How the Consulate of Mexico in Las Vegas is preparing for potential mass deportations.

Plus, I think the raid is finally got it right.

Rave reviews for the Raiders coaching hires.

What work remains for the silver and black to succeed?

That's this week on Nevada Week.

Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hearn.

Stat welcome to Nevada Week on an Amber Renee Dixon.

How legitimate are the Las Vegas Raiders following a number of big name coaching hires?

That's ahead, but we begin with President Donald Trump's campaign promise of mass deportations.

With Mexico being the most common country of birth among unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., President Trump's pledge has consulates of Mexico across the country on high alert.

And that includes right here in Las Vegas.

And joining me to discuss her work in the face of these possible mass deportations is Patricia Cortez Gallardo Rana, the consul of Mexico in Las Vegas.

I said, Patricia, but I should have said Patricia, Patricia, Patricia is fine.

Okay.

Welcome to Nevada.

Thank you.

You have a lot of responsibilities.

But in relation to this topic of potential mass deportations, as I understand it, your responsibilities include preparing the Mexican citizens in Nevada for potential raids and also making sure that if a raid happens, their rights are not violated.

How well aware do you think the general public is that Mexican citizens have rights here in the U.S.?

Yes.

Well, that is a big part of what we're doing now.

We are not as yet facing, mass deportations or anything of that sort.

But it is important for the Mexican community and the Hispanic community at large to know that they do have rights and that they can prepare, their personal, situation in case they need to go back.

So, we are working with the community at large, and we have also, a broad range of partners, that help us to do just that, to help them prepare.

One action that you are taking, along with other organizations is to hold these know your rights town halls and those what are the rights that you are telling people in the event of a raid?

This is what you should say.

These are the rights that you should exercise.

One of the very important things that we stress is, and we underline, is that they should be, they should be listening to real and official sources of information because we are very prone to listen to well or say my neighbor is cousin's girlfriend said such and such are my aunt, but these are not necessarily real sources of information.

So what we do is we partner up with organizations that, can give them official information.

And like you said in this stance, let them be prepared and let them know what they should do in case somebody knocks on their door, for instance, again, this is not happening yet.

The only thing that we have seen is, people who have already an administrative, deportation order, or a criminal record.

Those people are the ones that, you know, are might be, deported.

But other than that, we haven't seen anything yet.

And I know you keep stressing that this has not happened.

And why are you doing that?

I think it's because there is an elevated level of fear.

Exactly.

That's what you're seeing.

Yes, exactly.

We see, families and people in general being fearful.

And, when fear is in place, then we tend not to act as we should.

You know, there is no reason right now to be extremely fearful.

There is an opportunity, I find, to organize our personal, informational personal effect.

For instance, well, if you have bank accounts, people c.. so if I own a house or if I have a car, or have a bank account, how can I, how what happens if I have to go back for, for whatever reason, we help them out with that.

Or, for instance, there are some children who are, able to have dual citizenship, and we invite them to come to the consulate and get that done as well.

It's way easier for for families to have, dual citizenship to, to make decisions.

Right?

..

I would say decisions.

Yeah.

So the Pew Research Center estimates that there are 190,000 unauthorized immigrants in Nevada, making up nearly 6% of the state's population and nearly 9% of the state's workforce force for that term.

Unauthorized immigrant to people who would ask, why do you not say illegal immigrant?

How would you respond?

Well, we don't use the term illegal.

We don't believe anybody is illegal.

We use undocumented because they don't have the correct documentation.

But we believe that every person is legal.

You can't, in our view, call someone illegal.

Okay.

To those who say if you are here illegally without documents, right, you should be deported, what would you say?

I'd say there's a misunderstanding generall.. the undocumented population.

As you well stated, the undocumented population in Nevada itself is around 9% of the workforce, which means also that they do contribute with taxes, both state and federal taxes.

People usually do not know this, and they believe that they receive benefits, and don't pay taxes.

That is actually the opposite.

They do, pay the actually around 2022, I believe it was more or less $500 million that they contributed to the through, state and federal taxes and they don't receive benefits at all.

