Texas’s 20th Congressional District: 2026 House Race

A protest against a planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in San Antonio began and ended at Davis Middle School, part of the San Antonio Independent School District. The "March for Freedom and Justice" was organized by the Bexar County Democratic Party and drew more than 100 participants, including U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, and local clergy. Groups such as LULAC, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the Brown Berets also took part. Demonstrators carried signs criticizing ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, some with vulgar language, and a voter registration drive was held alongside the rally. San Antonio police escorted the group to the site of the proposed ICE facility and back to the school.

The event has drawn scrutiny partly because Davis Middle School recently received an F rating from the Texas Education Agency. The protest reflects ongoing local opposition to the Trump administration's plan to open an immigrant detention facility on San Antonio's East Side.

Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar held a San Antonio press conference urging six Bexar County municipalities — Hollywood Park, China Grove, St. Hedwig, Balcones Heights, Sandy Oaks, and Von Ormy — to end their 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agreements, entered under the Task Force model, let trained local police question people about citizenship status during patrols, access ICE databases, and arrest suspected undocumented immigrants.

Castro accused ICE of racial profiling and called the agency "rogue" and "abusive" under the Trump administration, citing conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, which he has visited repeatedly and wants closed. He also suggested financial incentives, not just policy, are driving cities to sign on. Casar called on mayors to stop enrolling police in federal immigration enforcement. Texas law requires counties operating jails to participate in 287(g), a provision dating to 1996 legislation signed by President Bill Clinton, complicating efforts to unwind local participation.

The China Grove, Texas City Council voted 3-0, with one abstention, to ratify a memorandum of agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The provision lets local police assist ICE with immigration enforcement; China Grove operates under the Task Force Model, allowing officers to check immigration status during routine stops like traffic enforcement. City officials say the arrangement has generated roughly $192,000 in federal reimbursement.

The vote followed pressure from Democratic officials, including U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar and Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, who urged withdrawal over racial-profiling and civil-rights concerns. ACLU of Texas and Immigrant Legal Resource Center representatives echoed those objections at the meeting, while Police Chief Ralph Sramek defended the program, saying no racial-profiling complaints have been filed since 2014.

Scrutiny intensified after China Grove police stopped mariachi musician Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro in June, leading to his 16-day ICE detention. China Grove's agreement is among 2,462 active 287(g) partnerships nationwide.

Polling and interviews across Texas point to a significant erosion of Latino support for President Trump since his 2024 gains, driven by frustration over high prices, gas costs, and aggressive ICE enforcement that has rattled South Texas communities and economies. Strategists describe the shift as a rebuke of Republicans rather than genuine enthusiasm for Democrats, who still carry a damaged brand with many Latino voters. The trend could shape Texas's competitive U.S. Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, as well as newly redrawn majority-Hispanic congressional districts. Analysts expect Latino support for Democrats to partially rebound toward 2018 levels, but caution that voters remain persuadable and increasingly judge candidates individually rather than by party.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the Democratic Governors Association are each sending $1 million to support Gina Hinojosa's challenge to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, according to The New York Times. The infusion is significant for Hinojosa, whose campaign had only about $4 million on hand at the end of last month. The move follows pressure from prominent Latino Democrats, including Rep. Joaquin Castro, who pushed the DGA to treat the race as competitive.

Hinojosa's bid has been somewhat overshadowed by Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, who has raised more than $70 million against Republican Ken Paxton and is seen as a national fundraising star. Democrats haven't won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, and the governor's mansion has been held by Republicans since Ann Richards left office in 1995. Castro argued that winning the governor's race is the only way to stop Texas Republicans from attempting another congressional redistricting before 2028, telling the Times, "Gina is right there."

Republicans redrew Texas' 35th Congressional District last year hoping to flip it, setting up a San Antonio-area race between Republican Carlos De La Cruz, an Air Force veteran and first-time candidate whose sister is Rep. Monica De La Cruz, and Democrat Johnny Garcia, a longtime Bexar County sheriff's deputy. Both are Latino men with law enforcement or military backgrounds who blur typical partisan lines: De La Cruz echoes anti-corruption, cost-cutting messaging similar to Democrats', while Garcia, a self-described "old school Democrat," breaks with his party on border policy and some social issues.

