Berenice Garcia, Texas Tribune

HARLINGEN — For more than a decade, Diana Padilla has been teaching Texans in the Rio Grande Valley how to farm.

For four hours on Sundays, she and her husband, Saul Padilla, would help their student farmers at a community garden the couple had set up on their farm by preparing the soil for them, teaching them how to use the space, and telling them what would be good to plant and what wouldn’t be.

“We were mostly there for, like, pep talk,” Padilla said.

The idea for the community garden came from their weekends spent at the farmer’s market, where some people couldn’t afford their organic vegetables. If the people couldn’t afford them, Padilla thought, maybe she could teach them how to grow their own.

Her mission dramatically expanded when, in the summer of 2023, she learned she had been awarded a federal grant to teach the rest of the state how to till the land.

Her nonprofit, HOPE for Small Farm Sustainability, had received $7.5 million to educate Texans interested in farming. As part of the grant, Padilla could hire educators in other regions outside the Valley and purchase land to harvest.

Her first hire lived about 500 miles away in Kaufman County, near Dallas.

Padilla was on the cusp of hiring three more people in Central Texas. But her plans to expand came to a sudden halt last month when the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified her that the government was terminating the grant as part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.

“It was heartbreaking,” Padilla said.

In a March 23 letter, the USDA said it canceled the grant following a review of the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program, which was started during the Biden administration. The USDA alleged that the program was “rife with DEI preferences” and an example of wasteful spending.

Padilla vowed to appeal the decision. She said there was nothing about her program — which is open to anyone interested in learning about farming — that explicitly focused on DEI. She was adamant her organization would debunk allegations of wasteful spending.

Now, HOPE has a slim window to convince the federal government to restore funding. If Padilla cannot, at risk are her efforts to empower would-be farmers amid a dramatic trend of farm loss across Texas, and to ensure the agriculture economy persists outside of big farming.

“We are going to appeal, but we're going to need everybody's support,” Padilla said. “We have an obligation to safeguard our food system for the future of Texas.”

One-on-one training

Jamie Cumming had been teaching local residents in Kaufman County about gardening and foraging. She ran a small homestead academy she led from her home and small farm.

As a struggling small farmer with six children, she couldn’t afford to teach all the skills she wanted to pass on for free, so she was excited to learn about HOPE and that it was looking to hire educators across the state to teach aspiring farmers what they needed to know to build a sustainable farm.

She took the job in October 2024 and has held workshops a few times a month that are open to anyone who wants to learn how to farm, along with classes at the community garden.

But because of the USDA’s decision to pull the grant, the programming and Cumming’s job in Kaufman County ended.

“It's a big disappointment, because it was going so well,” Cumming said.

HOPE had paid for equipment such as a tiller, drip line, landscape fabric and seeds. It’s also paid for water, a classroom and educational guest speakers.

About 27 people had been assigned a plot of land in Kaufman County that the county is allowing them to use. The aspiring farmers ranged from young families to a 78-year-old woman who farmed when she was younger.

Cumming said she didn’t collect demographic data from the people who attended her workshops. She estimated she had about four Black or Hispanic participants among the 27 farmers.

What most had in common was that they had full-time jobs and were trying to learn how to farm during their free time. Part of their education included learning about the right season for certain plants to grow, how to irrigate, how to identify plants, and how to mix seed-starting soil.

“That one-on-one training has really been a blessing for so many who are trying "to do this,” Cumming said. “We need to help that and let that flourish.”

Funding for the USDA’s Increasing Land program came from the American Rescue Plan Act, a Biden-era COVID-19 relief bill, to improve access to land. However, the agency, which is now under the Trump administration’s leadership, concluded that the grant awards did little to improve land access.

“Under the guise of increasing land access for producers, the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program included no minimum requirement for direct producer support,” the USDA said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. “Instead, the program permitted the abuse of federal funds, including expenditures on the purchasing of a barbeque smoker, construction of a gazebo, massages, and for one awardee, a $20,000 budget for ink pens alone.”

The agency did not respond to questions specifically about HOPE and its activities.

Padilla insists she spent the money correctly. Of the $7.5 million grant, HOPE had spent less than 10%. Most of the $700,000 that has been spent was used for equipment and education for farmers.

The majority of the grant funds, 59%, were budgeted to purchase additional land, but none of those transactions had been completed.

