Participants and enthusiasts of cockfighting, Mexican rodeo, and outlaw quarter horse racing are raising questions as to what would happen to the practices mentioned above should the incoming Trump administration proceed with its plan of mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
Additionally, many cockfighting enthusiasts have raised concerns about whether a Republican faction in Oklahoma has considered the possible loss of businesses if immigration agents begin targeting cockfights as suspected easy places to bust illegal immigrants who can be deported as criminals.
Oklahoma cockfighters have also begun asking whether the Trump administration intends to ignore or repeal the federal law prohibiting cockfighting in all U.S. states and territories.
During Trump’s previous presidency, he signed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 which extended the prohibition of cockfighting and dogfighting in federal jurisdictions in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.
The Republican pro-cockfighting faction is already on the march at the Oklahoma state level. In a rally hosted by the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission in early November 2024, an estimated 2,000 attendees participated. The Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission expressed confidence in winning a reduction of penalties for cockfighting from felonies to misdemeanors.
The Oklahoma Senate Republican Caucus has nominated Senator Lonnie Paxton to serve as president pro tempore. In 2023, Paxton was a recipient of two campaign donations from the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission totaling USD 2,500.
Paxton also sponsored the state senate version of state representative Justin “J.J.” Humphrey’s bill to decriminalize cockfighting. However, the bill fell through in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
During the 2024 national election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to deport all 11 million people believed to be residing in the U.S. illegally. However, before even a fraction of them can be deported, they must first be found and identified. Trump insisted that his administration has “no choice,” indicating that deporting would be his priority.
Some individuals in position believe that finding criminals associated with cockfighting is simply a matter of finding cockfights.
Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action (AWA), campaigned for Congress to pass the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act. Pacelle recounted, Recently, Bexar County law enforcement arrested 47 people and seized 200 birds along with illegal weapons. A raid in Goliad County resulted in 60 arrests and several illegal weapons seized.
Earlier this year, more than 160 roosters were seized in a Potter County bust where according to the sheriff, ‘many’ participants were ‘unlawfully in the United States. At a cockfight busted by the San Jacinto sheriff, suspects were expected to face multiple felony charges, ranging from animal cruelty, cockfighting, illegal gambling, unlawful weapon possession, [and] organized crime.”
Pacelle continued, “There have been a series of interdictions at the border, including a federal enforcement action where officers found ‘roosters deeply hidden within passenger vehicles. In Hidalgo County, Texas, in early June 2024, a young man shot his uncle in a dispute over birds thought to be raised for cockfighting. There was also a shooting at a Dallas cockfight last year.”
According to investigations, there is an indication that there is some definite overlap among illegal immigrants with participation in cockfighting, Mexican rodeo, and quarter horse racing but probably not to the extent that many Trump voters imagine. Furthermore, demography and geography indicate that Trump voters are markedly more likely to be involved in cockfighting than illegal immigrants.
Data indicated that 63% of alleged cockfighters arrested in recent years have had Spanish surnames. Also, occasionally, those arrested for alleged cockfighting have been immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, and other points south.
However, about 55% of alleged cockfighters arrested in recent years have had Anglo surnames and came from former Confederate states. 71% were arrested in so-called “red states,” mostly in the rural South and Midwest which are politically dominated by Republicans. There were also alleged cockfighters arrested in so-called “blue states,” mostly urban and politically dominated by Democrats.
Further breaking down the data, only 119 alleged cockfighters in the sample, or 15%, were busted in U.S. states bordering Mexico. Among alleged cockfighters busted in the border states, however, 89%, had Spanish surnames.
The percentage of illegal immigrants to the U.S. who came originally from Mexico has dropped from 59% in 2010 and 55% in 2015 to just 37% as of 2022, or about four million people, according to the Pew Research Center.
