U.S. Congressional District 19 covers a portion of the Texas panhandle from north of Lubbock down to Abilene. For ten years, the district has been represented by Congressman Jodey Arrington.
Arrington is not running for reelection and there are seven other candidates hoping to earn the spot to represent the Republican party in the November general election.
KTTZ in Lubbock and KACU in Abilene have partnered to provide in-depth interviews with the candidates. KACU attempted to reach out to candidate Ryan Zink, but did not get a reply before deadline.
Abraham Enriquez graduated from Abilene Christian University in 2018 with a degree in political science, and he is the founder and president of the organization Bienvenido.
You can find interviews with other District 19 Republican candidates here.
Early voting runs Feb. 17-27 and Election Day is March 3.
The following transcript has been edited for clarity:
Health Claborn: Thanks for coming in.
Abraham Enriquez: It's so great to be with you, Heather. Thank you for the invitation.
Health Claborn: Well, to start off by telling us about Bienvenido, when did you launch it? And give us an example of what you're most proud of that you've accomplished with the organization.
Abraham Enriquez: Absolutely. Well, you know, Bienvenido really was what started as a hobby, and it grew into what is now one of the nation's largest organizations that has brought in over a million new Hispanic voters to the Republican coalition. And in 2018, Heather, right after I graduated here from ACU, I went back to Lubbock because I was going to start law school at Texas Tech, and in that summer of graduation, there was this really large push by leftist politicians to embrace – for Hispanics to embrace this Latinx terminology, which for those listeners that wonder what Latinx is, it was this push for Hispanics to no longer use the words Latino or Latina, and basically go genderless. And I saw that it was actually somewhat being effective in some Hispanic districts, and so I started this organization, Bienvenido. And really it was pop-up – Bienvenido pop-up events that we bring together local pastors, business leaders, and talk about the American dream. And what that resulted in was, in these really highly populated Hispanic districts across the state, a record number of first-time Hispanics registering Republican. That led to a bunch of local media talking about what we were doing, which led to a Fox News hit, which then led to an invitation to the White House to a Hispanic Leadership Summit, and that was the birth of the organization. What I'm most proud of – it's hard because we've done so much. We've have helped candidates in over a dozen really tough at risk seats that were blue flip over to red. We partnered with the White House to get over a dozen pieces of legislation get across the finish line. But I would say my most proud accomplishment with that organization has been bringing a million new voters to a party that they oftentimes felt wasn't welcoming to them or didn't share the same values, and our party has always been the best for our community, sometimes they just needed a better messenger, and I'm proud to have been one of those messengers to reach to those voters.
HC: Well, one of the things I think a lot of people have questions about is, how does immigration policy line up with the values of Hispanic voters and the community? You say America needs to stop the immigration insanity by codifying President Trump's border policies. And as you advocate for this community, and you advocate for all Americans, if you're representing the district, you have a unique perspective, though. So what are the policies you think should be prioritized?
AE: Look, I go back to my grandparents when they immigrated here legally in the 70s, Heather and they came under the Braceros program. So to all our farmers and ranchers, you know exactly what that program is, but today – the way our immigration system functions today is so widely different than when my grandparents came here in the 70s. And in fact, I think immigration is no longer subject to race, but a national security issue. And let's look at South Texas for example, whether it's, you know, Cameron County or Hidalgo County, two counties that were under Democrat control for over 120 years. In 2020 those congressional districts flipped red for the very first time since, I think, the Reconstruction Era, and that was all Hispanic Americans in the southern border that said, ‘Enough is Enough with this crazy insanity.’ Because open border policies affect minority communities the most, because the human trafficking and the drug trafficking that comes across our border, it doesn't just hit South Texas anymore. It hits all the cities in Texas that become a border city, especially in our minority communities. So I think that [the] president, being so focused on that issue, he was able to bring in a demographic that maybe, maybe people thought wasn't going to resonate greatly with that. But at the end of the day, Heather, Hispanics, like every Americans, are very pro law and order. That's why many of us have family members that immigrated to America because they wanted a fighting shot at living in a place where law and order really was taken serious. And I think that's what we saw in this election cycle.
HC: Is there room to work with Democrats on this issue? Is there common ground that you see that you can build bipartisan support for reform?
AE: Absolutely. Well… I think first and foremost, we need to understand that there's a difference between immigration reform and border security. Oftentimes we lump them together. I think the first step is border security. We cannot talk about immigration reform until our border is secure. And right now, everything that we have is through executive order, which means that if another Democrat president goes into the Oval Office, it's just going to take a signature of a pen to give us the chaos that we saw under President Biden. So before we get to immigration reform, let's recodify the border policies that President Trump has enacted. And then absolutely let's get both parties into the table or to the table and talk about the betterment of American policies as it pertains to immigration. But, yeah, I'm 100% about working with anyone who wants to ensure that Americans are put first with these kind of policies.
