In the premiere of Nick Valencia Live, we sat with the tension, had the conversation, and maybe cracked something open.
July 9, 2025
By Nick Valencia
ATLANTA— It’s easier to caricature people like Joel Cavazos—easier to flatten them into a meme or a headline. But I’ve always believed in going where the story is—and sometimes, that means sitting across from someone who sees the world differently.
Joel and I both agree on something: broadly speaking, there are two types of Latinos.
“[T]here’s the type of Latino who has faced adversity and says, ‘That has made me and built my character. Others should go through it too,’” I said on the show. “There’s the other Latino who has been through adversity, and wants nothing more than to shield people from going through the same thing.”
A child of immigrants from South Texas, Joel backs the ICE raids in Los Angeles as a “necessary overcorrection.” He blames it on “years of poor leadership under President Biden.”
It would’ve been easy to argue with him. Easier still to end the conversation there. But that’s not what I want this platform to be.
He showed up. And I gave him the space to speak—even when I thought what he said was deeply misguided.
The truth is, a lot of people aren’t ready to admit when they’re wrong. It’s hard to make amends. And when they finally are—when they begin to question the narratives they’ve internalized—the last thing they need is someone saying, “I told you so.”
That helps no one.
“If we can be programmed, we can be deprogrammed,” I said on the show.
I’m here to listen. To ask hard questions. To sit in the awkwardness of uncomfortable conversations. Because if someone’s willing to come back down to earth, I want to be the one waiting for them.
Joel reminded me how much people want to be heard—and how few places are left where they actually can be without immediately being judged or shouted down.
After the show, Joel texted me. “I saw Trump’s comments about the [Jeffrey] Epstein list,” he said. “He lost me.”
“Happens that fast,” he added about his dropping of support for President Trump.
Was that a coincidence? I don’t know. But I’m going to count it as a win. I hope we have more.
Our next interview will be with Immigration Editor for The Bulwark, Adrian Carrasquillo.
We’ll be live from Chicago at the 2025 National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) Convention.
I can’t wait to bring you more.
