Trump's first 100 days impact in the Valley

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — April 29th marked the 100th day of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

Many of Trump's policies have had a direct impact on the Rio Grande Valley whether it be the economy, tariffs or immigration.

“I think he's doing a good job," said John Meador. "I think some of the things he's doing we needed done years ago. The border, he's closed down the border. He's getting the tariff on imports under control.

Meador believes the president’s actions have been good for the Valley over the past three months.

Trump supporter Maria Del Sagrario Rodriguez she says she feel there’s a lot of uncertainty.

“I really wanted Trump to win, but now I don’t know what to tell you," Rodriguez said. "I was surprised because I thought the markets would go up and that he would have a much better economic policy than what he’s doing now, and everything is just falling apart. Everything we thought he would do to improve things is actually making it worse.”

Meador says changes in the economy are only temporary.

“I think it'll pick up. I think he's on the right track," he adds.

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Economics Professor Gautam Hazarika says economists view tariffs as bad economic policy.

“It's called stagflation, where you have a stagnant economy and inflation," Hazarika said. "So something like that is the worst case scenario. I hope it doesn't happen. I hope that President Trump's tariffs are just a negotiating tool, which many people think it is.”

Hazarika believes tariffs are also bad for commercial trade, which is a major industry in the Valley.

On the campaign trial, Trump promised to close the borders. Customs and Border Protection reports over a 70% drop in illegal border crossings in the Rio Grande Valley sector.

However, immigration attorney Carlos Moctezuma Garcia calls these first 100 days chaotic.

“We've gone through multiple administrations, and these first 100 days of the Trump Administration have been like no other," Garcia said. "It's the callousness and ease of violating certain court orders have definitely raised eyebrows the things that the Trump Administration is trying to do, sometimes it appears that they're trying to act first before realizing what the law is.”

Garcia believes Trump will continue to double down on immigration policy as he has also seen an uptick in local businesses calling their office to get legal counsel unlike before. He also believes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids will continue well beyond these first 100 days.

“ICE continues to stop people and work closely with municipalities to detain people," Garcia said. "The detention centers definitely are full locally and just people need to be aware that ICE is enforcing and detaining people, and will continue to do so.”

The president marked the 100-day milestone with a rally in Michigan. It was his largest political event since returning to the White House.