HC: And right now, homeland security funding is held up because of the enforcement questions around how ICE is carrying out the policies. Do you think there is any reform on mask wearing or warrants or anything else that is worth discussing?
AE: I'm very concerned about when we start putting policies that put more regulation on our officers who are already every day, waking up, putting on the uniform and are risking maybe not going back to their families because of what kind of pressure we're putting on our service officers. I spent a lot of time, Heather, talking to the men and women in uniform, both on the Border Patrol Council and ICE and trust me, once we start down this slippery slope of doing things like this, I think it actually leads to more danger for our ICE agents, right? I look at countries like Cuba and Venezuela and even Mexico right now that's going through an uprising, because of what we saw with one of the takedowns of cartel, when the men and women in uniform do not feel like they are protected by their own government, then that actually what that does, it affects the community that they're trying to serve. I will always stand on the side of our agents, our brave agents, who are are doing the best to ensure that Americans are safe. I also think it's important to highlight that President Trump said he wanted a full transparent into the situation that actually led to people calling for regulations like, you know, taking masks off of our ICE agents. I'm very proud to have gotten the endorsement of the Border Patrol Council, because they know that I have always stood by them and will continue to stand by them, because in protecting them, we're protecting ourselves.
HC: Have you heard from West Texans? Are there any concerns about how this crackdown on immigration will impact the region's economy, migrant workers and things like that.
AE: Absolutely, I think West Texas is so special because we are the bedrock of a lot of great innovations. I mean, we are home to some of the largest farming and ranching industries, oil and gas, as well as religious freedom. I think, you know, someone told me the other day, Abilene has the most churches per capita of I think any city in the world or any city in the nation and we should be proud of that. So I think when you look at policies that affect America, West Texas is a good pulse of what America could look like. And as we're talking about immigration, as it pertains to our farm workers and our oil and gas workers, I've gone around and I've spoken to the people of our community, and they are a little concerned as – what is this going to do to their to their employment? However, I think it's important to know that everyone wants to follow the law, right? And when their employers feel – employees feel a little bit nervous, a little bit scared, then it does affect how our economy works. However, when we're talking about illegal immigration as it pertains to how it affects the economy as we're speaking now, most people – it's almost like our laws are allowing them to seek out illegal immigrants for workers, because there's no punishment by the law. And so West Texas are actually put sidelined by major corporations in bigger cities like Dallas and Houston and Austin, who actually have laws on the books that allow for these big corporations to hire illegal immigrants, while our West Texas farmers and ranchers want to do it right by, you know, worker programs. And I think the way my grandparents came to America through the Braceros program, which legally allowed people to come work the fields of the land and then return back home.That's something that we should be talking about, because it's something that I think both parties can agree is good for our country, as well as a great policy initiative for farmers and ranchers.
HC: Well, speaking of the economy, let's talk about the Farm Bill. The text hasn't quite been finalized there, but we see that there are complaints that it's not doing enough to help struggling farmers, among other things. It's a huge bill. What do you think West Texas needs most out of the Farm Bill?
AE: Yeah. So this is so important to me, Heather, because I'm not the kind of candidate that believes we'll get there when we get there, we'll fix this issue along the way. This is something we need to have ready to go on day one. The only reason I'm allowed to even say – I'm privileged enough to say that I'm an American is because my grandparents came here to support the ag industry. So the ag industry is a direct reflection as to why I'm an American.
And let's talk about the Farm Bill. We haven't had a new Farm Bill in eight years. What we've had have been an extension of failed policies that actually demonize our small family farmers. And one of the biggest complaints that I've had traveling all 33 counties – majority rule – is that the Farm Bill isn't actually for the small farmer. Three fourths of it is actually for SNAP programs and welfare distribution. One quarter of it actually does something for the farmers, and it doesn't even help. So our farmers are being demonized for a policy position or a policy book that doesn't even help them. And there is another candidate in this race that is running on the message of we need to expand the Farm Bill. I completely disagree with that. I think we need to modernize the Farm Bill from the ground up. We need to dismantle it and start from ground zero, because what we have right now is actually a favorite to Big Ag and our small families and farmers have been sold to the highest bidder.
So we need to do things like get SNAP out of the Farm Bill. Let that be its own standalone bill. Why it's in the Farm Bill? I have no idea. Number two, we need to put in incentives that actually allow farmers to do what they get to do, something like writing off a new farm equipment for the full year, is something that would actually support farmers. Also an America First stance to our farmers and ranchers, means that we should even out the playing field. It makes no sense to me why our farmers and ranchers right now have to compete at the same price that you know Pakistan and India and China and Argentina and Brazil are, that's not America First. That's actually America last. So from the ground up, let's start new with the Farm Bill, and let's actually bring our small family farmers into the conversation.