Padilla said HOPE had identified and was close to purchasing four properties in Central Texas — close to Houston, San Antonio, and Austin — for people in those areas who were interested in farming. The land would have been used for community farming that early-stage farmers could share and continue learning.

Losing farm land

Padilla and her husband started their own farm, Yahweh’s All Natural Farm and Garden, in 2008. Her husband is the farmer and she is the entrepreneur and, together, they made a business of his passion.

It took a lot of hard work, knowing how to grow and knowing how to market their products.

She knew if early-stage farmers weren’t persistent, they would likely quit, so they set out to teach people how to do that with the help of other USDA grants.

They started their first community gardens on their 75-acre farm where aspiring farmers could learn from the couple. Then in 2014, they officially launched HOPE.

Padilla’s effort to increase the number of farmers faces staggering odds. In the 25 years between 1997 and 2022, Texas lost more than 3.7 million acres of working land, according to data from Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute. Working land is privately-owned farms and ranches that produce food and provide wildlife habitat. Of those, 1.8 million acres were lost in the final five years.

Within that same 25-year period, the Rio Grande Valley, where Padilla is based, lost 751,000 acres of farmland.

Small family farms are the most prevalent type of farm. In 2024, they made up 86% of all farms in the U.S. That’s down from 2021, when they made up 89%.

Salomon Torres, projects and grants adviser for HOPE, said the loss of farmland is a disturbing trend. It contributes to illiteracy among the general public about where their food comes from, among other consequences.

“Agriculture has always been a contributor to a local economy, as far as jobs, as far as keeping land productive,” Torres said. “If land becomes completely urban, it's going to desensitize people about the source of their food.”

The accessibility of land for locally-sourced food is considered significant for people’s health but also for their well-being, said Judith McGeary, executive director of Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.

“I think it's a threat to national security,” McGeary said. “Because when we cannot raise food in this country, we are reliant on imports, which we already are, to a great extent — far more than most people realize.”

The loss of small farmers was not due to a lack of interest, McGeary said. There has been a growing interest in farming among young people, but what is less discussed, she said, is how often those young farmers fail because of the lack of land, infrastructure and hands-on support.

“Very smart, talented, motivated people often cannot make a go of it,” she said. “And that’s not just a problem for them, it’s a loss for all of us.”

Advocates for small farmers in Texas say educational programs like the one HOPE was providing are needed across the state.

P. Wade Ross, director of the Texas Small Farmers and Ranchers Community Based Organization, said the fundamental issue is that many government bureaucrats don’t know the farming landscape. They make decisions like cutting off funding for HOPE, not realizing the consequences.

“Why do you need to do that when this is a program that's helping you achieve all the initiatives that you say are your initiatives?” Ross said.

“What happens a lot of times is people who are the decision-makers get so caught up in what they don't want,” he said “and they don't realize they're cutting their arm off to get rid of what they don't want.”

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

Gov. Greg Abbott seeks to ban two Muslim groups and their members from owning land in Texas

by Berenice Garcia, Joshua Fechter and Colleen DeGuzman, The Texas Tribune
November 18, 2025

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday named two Islamic groups as terrorist and criminal organizations, banning them and those associated with the groups from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas.

Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, as transnational criminal organizations.

In announcing the designation, Abbott accused the two groups of supporting terrorism across the world and of subverting Texas laws through harassment, intimidation and violence.

"The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable," Abbott said in a statement.

Neither the Muslim Brotherhood nor CAIR is listed on the U.S. State Department’s list of terrorist groups.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a multinational organization with no central figure. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the Trump administration was considering designating the group or branches of the group as terrorist organizations but has not.

CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group, issued a statement saying they have consistently condemned all forms of unjust violence and said their condemnation of terrorism made their national director a target for ISIS.

"Although we are flattered by Greg Abbott's obsession with our civil rights organization, his publicity stunt masquerading as a proclamation has no basis in fact or law," CAIR stated. "By defaming a prominent American Muslim institution with debunked conspiracy theories and made-up quotes, Mr. Abbott has once again shown that his top priority is advancing anti-Muslim bigotry, not serving the people of Texas."

They further stated the organization would be ready to mount a legal challenge if the declaration were to become actual policy.