Analysts rank the 35th as a pivotal test of the GOP's mid-decade gerrymander and of whether Latino voters continue trending Republican after 2024. The district is majority Hispanic by eligible voters but leans Republican as drawn, having favored Trump by double digits last cycle. Spending has topped $9 million combined, with Trump's political network and House Majority PAC both pouring in money. Trump is set to rally for De La Cruz in San Antonio, underscoring national Republican stakes in preserving their House majority through races like this one.

President Trump's campaign rally at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio drew competing demonstrations on Wednesday, as the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and the Bexar County Democratic Party staged separate but overlapping protests near the venue's entrance. The PSL focused on opposition to ICE enforcement, framing its protest around the impact of deportations on the heavily Hispanic city, while Bexar County Democrats promoted their demonstration as a rebuke of Trump's presidency and highlighted Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. Members of the Brown Berets, the 50501 organization, and PETA also joined the protest activity.

Several hundred protesters gathered along Houston Street, while thousands of rally attendees lined up to enter, with overflow crowds watching via jumbotron after the venue reached capacity. Law enforcement, including the Secret Service, closed streets ahead of the president's motorcade arrival. The protests and rally crowds remained physically separated and the event proceeded without major incident, as Trump's team seeks to boost Republican turnout in Texas ahead of upcoming elections.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, a Democrat, has opened a criminal investigation into altercations between Trump supporters and protesters at an October 7 get-out-the-vote rally headlined by President Trump at San Antonio's Freeman Coliseum. Hundreds of demonstrators carrying anti-ICE and anti-administration signs gathered outside the venue, while inside, security removed about 18 agitators who interrupted the event; two received criminal trespass warnings, but no arrests were made.

Salazar's office launched a social media campaign seeking the public's help identifying people involved in or who witnessed skirmishes with the agitators, saying it has not determined whether crimes occurred but wants to investigate reported incidents and allow any victims to press charges. Salazar previously pursued a separate case against organizers of a 2022 migrant relocation flight from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard tied to a program backed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis; Bexar County's district attorney declined to prosecute that case in September 2025, citing insufficient evidence after interviewed migrants said they were not coerced.

One year after Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas's mid-decade "One Big Beautiful Map," redrawing five congressional districts at President Trump's urging, polling suggests Republicans may not be reaping the gains they expected. The redistricting combined Black-majority districts in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth and paired two Austin Democrats, while shifting South Texas seats to favor the GOP, aiming for a net five-seat pickup for Republicans nationally.

Recent Texas Southern University polling shows Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar leading in District 28 and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez ahead in District 34, despite both districts being redrawn to favor Trump. In District 15, Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz trails Tejano musician Bobby Pulido despite a district redrawn heavily in Trump's favor. District 35, created by merging two Austin Democratic incumbents' territory, remains a contested open seat where House Speaker Mike Johnson recently campaigned for Republican Carlos De La Cruz against Democrat Johnny Garcia.

The shifting numbers, attributed partly to fallout from immigration enforcement, tariffs and inflation, complicate Republican hopes of using redistricting to offset historic midterm losses for the party controlling the White House.

President Donald Trump traveled to San Antonio to rally support for Ken Paxton's U.S. Senate campaign, his third Texas trip in under a month, amid polling showing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico within striking distance of becoming the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in more than three decades. Trump warned the crowd Texans would "never forgive" the state if Talarico won, using derogatory nicknames and repeating a false claim that Talarico is vegan.

The speech leaned heavily on cultural and immigration messaging, with Trump linking a potential Democratic win to border security fears and falsely claiming Democrats would eliminate oil and gas jobs. He also touted a planned firing-squad execution of a Fort Hood attacker and repeated promises of $5,000 payments to Americans and one-time Medicare payments to seniors. Gov. Greg Abbott, also on the ballot, was notably absent. The rally comes as national polls show Democrats favored to retake Congress and Trump's approval ratings sagging, raising stakes for Republicans trying to hold the Senate.