The seed of the Heart of Texas Network for Immigrant Rights (HOTNIR) was planted on the steps of Seventh & James Baptist Church as co-founders Dr. Blake Burleson and Dr. Mark Brickhouse ran into each other as they exited the Sunday service.
“We talked a little bit that day about concern for our undocumented neighbors in McLennan County, and so I said, ‘Well, let’s start meeting for coffee.’ So we began to meet through December and into January and we came up with a concept for this network,” Burleson said.
Burleson, a former senior lecturer and associate dean for undergraduate studies, said the concept of HOTNIR formed out of the rhetoric the Trump administration was pushing regarding immigration, rhetoric which only increased Burleson’s concern for his neighbors.
In recent years immigration rhetoric has become more heated, with rising fears of the ‘great replacement’ conspiracy, claims that Haitian refugees are eating pets, and generalizations that a majority of ICE arrests are dangerous criminals. This rhetoric has been combined with a “radical shift away from standard law enforcement principles and toward a ‘mass deportation’ agenda … focused more on creating content and hitting arrest quotas than on public safety and national security,” according to the American Immigration Council.
It’s not some far-off problem — the Waco community feels the rising tension. In January the McLennan County commissioners approved an agreement with ICE in which two county sheriff’s officers would work with federal immigration authorities. The partnership could impact the estimated 10,600 undocumented immigrants reported to live in Waco in 2019.
About 85 concerned citizens attended HOTNIR’s first meeting in February 2025. Since then the network has grown to over 250 volunteers with 12 teams.
HOTNIR members and protesters make an appearance at the Waco No Kings Day demonstration. | Courtesy of James Benton
The network’s mission is to contribute skills, resources, and time to support and advocate for the rights of all immigrants and migrants in the Waco area. It offers a wide net of services covered by its 12 teams, including outreach and communication, a hotline for reporting ICE activity, legal services, food, transportation, and counseling, priding itself on being a highly comprehensive service. Partner organizations like The Shepherd’s Heart, the Texas Immigration Law Council, La Puerta Waco, and American Gateway provide additional support for the network.
Pulling on its foundation as a network conceptualized on the steps of a church, HOTNIR draws on scripture to support its mission of loving one’s neighbor and welcoming the foreigner.
The makeup of HOTNIR is mostly religious individuals who come from diverse walks of life, ranging from Baylor students to elderly retirees. Regardless of the life each volunteer leads, Burleson notes that this mission begins with faith, calling the members of Seventh & James Baptist Church the godfathers of the network.
“Those of faith are primarily motivated by Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as ourselves, and also to welcome the immigrant and the foreigner in our midst,” Burleson said. “Even though there are obstacles that the federal government and the state government are putting in our way, we’re going to continue to serve these vulnerable people who are hurting badly.”
Because the political sphere can be emotionally draining, burnout is a challenge Burleson has to face, especially within the volunteer team that comprises HOTNIR.
“The thing that we try to communicate as leaders in HOTNIR is that no one can do everything, but everyone can do something, and that one thing that you do can make an enormous difference,” Burleson said.
HOTNIR also acts as a community pulse check, disseminating stories to local media outlets and highlighting injustices undocumented immigrants are facing in Waco.
One such story is that of well-known Waco restaurateur Sergio Garcia, who was deported in early 2025. Garcia was a pillar of the Waco food scene, known for his food truck, Sergio’s Food Truck, commonly found downtown. Although his previous venture, El Siete Mares, closed in 2014, Sergio’s Food Truck served the Waco community up until its closure in September 2025.
Following Sergio’s deportation, disbelief rippled through the Waco community as reported by The Waco Bridge, with Floyd Colley recounting how Garcia supported his business, the Brazos Bike Lounge, before it blossomed into what it is today, and retired Waco attorney Stuart Smith questioning “Why Sergio?”
HOTNIR works to highlight stories like Garcia’s, stories that may get lost in the chaos of today’s political atmosphere, making a splash and exposing the lives that are impacted by ICE. By spotlighting people like Garcia, the network attempts to combat the dehumanizing rhetoric surrounding immigration policy today.
“The hateful rhetoric coming out of [the Trump] administration is alarming to us because it demonizes people and their families,” Burleson said. “This hateful rhetoric is trying to divide us and we refuse to do that. We refuse to see these friends, these church members, these colleagues as the enemy. They are not the enemy.”
The heart behind HOTNIR continuously draws back on loving thy neighbor, a mission which allows volunteers to buy into the future Burleson and Brickhouse, Baylor’s second gent, have proposed.
“What I’m humbled by is so many people who are doing that [hard work] in our network… People believe in the vision, love their neighbor, and they’re going to work, and it’s a lot of behind the scenes,” Burleson said. “You know that nobody really will ever know how much they’ve done. They’re not motivated for anything but the help.”
Since that first meeting in February, HOTNIR has continued to grow, not only in the number of volunteers it has but also in the number of cases it has been able to support.
“We’ve taken 30 cases and I think we’ll be taking probably five more cases this week. We provide legal support, we provide food support, transportation, counseling, so it’s comprehensive,” Burleson said. “We can’t do everything, but we can help some people.”
As the network continues to grow, Burleson hopes more leaders in Waco continue to speak out against ICE and support their neighbors, following the example that he has seen the clergy set in Waco.
“In the end I think we’re going to be asked, ‘Were you on the right side of history here? …” Burleson said. “So I hope there’ll be other leaders. It’s not too late. Who will stand up and speak about this?”