Abbott's proclamation cites a new law that was approved by the Texas lawmakers earlier this year. The bill gave Abbott more power to ban property ownership by governmental entities, companies, and individuals from a country named in annual threat assessment reports prepared by the director of national security.

A similar law in Florida is making its way through the courts. A three-judge panel on the 11th 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing the state to enforce its ban.

Abbott's proclamation cites a new law that was approved by the Texas lawmakers earlier this year. The bill gave Abbott more power to ban property ownership by governmental entities, companies, and individuals from a country named in the three most recent annual threat assessment reports prepared by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence

A similar law in Florida is making its way through the courts. A three-judge panel on the 11th 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing the state to enforce its ban.

“This is in the sort of Islamophobic toolbox that Abbott is picking up to rehash this old conspiratorial thinking to criminalize Muslims,” said Habiba Noor, a lecturer at Trinity University.

Noor said framing CAIR as part of the Muslim Brotherhood is a conspiracy theory that has existed since it was founded in the 1990s. She speculated the recent flare-up of trying to tie the two together stems from plans to develop an Islamic community near Dallas.

The East Plano Islamic Center proposed a residential development, called EPIC City, that would include more than 1,000 residential units, a mosque, a K-12 faith-based school and retail shops, among other features.

The project drew controversy and became the subject of multiple investigations.

In an effort to stop the development, Abbott signed into law a bill prohibiting residential developments from building “Sharia compounds” and from discriminating against Texans. However, there are no indications that the organizers of EPIC City intend to operate under Sharia law.

Additionally, the corporation managing the development, Community Capital Partners, agreed to abide by the Texas Fair Housing Act and implement fair housing policies.

Tuesday’s proclamation would not apply to EPIC, which is a Texas-based nonprofit organization. CAIR is also not directly affiliated with EPIC, though the Dallas-Fort Worth office condemned Abbott’s investigation into EPIC City.

“The tie to land goes back to this conflict over EPIC City and so it's like yet another sort of move to kind of deny Muslims the right to develop properties together as a community,” Noor said.

State Rep. Cole Hefner, who sponsored the law, cheered Abbott on Tuesday.

“This move gives our state powerful new tools to stop extremist networks, block them from buying land, and hold anyone who aids or finances them accountable,” he said on in a statement on social media. “Texas will not allow groups tied to Hamas and global terrorism to take root here.

Disappointed, but not surprised

Since he was 10, Shayan Sajid has been attending Maryam Islamic Center in Sugarland, a suburb of Houston, which is estimated to be home to the state’s largest Muslim population. Sajid said that although Abbott’s announcement didn’t surprise him, he was disappointed.

"It's an unfortunate reminder that at times, living in this country and living in Texas, even being in a city as diverse as Houston, we still get so much Islamophobia,” Sajid said, “and not just from random individuals, but from very, you know, powerful individuals."

Sajid said CAIR “is literally something that's just out there to help individuals.”

“There's zero harm in it,” he continued. “I know individuals who do work for CAIR or who have worked for CAIR, like there's literally nothing there to be afraid of, nothing there that's tying them to any dangerous organizations or any dangerous intentions.”

Legal liablity

Abbott’s declaration opens up an array of potential constitutional issues, said Emily Berman, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center. Limiting property purchases based on viewpoints and religious affiliation could prove problematic under the First Amendment and the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

“What is the motivation of these designations?” Berman said. “Is it about their religious views? Is it about their viewpoints on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which would be another First Amendment red flag? You can't discriminate on the basis of someone's viewpoint.”

The designation also raises due process concerns, Berman said, given that it’s not clear how groups can formally challenge the designation.

The U.S. Secretary of State holds the power to designate a group a foreign terrorist organization, though they must notify Congress and publish the designation in the Federal Register. An organization can appeal that designation within 30 days of that publication.

It’s not clear whether such a process exists at the state level. In the order, Abbott said he consulted with Freeman Martin, Texas Department of Public Safety director, and the state’s Homeland Security Council to determine whether to make the designation as required under state law. Whether groups can appeal the state-level designations is unclear.

It’s possible CAIR, for example, could challenge the law in court by arguing the state is overstepping its bounds by making laws around national security matters, Berman said.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

EL PASO — On a recent windy, cold afternoon in this border city, dozens of people gathered at a park for an immigrant rights demonstration to denounce the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Some held signs reading: “Immigrants Make America Great.”

