As the sun set on a late-September evening, a voice rose over the din of traffic at the roadside memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the 52-year-old husband and father fatally shot here by immigration authorities three months ago.
asserted
voice → set → authorities
Sitting on barbershop steps, Berta Lopez, a nearby resident, alternately sang, recited prayers and cried for a man she never met.
asserted
she → sit → man
“It was unjust — he was killed unjustly!
asserted
he → kill → ?
The family is deeply hurt, his wife, his children.
asserted
family → hurt → ?
And why don’t they show the people who did the killing?
asserted
who → show → killing
Why don’t they show them?
asserted
they → show → them
Why don’t they release the names of the people who killed Lorenzo?
asserted
who → release → Lorenzo
Why don’t they expose them?” she said in Spanish.
asserted
she → expose → Spanish
In tears, Lopez said that after more than a year of intensive operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Salgado Araujo’s killing was a clarifying moment.
asserted
killing → say → Immigration
The government, she said, saw those who weren’t U.S. citizens as less than nothing.
asserted
who → say → nothing
She was tired of it.
asserted
She → tire → it
“Just because we’re Hispanic, shouldn’t we hold our heads high?
asserted
we → ’re → heads
No, God doesn’t want us hanging our heads in shame.
asserted
us → want → shame
He wants all of us, his children, to hold our heads up high,” Lopez said.
asserted
Lopez → want → heads
“God doesn’t care about papers.”
asserted
God → care → papers
Lopez’s hurt and anger was reflected in NBC News interviews with more than three dozen Houston-area Latinos, elected officials, activists and political strategists.
asserted
hurt → reflect → Latinos
They reveal a distraught community whose members feel degraded by the messages they hear out of Washington, D.C., during President Donald Trump’s second term.
asserted
they → reveal → term
They said they have been terrorized by the constant stories of those detained, many wrongly, and left to languish.
asserted
they → say → those
They were aghast that the government was sending immigrants to countries they had never heard of.
asserted
they → send → countries
Many said Salgado Araujo’s shooting death crystallized their feelings of powerlessness.
asserted
death → say → powerlessness
Most Latinos were better versed in the details of the incident than in the names and backgrounds of those running for some of the highest-profile offices in their state.
asserted
Latinos → verse → state
They’ve lied about a lot of things.
asserted
They → lie → things
They’re killing innocent people, breaking families apart.
asserted
They → kill → families
It’s just not right.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
They have no sympathy for other people,” said Julio Roa, a Houston resident who lamented what he was seeing happen in his state.
asserted
he → have → state
“I come from Mexican parents.
asserted
I → come → parents
I’m born a U.S. citizen, but I live it day by day when they’re scared to go to the corner store.
asserted
they → bear → store
It all illustrates a political environment in which Republicans and Trump are bleeding support from Latinos.
asserted
Republicans → illustrate → Latinos
A new NBC News/Telemundo survey of 800 registered Latino voters nationally showed that fully 69% disapproved of the job Trump was doing as president, and 54% said they intended their midterm vote to be a signal of opposition to the president.
asserted
vote → register → president
The survey, carried out Sept. 21-28, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
asserted
survey → carry → points
Notably, immigration and border security did not score high among priorities in the survey, with 6% of Latino voters calling it a top issue.
asserted
immigration → score → it
But it has hit a nerve: 67% of potential Latino voters said Trump’s immigration enforcement had gone too far.
asserted
enforcement → hit → voters
In an earlier NBC5 Dallas/Telemundo Station Group poll of Texas Latinos, respondents ranked immigration and border questions as the second highest priority behind economic factors.
asserted
respondents → rank → factors
That survey showed a sizable swing.
asserted
survey → show → swing
In 2024, 55% of Texas Latinos supported Trump, according to exit polls, but recent surveys show statewide Democrats garnering at least 55% of the Latino vote.
uncertain
Democrats → support → vote
That’s part of the reason Texas’ Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton has become a battleground contest and why Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, is facing perhaps his toughest-ever general election challenge, from Democrat Gina Hinojosa.
asserted
Abbott → ’ → Hinojosa
One man who once held a deep allegiance to Trump said he could not explain the regret he felt.
uncertain
he → hold → regret
“I’m guilty as charged.
asserted
I → ’m → ?
I voted for Trump.
asserted
I → vote → Trump
But I never thought it was gonna happen the way that this happened,” said Albert Riseño, a plumber who works in the Houston area.
asserted
who → think → area
…and 89 more, not listed.
The Aporia