Okay.

I want to ask about your communication with law enforcement.

Who have you been talking to with in Nevada, and what are you asking them?

Well, we're reaching out to all authorities.

We've, talked to the attorney general.

We've talked to sheriffs, Metro Sheriff Henderson.

Sheriff, we just had a conversation with Carson City sheriff as well.

So, my jurisdiction is the whole of Nevada.

So we've we've spoken to, all the authorities and, they have been very clear that, they their job is to make sure that t.. and that they feel, trust, in order to.

And in case this, they are, they've been victims of crime or they have seen something that they can come out and report it, regardless of their immigration status.

They do not ask for their immigration status.

And that is what Clark County Sheriff Kevin Hill has said, is that Metro will not enforce immigration violations, but that they will notify Ice if a foreign born individual is arrested and charged with a violent felony, domestic violence driving under the influence and now burglary, theft, larceny and or assault of a law enforcement officer as well because of the Lincoln Riley Act.

Have you spoken with any law enforcement in the state who says no?

We do plan to enforce federal immigration.

No.

As of now.

No.

Again, we've we've.. both Metro and Henderson police come to the consulate, talk to the people and just receive questions from them.

And again, letting them know that, they will not ask for their immigration status and they're there to keep them safe.

Now, the Clark County School District also released a statement saying, in part, that the district does not check any students immigration status and is not responsible for enforcing federal immigration law.

Despite this, we have heard from a local teacher who says parents of her students have come to her asking, should we be sending our kids to school?

Is ice going to come for them?

Yes, yes, that is unfortunate.

We've heard that too.

And that is why, we're working also with the Clark County School District and also with schools themselves.

So just yesterday we were at, one, high school that has a wide or a high percentage of immigrant, children there, and mixed family status.

We spoke to the staff and explained what it is we do and what we see and why, you know, because they need to know in order also to talk to the parents.

We offered to talk to the parents as well, letting them know that as of now, there is no reason why those kids should not be in school.

Okay.

And the .. but from what I've read of those, know your rights meetings, one includes you do not have to talk to law enforcement.

Yes.

Stay silent.

What are some of the other key important messages you want to get across?

It is important for them to first of all know if a judge has issued an order for for the for ice in this case to to be there.

Okay.

If t..

But we also have, law firms coming into the consulate.

We have a different ones every day, where people can just come in and ask the questions that they want, right.

The Tricia Cortez Water Rama Council of Mexico in Las Vegas.

Thank you for joining Nevada Week.

Thank you very much for having me.

Switching gears, the 2025 NFL season is now about seven months away following the Philadelphia Eagles 4822 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 here in Las Vegas.

The Raiders finished their season just four and 13 under head coach Antonio Pierce.

Under the guidance of Raiders minority owner .. Pierce and hire former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll to take his place.

Raiders reporter Heidi Fang of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and NFL analyst and former NFL wide receiver Mike Pritchard join me to discuss these major moves and more.

Okay, so are either of you aware of any opposition to the hiring of Pete Carroll as head coach?

I'm not.

I mean, I think the Raiders finally .. Yeah, it's been a long time coming, but I think they finally got it right.

And here's why.

You know Pete Carroll a lot of people will look at his age.

But I'm going to disregard his age.

I'm going to look at his experience and look at the fact that he's one of 36.

He's only been 36.

Head coaches have won a Super Bowl, and he's one of ..

He's almost more exclusive than that one of 14.

And those are coaches that have won multiple Super Bowls.

He was one yard away.

I think with the process they looked at Ben Johns..

Right.

An.. just because they did have their eyes set on the Lions offensive coordinator, perhaps even the defensive coordinator whom they also interviewed.

But when it came down to it, they made the right choice in getting Pete.

I know he was always like right there in the mix, like as the top choices go.

So with the combination of Brady spy, tech also Pete Carroll, and then working in the coordinators that they now have with Chip Kelly and Patrick Brown.

But I think the formula for success is set there.

