He later became a notary public and, in 1976, he was elected to the federal Chamber of Deputies for Chihuahua's third district, serving in the 50th Congress from 1976 to 1979.
[2] At the end of his period in Congress, he was appointed the regional delegate of the Secretariat of Commerce in Ciudad Juárez.
He was elected municipal president (mayor) of Juárez in 1980 and took office on 10 October of that year.
At the end of his mandate, he was replaced as mayor by Francisco Barrio, the first ever non-PRI municipal president of Juárez.
His son, José Reyes Ferriz, served as municipal president of Ciudad Juárez from 2007 to 2010.