The political arm of “The LIBRE Initiative”, a conservative Latino group and its partner organization, “Americans for Prosperity” (AFP), have been denied financial and political support for Republican Trumpists candidates from Texas due to their positions on amnesty for immigrants.

Both organizations are heavily financed by the Koch Industries network, accused by the “Texas Scorecard”, a conservative advocacy group aligned with the Tea Party, to lead back-to-back efforts to reform immigration and grant green cards to all illegal immigrants.

The Koch brothers, mega-businessmen known for investing millions of dollars in political campaigns by extremist Republican candidates, hostile to environmental policies and union rights, “has clashed with Trump in the past but also is pouring money into opposing President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party's agenda Party Agenda”, according to NBC News. The publication also reveals that in 2018 LIBRE allied with the Koch network in sending out direct mail that thanked some Democrats for their legislative work on behalf of the Dreamers.

Despite LIBRE and AFP confirming their commitment to funding up to $1 million in primaries for the March elections, three Republican Senate candidates rejected the endorsement. Pete Flores Texas Senate District 24 candidate, Mayes Middleton Senate District 11 candidate, and Tan Parker Senate District 12 Representative Tan Parker all rejected support because those organizations would be at odds with Donald Trump, who is against any amnesty for illegal immigrants. In addition to these three candidates, four others who would receive support have not yet positioned themselves.

On the other hand, the group defended position by clarifying that it supports security at the immigration border and that it understands, however, that some immigrants can claim legal status, that is, dreamers who “pass a background check, register with the government and to have jobs or be in school to be eligible to apply for legal status or legal permanent residency”, according the publication.

According to NBC news, “LIBRE has been working more than a decade in Latino neighborhoods and communities, going door-to-door to push its positions. It attends Latino gatherings and health fairs, holds workshops on filling out citizenship applications — as some Democrats have done — […]” collecting while collecting contact information about potential Latino Republican voters.

According to the report, the “Migration Policy Institute” evaluated that currently lives in the country about 3 million immigrants who arrived before the age of 18 and about 1.7 million of those 3 million would be eligible for the Green Card, under the Dream Act of 2021.

For the Texas Republican Party Platform, however, it is clear: “any form of amnesty regarding immigration policy should not be granted, including the granting of legal status to people who are illegally in the country”.

With the proximity of the primaries that anticipate the midterm elections, it is common for political positions to be guided by tactics to obtain votes. With the increase in the number of Latinos who supported Trump in the last elections, Republicans are working in various parts of the country to win more supporters, especially in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, a traditionally Democratic stronghold.

The districts where the three candidates who denied LIBRE support run are made up of mostly white populations and, by discarding the endorsement, they can avoid the label of pro-amnesty candidates and still please Trump voters in the primaries.