North Texas

Many North Texas Mexican-American Families Fear For Future

Questions still linger for many Mexican-Americans when it comes to talk of a wall between Mexico and the Unites States.

For many, there is still uncertainty about the possibility of a 20 percent tariff on imported goods from Mexico and what it could mean to everyday life. Some North Texans fear that tariff could put some Mexican-American communities in a financial crisis and threaten quality of life.

“We get pretty upset because [President Trump] is trying to make it so difficult on us,” Dalia Arce of Grapevine said.

As Mexican immigrants, Arce and her siblings were born in the United States. The stores and this country are all they have ever known.

“I grew up working here basically since I was a little baby,” she said.

Arce and her family own two stores in Grapevine that carry Mexican made and imported goods ranging from food to clothing. They fear that their merchandise could get harder to get and keep in stock. There are also fears of having to raise prices if a tariff is put in place.

"It would be very difficult just because this is what I have so that I can have what I need," she said. "This is where it all comes from for me. My clothes, my food."

Arce said stores like theirs are more than a luxury for some local families. They are often a necessity in some communities.

“They work maybe two jobs or one job and they have to take care of their daughters and they send money every day,” she said.

Their store also makes it possible for those living in the United States to send money home to family members. She said people are watching politics a little closer than ever.

"Mostly people are pretty upset [and] very scared,” she said. “A lot of people are just trying to do everything they can to be ready just for anything and that's the scarier part because we don't know what might happen. We can get ripped apart from everything that we have."

Arce is worried about the community and also how a tariff would affect her family business.

“My parents really wanted to open their own business so they could have something for me and my siblings mostly,” she said. “That’s the big dream. To give the family something that they couldn’t get when they were younger.”

Contact Us