Alan, a local police officer, and his wife came and held a Mexican flag. He said he joined the demonstration because he worries about his father, an undocumented immigrant who works at a farm in southern New Mexico.

Alan said he voted for Donald Trump because of worries about the economy and because he believes Trump is pro-police and would combat the public’s negative perception of law enforcement. He said he believed Trump’s promises to make everyday items affordable for middle-class families.

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But after two weeks of Trump in the White House, Alan — who declined to give his last name because he fears retaliation against his father — said he now regrets his vote. Partly because he was angered when Trump granted clemency to people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

And, he added, “I just don’t agree with how he’s going about the mass deportations.”

In his first week in office, Trump issued nearly a dozen executive orders, many of them targeting the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. The Trump administration gave federal officers a national quota to arrest at least 1,200 undocumented immigrants every day — double the highest daily average in the past 10 years.

The sudden appearance of immigration officers combing the streets of Texas cities, which set off a flurry of social media posts as people documented their presence, has put undocumented Texans, educators, religious leaders, and business owners, among others, on edge, bracing themselves for the worst.

"There’s definitely a lot of fear going on," said Ramiro Luna of Somos Tejas, a Dallas-based nonprofit focused on Latino civic engagement. "Our community feels threatened, and while we’re doing our best to provide information and peace of mind, it’s incredibly difficult. People are afraid to come to any gathering — even to get basic necessities.”

Undocumented and legal immigrants alike describe feeling anxious, angry, hopeless. Some say they’re changing their daily routines to reduce their chances of being swept up by immigration agents on the prowl.

Some classrooms once filled with the chatter of students now sit eerily quiet. Many undocumented parents, terrified of immigration raids, are keeping their children home. Some families, afraid of even the shortest drive, consolidate trips. Stepping outside feels risky.

Undocumented immigrants who have crossed the border without permission can be prosecuted for illegal entry, which is a misdemeanor. Immigrants who entered the U.S. legally but overstayed their visa have violated administrative immigration rules, which is not considered a crime. Federal courts have also ruled that living in the U.S. without legal status is not a crime.

Still, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. government now considers undocumented immigrants criminals — whether or not they have been convicted of a crime.

"I know the last administration didn't see it that way, so it's a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal, but that's exactly what they are,” she said.

Caitlin Patler, a public policy associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said Trump and other Republican leaders dehumanized immigrants during last year’s election cycle and constantly linked them to crime.

“Immigrants were scapegoated throughout the entire presidential campaign,” she said. “They're convinced they are part of the crime problem, even though all evidence points to the contrary.”

Deported in the Rio Grande Valley

Geovanna Galvan is reeling from what she said is the unfair deportation of her father — who was recently cited for impeding traffic by a police officer from Primera, a small town in Cameron County.

On Wednesday, Jaime Galvan Sanchez, 47, was driving a tractor on a road near the farm where he’s worked for more than 10 years when a police officer stopped him. Less than 24 hours later, he was deported to Mexico, Galvan said.

Galvan, 29, said the police officer asked her father if he had any proof of legal residence. When he said he didn't, the officer called federal immigration authorities.

Galvan Sanchez was able to call his daughter to tell her he was being detained by U.S. Border Patrol. She tracked his cellphone to a Border Patrol station in Harlingen and drove there with documents — utility bills, tax documents and property records — to prove he had lived in the U.S. for more than two decades, but she said officers didn’t allow her to see her father.

She was told her father would be allowed to call her, but she didn't hear from him until the next morning when he called from Reynosa, a Mexican border city across the Rio Grande from McAllen.

"They just treated him as if he was nothing," Galvan said.

She said immigration authorities deported him based on a misdemeanor theft conviction from 1991. But she is adamant that he couldn't have committed the crime because he would've been 14 at the time and he arrived in the U.S. from Mexico in his 20s.

"My dad is not that person," she said.

Her biggest worry is her 10-year-old brother, who suffers from epilepsy and hyperinsulinemia –– an excess of insulin in the blood –– and depends on their dad’s income to afford his medication.

"It's not fair they're separating families, especially when you have children or kids that need their parents,” she said. “My little brother needs my dad."

Both her father and mother are undocumented but prior to this week, she had never been worried that her family would be vulnerable to deportation because she believed authorities would only target people with criminal records.

