3-time Trump voter fumes as ICE raids devastate his industry: 'Hard to win us back'

A prominent builder in South Texas has turned on President Donald Trump, saying his immigration policies have devastated the construction industry.

According to Texas Monthly, "Mario Guerrero, a 33-year-old home builder and executive director of the South Texas Builders Association, never thought he’d be in the national spotlight. But when ICE raids began devastating the Rio Grande Valley’s construction industry, the three-time Trump voter started speaking out, generating headlines and social media chatter for his guileless, often profanity-laden takes."

Guerrero made national headlines two months ago when he told Politico, "South Texas will never be red again." Now, in a more wide-ranging interview with Texas Monthly, he unloaded further, making clear it's not just his community — he himself feels betrayed.

"I called a meeting with the [South Texas Builders Association] membership. It turns out that it was happening across the board—lumber companies, title companies, granite companies. Builders couldn’t finish their jobs," he said. "I had a lumber company losing like 54 percent [in sales] in the first quarter of this year because of ICE raids, bro. And then you had companies like Materiales El Valle that’s been around for forty years operating at a 60-something percent loss."

Guerrero noted that this wasn't just affecting unauthorized immigrants, but even those with legal status — ICE was rounding them up, and quietly releasing the legal ones weeks later when they ran out of excuses to hold them.

"People felt fear, helplessness," said Guerrero. "I really believe that in this life, when you put fear into somebody’s stomach, it’s really hard to win that trust back. And that’s what the Trump administration did. They put fear into people’s stomachs. So no matter what they do, it’s going to be really hard for them to win us back."

This comes amid a broad spectrum of polls showing Hispanic support for the president collapsing, after Trump captured a larger share of the Hispanic vote in 2024 than any Republican candidate since George W. Bush.