many since well before the first Trump administration. 

What has changed recently is their level of communication, urgency, and cooperation. As new issues emerge almost daily, organizers are relying on familiar networks and flexible tools to respond in real time.

“When Trump first came in, people were stunned,” Martinez said. “But now? We know how this works. He throws everything at once, hoping no one can keep up. So now we move faster too. We’re making phone calls, organizing small protests, joining national days of action.”

Technology has helped. Apps like Five Calls are allowing people in the region to reach lawmakers directly on issues like Social Security, education, and environmental protection. Social media helps spread flyers and coordinate protests across cities and counties.

“We’re using everything we’ve got,” said Martinez. “And we’re doing it with no budget. These are volunteers. This is grassroots in the truest sense.”

Martinez said that another reason why solo organizers and loosely affiliated groups have taken the lead is that many local Democrats feel the national party hasn’t moved fast enough to counter Trump’s new policies. 

“We don’t have time to wait for national strategy,” she said. “We just get together and do what needs to be done. Post the flyer. Make the calls. Show up.”