"The border crossed us again." His family has ranched the same stretch of Rio Grande river bottom since the early 1900s — and the planned Big Bend border wall would run through their land, between their house and the cemetery where their grandparents are buried.

Tejano Talks goes on location to Pilares, in Presidio County, West Texas — inside the Border Patrol sector that recorded the fewest crossings on the entire southwest border last year — to hear from landowners Octavio Alvarado and Yolanda Alvarado, whose families are in the path of a federally funded barrier project now planned across Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties. As of late August, construction near Big Bend National Park is under a temporary CBP pause while the fight over the rest of the region continues.

They talk about the emergency declaration they woke up to, what they told Border Patrol on their own ranch, the technology they say would actually work out here, and the coalition — from Fort Hancock to Lake Amistad — organizing under one message: no wall in the Big Bend.

Learn more about the coalition: nobigbendwall.org

🎙️ More Tejano Talks:
• Clayton Tucker on Saving the Texas Family Farm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Jf2o2rKwQ&t=14s
• Gina Hinojosa on the Fight to Flip Texas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KzQWSZMkpo&t=63s

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IN THIS EPISODE

— A family on the same river bottomland for more than 120 years
— The wall line they say would separate their home from their family cemetery
— The emergency declaration — in the border’s least-active sector
— Their math on the project: "$14 million a mile" against a $4 million county budget
— Sensors, not steel: what the landowners say would actually work
— 600 miles of organized neighbors: the No Big Bend Wall Coalition

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CHAPTERS

00:00 On the border in Pilares, Texas
00:57 A family on this land since the early 1900s
01:43 "The border crossed us again": 1919 to 2026
01:56 The day they learned the wall would lock them in
02:27 The line between the house and the cemetery
02:49 The emergency declaration that made it possible
03:22 "Do you see any emergency here?"
03:54 Ad: Domingo Garcia Law Firm
04:10 The pause, and what they’ve told Border Patrol
05:19 Sensors, not steel: what they say would work
05:40 Their math: "$14 million a mile"
06:22 What you can do: the No Big Bend Wall Coalition
07:17 Closing: make your phone calls

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ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Octavio Alvarado and Yolanda Alvarado are West Texas landowners at Pilares, in Presidio County, where the Alvarado and Sanchez family has ranched the same stretch of Rio Grande river bottom since the early 1900s. They are organizing with the No Big Bend Wall Coalition, which represents landowners and communities along roughly 600 miles of the border, from Fort Hancock to Lake Amistad.

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HOSTS

DOMINGO GARCIA is a trial lawyer and one of the most important Latino political figures in Texas. He served on the Dallas City Council and, in 1993, became the first Latino ever elected Mayor Pro Tem of the city. In the Texas Legislature, he co-authored HB 1403 — the Texas DREAM Act. In 2006, he organized the largest march in Texas history, when more than 500,000 people filled downtown Dallas to demand immigration reform. He is a former national president of LULAC and has practiced law for more than 40 years.

HIRAM GILBERTO GARCIA is a journalist, producer, and public affairs strategist based in Austin. His frontline coverage of the 2020 protests drew wide local and national attention.

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ABOUT TEJANO TALKS

Tejano Talks is a podcast hosted by Domingo Garcia and Hiram Garcia that blends cultural conversation, political analysis, and interviews with notable voices in Texas and beyond. The show covers everything from Tejano culture and identity to current events, business, and career development. We’re here for Tejanos like us — to help you build wealth, honor your family, and make well-informed choices for your future.

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Subscribe, and tell us in the comments who you want to see on the show next. We’re on YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok, and anywhere you enjoy your podcasts.

Views expressed by hosts and guests are their own.

#TejanoTalks #BigBend #BorderWall #WestTexas #TexasPolitics

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