HC: Well, beef is a big piece of the West Texas economic picture. Do you think the tariffs are causing concern for ranchers? And as someone who helped advance the USMCA, what's your view of President Trump's tariffs, which have been up and down lately?
AE: Yeah, President Trump is rightfully evening out the playing field as it pertains to trade. And for too long, we've had free trade, and he wants to make it fair trade. But he's also incredibly diligent as what our southern trading partner Mexico is – the country that is our largest trading partner. He has excluded Mexico from a lot of the you know, blanket tariffs that he has done. In fact, I was with the White House on quote, unquote Liberation Day, where he put tariffs across every country except for Mexico. I think it's important to note that we – this year, we are in the middle of the renegotiation of USMCA, President Trump rightfully put his six year clause that every six years, United States, Mexico, and Canada would come together and renegotiate that trade. Right now, what I'm hearing from our cattle ranchers is that we're doing pretty good right now with cattle. But it's important to note that if we are going to bring Mexico in as a trading partner, let it be fair to the American rancher first, and we're seeing that through our USMCA renegotiation talks.
HC: You may have heard Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller has been calling for someone to put some guard rails on the expansion of AI data centers, and he's particularly concerned they're taking up valuable agricultural land in Texas. Do you have any concerns about the rapid spread of these data centers? Anything that you would support as far as –
AE: Yeah, I am cautiously a little nervous about it, in the sense that, you know, when you're the 31 year old running in a congressional playing field like this, immediately people think you're going to be 100% pro growth and innovation in tech. And I'm excited about that conversation. I think any investment into West Texas, and anything that puts West Texas on the map for conversation, I'm all about. And I'm all about growth, if it's accountable to the people. You know, I look back when I walked these halls as an ACU grad, just the price of living here, whether it was a rental property house when I was living off campus, does not equal to what we're seeing today, right? My team and I would try to either get a hotel room or an Airbnb for the night for a campaign stop, prices are almost double. I think that we are excited. I think it's important to be excited about innovation and investment coming into Abilene, but I'm nervous about what that does to two things, infrastructure as well as water supply. So I think until we accept more investment and we get fully on board, I want to know what the plan is for infrastructure and water supply and, Heather, I'm sorry to say, but I've heard no plans for that from from local lawmakers, and that causes me to have a little bit of cautious on this conversation.
HC: Is there anything you think the federal government could do to kind of help guide or curb some of the unregulated growth?
AE: Yeah, so I am a big fan of when, when the federal and state government come together for the betterment of its people. And Senator Charles Perry is a great friend of mine, and I've sat down with him multiple times to talk about the issues of water. And right now, the state has a really good plan to put forth to ensure that West Texans don't have to worry about water supply, but it does need the federal government to support. And too oftentimes, Texas, you know, one of our big strengths is, don't mess with Texas, and which means let DC be DC. We don't want any of that here. And that has helped us for a lot, a lot of situations, but I think that we no longer have the luxury to not bring in the federal government to have conversations about things like this. What is your plan to help the state in coming together and actually, I would say, partner with federal funding to ensure that our infrastructure, our water supply, has the funding it needs to ensure the betterment of the people is prioritized?
HC: I want to shift to rural healthcare issues. We've seen a lot of rural areas losing specialty medical doctors, like cardiologists, neurologists, OBGYNs, endocrinologists. It's not just a problem in West Texas. What do you think Congress could do to make sure more people in rural areas have access to important healthcare?
AE: Yeah, so, well, healthcare, and that is, that is quite the monster that you have to tackle from within. And I'm so proud to have been able to go through mostly all our rural healthcare systems, and really get a conversation started. And I think it's important to highlight just the investment opportunity at hand. And I think it's important that a sitting member of Congress representing this district has some level of influence on Appropriations Committee, because what we can be talking about is investment into our rural healthcare system. And President Trump has a really good plan right now to ensure that, you know, we're taking a look at investments into this particular issue. I'm generally a positive person, but I'm speaking to our health care providers in this area, I think that they think it's get worse before it gets better. And that makes me sad, because they've kind of lost hope in the federal government coming in and fixing things, and it starts with ensuring that we're building policies based on the people actually doing the work. Too many times, Heather, I've been in conversations where the consulting class and the lobbying class are really influencing policy makers that later on actually end up helping their clients, which is, you know, Big Pharma. And so I think that when you actually get the middleman out of the conversation, and let's bring in the actual rural health care providers to shape policy around what they need, what they're seeing and what they have planned, better policy is at play. I think President Trump has done that in ensuring that big pharma lobbies and consultants are out of the conversation. Now, will Congress step up and meet him in the middle and get some of those policy plans across the finish line? And as a hopeful member of Congress, I plan on supporting him on those issues, because I know that he's pro the small, rural health care provider, rather than Big Pharma.