I ask that because I wonder why it took so long for him to get hired in the first place.

And perhaps it really wasn't even that long.

It was one season that he missed.

But in that offseason, there were eight new head coaches hired and he didn't get picked up.

Was it because of his age?

Why do you think?

I think so.

I mean, I think, you know, .. maybe there was some issues there with his age.

And how long will it take for him to help us here with the Raiders.

It came to a decision with spy tech.

And they hired him first.

So I think that was important to get the GM .. and then get the head coach to make sure everybody's going to be on the same page.

He's the new general manager, right from Tampa Bay.

Right.

So for the Raiders, they needed all their ducks in a row.

They need they all need to be on the same page, because they haven't been on the same page for a number of years, at least 20 years.

Right.

Can you say that?

And how do you know that?

It will just I think the losses kind of speak to that.

The how many winning records they've had, which haven't been many.

You know, the two play offs that they've been able to make in the past couple of decades.

And that just speaks to the culture there hasn't been set.

Right, whether it's between a coach or a GM, or between a disconnect with a quarterback and a coach or a coordinator or do you have the running game?

They have the offensive line.

You know, all the different things that start off wit.. coach position and trickle down and even general manager position.

I mean, they've gone through, you know, Reggie McKenzie from when I started covering the team to how many of those introductory press conferences have.

Yeah, for sure sure.

And Mack and yeah.

And now we have Switek.

That's for Carroll, 73 years old, won a Super Bowl, went to a Super Bowl and lost it by one yard.

Did not hand the ball to Lynch.

However, Marshawn Lynch was at the introductory press conference for Pete Carroll for the Raiders.

What does that say about him as a players coach?

He's got credibility.

The players love him.

I think what players realize is that Pete Carroll helps you become a better player because he's going to pull it out of you.

He wants you to compete.

And as players, that's all we ask for.

But we're also going to understand who we are.

And that's what I mean by finally being on the same page again, is that Pete Carroll is going to mark out an identity for this football team, an identity that they haven't had.

How do you let Josh Jacobs go over yet?

You want to run the football?

Why do you bring in, you know, Davante Adams when are you going to let go Derek Carr It doesn't make sense.

Right.

So now everything is goi..

They're going to have an identity.

They're going to know what the expectations expect.. And then more importantly you're going to know how to get there because Pete Carroll and SPI tech know how to get there.

Something I loved about the Legion of Boom when he was with Seattle 2013.

And you have like Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas.

Right.

Holding it down.

They weren't just a physical team when they got out th.. the way that they played, but they were about we you heard the chant before they took the field.

This is about us.

We are a team.

Pete was right along with them, firing them up.

And if not throwing the footballs to them before in the warm ups.

That's right, that's right.

Yeah.

Okay.

So Pete Carroll did talk about.. How long will it take for the Raiders to become successful for him to turn this team around.

He talked about this at the introductory press conference.

Let's take a listen to that right now.

You know you all wondering about timelines and all that.

It took us a few years to get to the very top of, the last couple, programs I was with.

We'll start right now, going for it immediately.

We're not we don't have some timeline.

We got to make it 5 or 6 years down the road.

That's not what we're thinking.

We're going to start right now to go after .. as quickly as we can.

As, just saw Max back there.

Max, send the message, man.

We're coming after you.

We're going to come find you gu.. as soon as possible with the highest of expectations, with, with a, a mentality that, will drive high performance in a way that hopefully everybody's going to hear us and they're going to know us.

And he has a history of doing that with USC and Seattle, turning them around pretty quickly.

I'm interested in him and his addressing.

Or would you say calling out Max Crosby, who was there, the pass rusher for the Raiders who has had so much success for time Pro Bowler?

What do you think about him doing that?

Well, Max is the leader of the team.

Max is the guy that is going to set the tone with the rest of the team about his spots, like when they wanted Antonio Pierce.

Max was spearheading the campaign to get Antonio Pierce there along with DeVante.

He's one of the leaders, the voices of the team, the face of the team.

So I think it was important for him to get on that page with Max.

