McALLEN, Texas — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar says aggressive tactics by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are not only crippling local South Texas businesses and public school attendance, but are also driving a surge in voter engagement among Latinos ahead of the midterm elections.
Speaking to the Rio Grande Guardian at the McAllen Performing Arts Center prior to a major Get Out the Vote rally, the Laredo Democrat argued that recent ICE enforcement actions have far exceeded targeting dangerous criminals, causing widespread fear across border communities.
“ICE needs to focus on criminals, on dangerous criminals, and not on students or nuns or pastors or construction workers,” Cuellar said. “That’s having an impact not only on our schools, but especially on our economy.”
Cuellar added that if Democrats secure the House majority in November, he expects to step into the role of chairman for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, where he intends to institute strict oversight on immigration enforcement agencies.
“I have a lot of plans on how to put guardrails on ICE,” Cuellar asserted. “People are worried that one of their neighbors is going to be picked up by ICE or roughed up by ICE, and we’ve seen that. I certainly want to investigate why there have been so many deaths in detention centers.”
The rally, which featured key Democratic figures including U.S. Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, Sylvia Garcia, Linda Sanchez, and congressional candidate Bobby Pulido, emphasized voter mobilization across the Rio Grande Valley.
For Cuellar, the economic repercussions of ICE overreach are inseparable from the everyday financial struggles facing voters. He pointed to conversations with local business owners who say fear of immigration raids is directly eroding commerce.
“I was in Palmhurst just last week, and I was talking to somebody who had an event center,” Cuellar recounted. “He said that he had lost 20 contracts—20 contracts—because people are afraid to have an event and then have ICE come in and raid it. Imagine if you're an event center and you lost 20 contracts. That’s devastating.”
Cuellar noted that public schools along the border are feeling a similar strain, with attendance dropping due to fear among families alongside broader challenges like school vouchers.
“When you ask them why students are not going to schools, they’ll tell you for two reasons: one is vouchers, of course, but the other is the immigration impact that we’ve seen,” he said.
Addressing the heightened turnout among young and first-time Latino voters in early voting, Cuellar expressed confidence that voter frustration over cost-of-living increases and immigration enforcement is shifting the political landscape in South Texas compared to 2024.
Reflecting on previous election cycles, including shifts in areas like Starr County, Cuellar acknowledged past ticket-splitting where voters backed Republican policies at the top of the ballot while retaining Democratic representation locally. Today, however, he senses a distinct change in sentiment.
“The mood, talking about the mood now two years later—you feel it. People want to vote Democratic. People want to vote blue,” Cuellar told the Guardian. “There’s just a very, very different mood in saying that the Republicans' policies have cost the American economy so much, and especially have caused families pain.”
As voters weigh economic pressures, healthcare policy cuts, and border enforcement strategy at the ballot box, Cuellar stressed that restoring accountability to federal agencies will remain his top legislative priority heading into the next Congress.