"Now my little brother doesn't want to go to school because he thinks that when he comes home, my mom is not going to be there," she said.

Primera officials did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment but issued a statement on Facebook stating that its police officers do not participate in deportation efforts.

On Friday, immigration authorities allowed Galvan Sanchez to re-enter the U.S. with an ankle monitor and a notice to appear before a judge in March, according to his attorney, Jaime Diez.

Anxiety in schools

The anxiety reaches deep into schools. Many parents have reached out to ImmSchools, a nonprofit organization that supports educators and immigrant students, for guidance, unsure how to comfort students or reassure parents that school is still safe.

Teachers, too, are struggling. At a recent virtual Know Your Rights session by the nonprofit about 150 parents and educators shared stories of how fear has upended their daily routines — students breaking down in tears, fearful that their parents will be deported while they sit in class.

The Trump administration also has said that immigration agents are allowed to enter public schools, health care facilities and places of worship to arrest undocumented immigrants. Previous administrations had prevented agents from entering those sites.

"A family mentioned that they are eight minutes away from school, but even those eight minutes from and to [school] felt like too much,” said Lorena Tule-Romain, co-founder of ImmSchools. “They were asking if there are online schools or can schools provide virtual zoom classes instead.”

For students, the emotional toll is immediate. Teachers have told the organization that some children are withdrawn, others refuse to participate in class and many are visibly anxious.

"How they show up in the classroom, their mental health, their confidence — it’s all affected by their immigration status," Tule-Romain said.

Brenda Gonzalez, the organization's Texas-based associate director, said teachers are reporting low attendance in classes. She said absences put students at risk of falling behind or even being held back because students have to complete a certain number of hours to be promoted to the next grade level.

Legal advice for immigrants

Dallas-based immigration attorney Daniel Stewart said permanent residents are rushing to apply for citizenship, while immigrants who have been given Temporary Protected Status, especially Venezuelans, are desperate for more permanent protections, fearing the next policy change could strip them of their legal status.

Temporary Protected Status is a program Congress created in 1990 that allows immigrants from countries struck by natural disasters or deemed too dangerous by the government to live and work in the U.S.

“There’s a lot of trepidation," Stewart said. “People are worried about what will happen to their pending cases and whether they’ll still be protected under new policies."

Stewart notes that Trump’s more aggressive executive orders and rhetoric are fueling uncertainty. For undocumented immigrants, he stresses the importance of staying out of legal trouble because even minor offenses could lead to detention and deportation.

“Unfortunately, many undocumented individuals have no path to protection. It’s tough," he said. "My advice is obey the law, stay informed, and seek legal counsel when needed."

Mexican government offers app for emergencies

At the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, the phone keeps ringing — worried voices asking urgent questions: What should I do if immigration officers stop me? Who do I call if I’m detained? Is it safe to go to work?

In response, the consulate has ramped up its efforts to support Mexican nationals living in the U.S., expanding legal services and launching new tools to ensure immigrants have access to help when they need it most.

Consul General Francisco de la Torre says he is trying to reassure the community that they are not alone.

“We stand with you, especially during these dark, challenging times,” he said.

One of the Mexican government’s efforts to help its citizens in the U.S. is the ConsulApp Contigo, a mobile application available on Android and iOS that lets users store family contact information, and if they are detained, a single press of a button alerts their relatives and the nearest Mexican consulate.

"It’s not a panic button,” de la Torre said, “but it ensures that your loved ones and the Mexican government know something is happening.”

The consulate has a network of more than 300 law firms across the U.S. to provide legal assistance, particularly in immigration, criminal, and family law cases. In Dallas-Fort Worth alone, hundreds of lawyers are available to offer guidance — no appointment necessary.

As fear spreads, so does misinformation, especially on social media, said de la Torre. Rumors of massive workplace raids have fueled panic, with some immigrants afraid to leave their homes.

De la Torre urges the community to rely on verified sources for information. He said they maintain regular communications with the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, which sits just across the freeway from the consulate.

“Our role is not to cut off dialogue — it’s to improve it,” he said. “Clear communication allows us to better protect the human rights of our community.”

The consulate provides a 24-hour emergency services for cases involving detention, deportation, repatriation, and rights violations. Mexican citizens in Texas can call 520-623-7874 for immediate assistance.