🏌️ Par for the Course: Trump Golfs Through Texas Tragedy While Immigrants Save Lives
Two 19-year-old counselors risked everything to save 20 children while the president perfected his golf swing
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
🌊🌧️ When terrible floods hit Texas and claimed many lives, including children at a summer camp, two brave 🇲🇽 19-year-old Mexican women named Silvana and María Paula saved 20 kids by moving them to safety and writing their names on their arms for identification.
🛟👧👦 While these heroes risked their lives to save children, President Trump was 🏌️♂️ playing golf at his fancy club. This highlights how the same Mexican immigrants that some politicians want to kick out of the country are actually the ones who help save Americans during disasters. 🇺🇸🤝 It's like if your school bully was mean to the kid who always shares their lunch, but then when the bully got hurt, that same kind kid was the one who helped them. 🏫🥪💪
🗝️ Takeaways
🌊 Two 19-year-old Mexican camp counselors, Silvana Garza Valdez and María Paula Zárate, saved 20 children during the deadly Texas floods while Trump was golfing
⛳ Trump spent 22.5% of his presidency on golf courses and was playing golf while children were drowning in Texas floodwaters
🚨 At least 80 people died in the Texas floods, including 28 children, with 11 girls and one counselor still missing from Camp Mystic
💔 Trump's cuts to the National Weather Service may have impaired flood warning capabilities, potentially contributing to the disaster
🔥 Mexico has consistently provided emergency aid to the US, including 72 firefighters for LA wildfires and flood rescue heroes in Texas
🏗️ ICE operates with a budget larger than many national militaries, targeting the same communities that repeatedly save American lives
⛪ The Christian camp tragedy exposes the hypocrisy of politicians who preach family values while demonizing those who actually save families
🌍 Texas receives billions in federal disaster aid while simultaneously blocking climate change preparations and research
Trump Danced and Golfed While Children Drowned: Mexican Heroes Show Us What Real Leadership Looks Like
Por Three Sonorans
While the Guadalupe River was turning into a death trap in Texas, our so-called president was dancing on the White House balcony and then hitting the golf course. As waters rose and children screamed for help, Trump perfected his swing. This isn't just negligent leadership—it's the face of fascism wrapped in a MAGA cap, golfing while la gente drowns.
But in the midst of this horror, two young Mexican women showed us what real heroism looks like. While Trump was too busy with his weekend leisure activities to comprehend the gravity of the situation, 19-year-old camp counselors Silvana Garza Valdez and María Paula Zárate were literally writing names on children's arms to identify their bodies if the worst happened.
Let that sink in for a moment.
The Heroes the Media Won't Talk About
When the flash floods hit Camp Mystic and surrounding areas in Kerr County on July 4th, at least 80 people died, including 28 children.
The Guadalupe River rose an unthinkable 22 feet in just 45 minutes, turning a beloved summer camp into a nightmare scene of death and destruction.
While emergency responders scrambled and parents desperately searched social media for any news of their children, Silvana and María Paula were doing what they could with what they had. When the power went out at 3 AM and the storm intensified, they moved 20 younger girls to safer cabins, writing identification on their arms and staying with them through the terrifying night.
"Los vidrios temblaban, parecía una película," María Paula told Foro TV. The windows were shaking, it seemed like a movie. But this wasn't Hollywood—this was life and death, and these young women stepped up when it mattered most.
The Dehumanization Machine vs. Human Dignity
Here's the bitter ironía that should make every American's blood boil: while ICE operates with a budget larger than many national militaries, terrorizing communities and separating families in the name of "security," it was these same "dangerous" immigrants who risked everything to save American children.
The ICE deportation machine, now operating as the 15th largest military force in the world under Trump's expanded budget, has one mission: dehumanize and remove. But when real crisis strikes, when children are literally drowning, it's the supposedly "unwanted" Mexican workers who show up with corazón and courage.
This isn't the first time, either.
Just six months ago, when Los Angeles was burning in devastating wildfires, Mexico sent 72 highly skilled firefighters to help battle the blazes. These weren't just any firefighters—they were specialists from Mexico's National Forestry Commission and military emergency response units who worked alongside over 14,000 personnel already fighting the fires.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said it perfectly: "Emergencies have no borders." But apparently, neither does hypocrisy. The same administration that wants to deport Mexican workers by the millions has no problem accepting their help when white neighborhoods are burning.
Trump's Texas-Sized Failure
While Silvana and María Paula were literally keeping children alive, where was Trump? Dancing on the White House balcony, then heading to his New Jersey golf course. When asked about the tragedy aboard Air Force One, his response was typically tone-deaf: "It's terrible. The floods? It's shocking," he said, as if he'd just heard about a minor fender-bender.
This is the same man who has spent 22.5% of his time in office on golf courses—38 days out of 167 days in office. While children were fighting for their lives in rushing waters, Trump was working on his handicap.
However, the criminal negligence extends beyond poor optics.
Trump's administration has systematically gutted the very agencies that could have provided better flood warnings. His cuts to the National Weather Service left critical positions unfilled, and his proposed 2026 budget seeks to eliminate all of NOAA's weather and climate research labs. The same labs that develop the forecasting technology that could have saved lives in Texas.