And he knows Max is about b..

So I think that it was really important to pass that on and to get everybody geared up in the same direction they're already feel before they have it and step into the door during the practice and offseason.

This is the tone we're setting.

Depending on what you read, Max Crosby may not be a Raider next y.. or he may be a Raider next year.

What are the Raiders have to do to keep him, and what does he have to do?

I guess to stay?

I mean, there is an argument some wou.. trade him and get a bunch of draft picks so you can rebuild quickly.

I don't think either of you think that's the way to go, right?

No, I know, the Raiders, they don't keep their best players.

I just talked about Josh Jacobs.

I think it's bizarre.

It is bizarre.

But like I said, I think they're on the same page ..

So, when you call out Max Crosby in a in an introductory press conference, you're letting him know that we want, you know, what is it going to take to keep them money?

It's going to take.

I mean, Max needs a ne..

He under contract through the 2026 with no guarantee money.

And he's coming off.

He's coming off injury.

Yeah.

So as a player, he's definitely..

But Pete Carroll knows that.

Switek knows that.

I mean, so, but for the Raiders to have high expectations .. they need to keep their best players.

And granted, the numbers that we talk about, when you look at Max's contract right now, it's about 43 million over two years not guaranteed.

The level of where his position is come for the high end players is now around 30.

So 30 years.

So you're thinking, okay, how much more can th.. Max, where's the cap room?

How do they also pay him and then still bring in a good volume of players?

Because if you're going to look at a quarterback position and try to bring i.. a Sam Darnold, you're going to have to have a good p.. And there's about 28 players coming into this season that are going to be free agents of some sort, whether it's unrestricted or restricted free agents, that they're going to have to look at those players as well.

The Raiders need a quarterback.

So then what makes more sense to keep max Crosby try to get a quarterback in free agency or in the draft?

What do you think is going to happen?

You know, Amber, I think there's always ways to keep a player.

I call it cap nomics because you can play games with the salary cap and you can use structure salaries a certain way up front, money a certain way.

If you want a player, you find a way to keep them.

And if you want a player in free agency, you find a way to go get them.

So it seems like in with Heidi's mentioning that the Raiders may attack a quarterback in free agency, but also look to draft a quarterback as well.

So that will make a lot of, sense from a cap standpoint to for a longevity standpoint, for the Ra..

I know hindsight's 2020.

What I wish they had done, what they needed to do to go after a guy like Jayden Daniels, something that wasn't going to happen with the picks on the capital that they had last year, they obviously I think they try to make that push because of his connection with Antonio Pierce.

But now we're looking at okay, solder, Sanders, cam Ward in the draft.

How do you either try to secure one of those players should they fall to six.

Right.

In the Raiders even while they ..

I think so, yeah.

And so then you're looking at Jaxson Dart at Ole Miss whose pro.. second round end of the first after what I heard how he performed at the Senior Bowl from one of our beat writers out of any bones in your ear was his thing in his praises after the Senior Bowl.

So now what does that do to his draft value?

How do you try to secure somebody like that?

But ultimately, I think the best plan is that they do get a quarterback in free agency, not necessarily that bandaid guy, right.

But somebody that can lead as they bring up someone as a rookie as well.

So I guess it would kind of be a Band-Aid, but I don't want to use somebody who can compete.

Yes, yes.

Right.

And who might that be.

Sam Darnold I've even heard people say Might Russell Wilson join Pete Carroll.

Well I think Russell you know is looking at Pittsburgh.

So he kind of dodged those questions at the Pro Bowl.

He is a going to be a free agent.

So they do have to lock him into a new contract.

So there is always that.

What if the reunion does happen.

Overall I would say Sam Darnold does kind of have the potential to be one of those guys.

But when you look at the last two games that he had with Minnesota that's concerning that Sam Darnold goes off return from the past.

So you have to wonder okay well what do we need to have a Sam Darnold.

Do we need new offensive linemen to give him extra time and protection.

Or do we need someone like Daniel Jones.