HC: So we don't have enough time to get into many details of America's foreign policy. Are you happy with the U.S.’s role in world affairs, diplomatic relations, with our North American neighbors, as well as our stance in conflict areas like Gaza, Nicaragua, Ukraine, Iran.
AE: Yeah. So I'll tell you when President Trump announced that he was he had nominated then-Senator Rubio as a Secretary of State, I was so happy, because I knew that this is someone that understands the influence that America can have on with our foreign partners, without the worry of will this lead to America going into endless war. And what we've seen is just that, strong leadership with strength to peace, or peace through strength. And we saw what happens when you let countries have to figure out how to defend themselves without having to cry out for America. And when the playing field is evened out with military forces as it pertains to NATO, I think other countries step in and ensure that they're doing their part to provide peace through strength. I also look at Venezuela, what a flawless execution that was by, generally, by people who know what they're doing. Too many times, again, people that have sold out to people that make money off of foreign war wars are in these conversations. And finally, through the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Rubio, we're seeing that the world actually respects America again, because we don't talk about we're gonna do, we actually go and do it. And at the end of the day, the President and his entire administration take actions as to we're only gonna do what's the best for the American people.
HC: How do you think you would differ from Congressman Arrington in representing this district? He was here for past decade. How would you be different?
AE: Yeah, look, I have a lot of love and respect for Congressman Arrington as someone that led his volunteer team in Abilene. I was one of the captains here in Abilene. I really have truly loved seeing him grow in his time in Congress. How I would differ is I just look at how our district looks today versus how it looked back in 2015. Our district looks very, very diverse now in the sense of education. You know, you look at the student enrollment at Texas Tech and ACU, as well as LCU and Hardin-Simmons and McMurray, we have a lot of young folks that want to study in West Texas, but more importantly, they want to stay in West Texas. We have to be very, very focused on the ag industry, 100%, and focus on the energy industry. But we also have to make sure that we're providing and we're building a society in West Texas that keeps our young talent in our district. And that's where I think, where I would differ, is ensuring that we're not forgetting the voices of our young voters. In 2022 Gen Z and millennial voters, for the first time, outpaced baby boomer voters. I mean [if] we're not prioritizing policies that actually help young Americans, we might lose them. And so I think talking about issues like the rising cost of home ownership and the rising cost of living, that's why we have so many young people involved in this campaign, because we're the only candidates actually talking about the things that our young voters care about. And so putting policies and initiatives that speak to those issues, I think, is what really will make me a different candidate.
HC: On your website, you've listed an endorsement from Governor Abbott, more than a dozen elected leaders, including former mayors of Abilene. There are also photos of you and President Trump and you and Charlie Kirk. Do you have an endorsement from Turning Point USA?
AE: I do! Turning Point Action has endorsed. Yes ma’am.
HC: Okay. And is there anything else that you want to communicate to the listeners?
AE: Yes. So I love our community. I love this district. It’s where I was born. It's where I want to live the rest of my life. And West Texas is great because its people have always stepped up when, you know, when we don't need government to interfere with our decision making. I'm very, very nervous about what just happened in a special Senate seat just a couple of weeks ago. An R+17 district that President Trump won just this last election cycle was flipped over to a Democrat candidate. We've had control of that seat since the 1970s. We are an R+21, meaning we're not too far away from the Republican threshold that that special Senate seat flipped over, right? That makes me a little nervous, because the candidate that wins this election needs to prioritize building a coalition to ensure that we never have to worry about our district flipping over, and when it comes to doing just that, I brought in over a million new voters into the Republican coalition. I've gotten the endorsement of the governor and the endorsement of the RNC committeeman and committee woman of Texas. The RNC named me the Rising Star of the Year award. I love this party because this party has always been pro West Texas, and so I want to just export West Texas values all across the nation, and it starts with bringing West Texas back into the conversation.
HC: Alright. Well, thank you so much, Abraham Enriquez.
AE: Thank you. Heather.
HC: Abraham Enriquez is running to become the Republican nominee for Texas's 19th Congressional District. He's facing off against six other candidates in the primary. Democrat Kyle Rable will take on the winner of this race in November.
Check out an extended version of this interview and our series of conversations with the candidates running in the Republican primary election, and find links to more information on our website. KACU.org. I'm Heather Claiborne.