The National Weather Service did issue warnings, but questions remain about whether critical staffing shortages affected warning dissemination.
When asked if the government should rehire the meteorologists who were fired, Trump's response was classically callous: "I would think not. This was a thing that happened in seconds."
Mentiroso. Weather experts had been tracking this storm system and issuing warnings since Thursday morning. This wasn't a surprise—it was a failure of leadership.
The Christian Hypocrisy
Let's talk about the elephant in the room—or should I say, the cross in the sanctuary.
Camp Mystic was a Christian camp, and Texas politicians never miss an opportunity to thump their Bibles and talk about "family values." But when actual families were torn apart by waters, when actual children needed saving, it wasn't the "Christian" leadership who stepped up.
It was two young Mexican women—the same demographic that Texas Republicans love to demonize and deport—who embodied the values these politicians only preach about on Sundays.
The camp's director, Dick Eastland, did die heroically trying to save campers, and that deserves recognition. But let's not ignore the broader hypocrisy: a state that claims to be guided by Christian values while simultaneously working to expel the very people who demonstrate Christian compassion in action.
The Economics of Cruelty
Here's where the economics get truly obscene. Texas received $18 billion in federal disaster aid since 2017, more than almost any other state except Florida. The same Texas that votes to slash federal spending suddenly has its hand out when disaster strikes.
Meanwhile, the state's elected leaders consistently resist acknowledging climate change, the very phenomenon making these disasters more frequent and severe. They passed laws in 2023 that actually prohibit cities from enacting their own climate mitigation protocols.
So Texas wants federal money to clean up from climate disasters while simultaneously preventing local communities from preparing for them. It's disaster capitalism at its most grotesque—privatize the preparation, socialize the costs, and let immigrants do the actual saving.
A Tale of Two Responses
The contrast couldn't be starker:
Trump's Response:
Dancing and golfing while children drowned
Cutting weather service personnel
Eliminating climate research funding
Building walls instead of warning systems
Mexican Response:
72 firefighters deployed to LA fires within days
Two young counselors risking their lives for strangers' children
Immediate, selfless action in multiple crises
No questions asked, no politics involved
This isn't just about individual heroism—it's about fundamental values. Nuestra gente understand that when someone is drowning, you don't ask for their papers first. You throw them a rope.
The Bigger Picture: Fascism in Golf Shoes
What happened in Texas isn't an isolated incident—it's a preview of America under increasingly authoritarian rule. When leaders prioritize leisure activities over public safety, gut the very agencies designed to protect people, and demonize the same communities that consistently step up in crises, we're not just witnessing incompetence.
We're watching the deliberate dismantling of public safety in service of private power. Trump's golf games while children die aren't just bad optics—they're the natural result of a system that values property over people and profit over protection.
The ICE budget grows while weather warning systems are cut. Military spending increases while climate research is eliminated. We can afford to terrorize immigrant families but can't afford to properly forecast floods that kill children.
This is what fascism looks like in practice: spectacular displays of cruelty combined with basic incompetence in governance. The cruelty is the point, but the incompetence is just as deadly.
Where We Go From Here
As I write this from the borderlands of southern Arizona, I'm reminded daily that the real threats to our communities don't come from the hardworking families crossing the desert. They come from the politicians in air-conditioned offices who would rather build walls than warning systems and who prefer golf to governance.
Silvana Garza Valdez and María Paula Zárate represent the America we could be—the America we should be. An America where people take care of each other regardless of where they were born, where courage trumps cowardice, where humanity matters more than citizenship status.
Their actions remind us that while we cannot rely on our government to protect us, we can rely on one another. While politicians dance and golf through disasters, ordinary people—especially those this system tries hardest to erase—show up with life-saving love.
The Mexican firefighters battling California blazes, the counselors saving children in Texas floods, the families sharing water in desert crossings—estos son nuestros héroes.
These are our heroes. Not the bloviating billionaires in golf carts, but the young women writing names on children's arms because they know what it means to be responsible for another human life.
¡La Lucha Continúa!
The fight continues, hermanos y hermanas. While Trump golfs and ICE raids, while politicians preach and profit, real people are doing the real work of building the world we need.
Support your local immigrant communities. Volunteer with disaster relief organizations. Vote in every election, from school board to Senate. And remember that when the next crisis hits—and it will—it probably won't be the politicians who save you.
It'll be someone like Silvana and María Paula: young, brave, and deeply human in a system designed to strip humanity away.
What can you do right now?
Donate to United We Dream and local immigrant rights organizations
Volunteer with disaster relief groups in your area
Contact your representatives to oppose cuts to weather services and climate research
Support Three Sonorans Substack to keep independent borderlands journalism alive
Share stories of immigrant heroism to counter the dehumanizing narratives
Got questions or thoughts? Drop them in the comments below:
How do we better support immigrant communities who consistently show up in crises?
What other examples of immigrant heroism have you witnessed that deserve recognition?
Solidarity forever,
Three Sonorans
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
Viva la Silvana y Maria! People like you are ensconced in our hearts. Power to The People!
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