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In 2022, Michelle Serrano and her South Texas nonprofit helped get the word out about a progressive Democratic candidate trying to win the vacant congressional district in her area of the Rio Grande Valley.
That candidate, Michelle Vallejo, hosted community events at her family’s flea market decrying what she called the “hyper-militarization” of the border due to an increased presence of law enforcement and the construction of a border wall.
But Serrano said she didn’t recognize Vallejo last week in her first major political ad of this new election cycle where she stood shoulder to shoulder with law enforcement officials criticizing the “chaos at the border” and saying it was “time to get serious” about fixing the issue.
“Everybody has this idea that Michelle was pro-immigrant and pro-community and instead we’re getting … pro-police,” Serrano said. “It’s totally …