Do we need someone like Jameis Winston is also out there and there's opportunities to bring in somebody.

But it's I think the big question is how would they work into Joe Kelly's offense.

Do the Raiders need to go shopping for other guys to be able to support the quarterback that they do bring in for free agent?

I'm glad you bring up Chip Kelly, the new offensive coordinator .. Who does he want at the quarterback?

Well, it's important because you look at Kliff Kingsbury and what he did with Jayden Daniels.

Jayden came into the league.

He didn't really have to learn a pro-style offense.

Everything was highly familiar with what he was doing from college.

So a Chip Kelly who's coming from college, you know, you can insert a younger quarterback because I think Chip Kelly can adjust his system to a college quarterback, not necessarily make that college quarterback become a pro quarterback right away.

So that goes to the identity, I think, again, for the Raiders at the Raiders going to want to run the football.

They're gonna have to boost offensive line.

We got to get better there first.

I think more so than try to get it right with quarterback.

They'll get it right with quarterback.

I think they'll have a lot of opportunity to get i..

But that offensive line has to be repaired.

In order to be what Pete Carroll wants, this football team to be.

Last thing, Tom Brady is a minority owner of the Raiders.

He is also an analyst for Fox.

There have been talks of a potential conflict of interest.

The NFL has taken action to make sure that he is not doing what that would make it more of a conflict of interest.

You were telling me this off camera, Heidi.

Well, he can't go into the locker room to do his prep work.

A lot of times during the week, the analysts have the opportunity to go into the team's locker rooms, get information, and try to build a rapport, report and rapport.

And on top of that, he cannot, go in any Raiders preparation.

He cannot step foot into the Raiders practices.

So those are a couple of things that they've done.

There's some other small rules that he has to follow as well when he is broadcasting.

And I think what Tom Brady has done so well though is that he does communicate with Roger Goodell.

We heard him speak about that.

The NFL commissioner during the Super Bowl of how much and contact Tom is with him to say, am I doing this right?

Am I following the rules to the tee?

And am I seeing, you know, every single thing that I need to do off of this list that you have set out for me as a stipulation of me holding this dog with Fox for the next decade, basically, and also being a part owner of the Raiders.

So do what Roger Goodell said.

They may even look at those rules again.

And this offseason right now.

So maybe restructure them a bit.

I don't know which way that would be.

Would they loosen them?

Would they tighten them.

But I would think that they saw Tom toe the line perfectly, that he did exactly what he needed to do to be able.

And I didn't see that there was a conflict.

I didn't to be able to did you know?

Not at all.

Okay.

Tom's a film junkie anyway, so..

But he'll he'll get better.

But he's going to be dedicated watching film, to, get better as an analyst, you know, as a minority owner, I think all that will take car.. Last question.

This is kind of a curveball, but what.. Could it perhaps be to have Tom Brady own the Raiders one day?

I mean, Dana White knows he you know, they don't he doesn't have a son or a child.

So it's not too late.

It's 69, 69.

I just know he needs to avoid what the Broncos went through because I was in Denver when you had two different families from Pat Bowlen.

Trying to own the football team and know it was Game of Thrones.

So as far as a plan, I don't know what that is.

And I don't know if it's it's not soon.

I think Mark is and entirely enjoying owning this football team right now.

Let's see, president Dana White has been rumored to what?

No, no, I was just pointing out some billionaires.

Oh, okay.

I have to say, I have.

I read that Derek Stevens.

I don't know what other billionaires we have out there.

That's right.

Yeah.

So okay.

I mean, if Jeff Bezos can get space, Boy oh boy.

No.

Heidi saying you can watch her coverage.

Follow her coverage on Vegas nation.com that is under the Las Vegas Review-Journal umbrella.

Mike Pritchard.

Follow him on x.

He is everyw..

I thank you both for joining Nevada Week.

And thank you for watching for any of the resources discussed on this show, including a link to the Consulate of Mexico in Las Vegas.

Go to Vegas, PBS.org, slash Nevada Week, and I'll see you next week on Nevada Week.