Monica De La Cruz

In October, on a flight from Dallas to McAllen, I sat next to Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz of Edinburg. But no one would have known it. Her district, Texas’ 15th Congressional District, runs south from the San Antonio suburbs down to the border, but that night only I knew her identity.

A year earlier, De La Cruz had easily sailed to a second term victory in the Rio Grande Valley, a region once securely in the hands of Democrats. Running on themes of fixing the border, improving the economy and endorsing social conservatism, hers was the successful conclusion of a long Republican effort to appeal to Latinos.

In her bid for reelection, De La Cruz had drawn presidential candidate Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson to the Valley for endorsements. In 2024, when the GOP needed a Spanish-language response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, they turned to De La Cruz. She battered Biden with complaints of rising costs and labelled his border policy “a disaster.” She called for stronger policies, in line with those of the current Trump era. Monica De La Cruz was a rising star in the GOP universe.

Following gains in Latino support that year, Republicans redrew the Texas congressional map with a hope of picking up five seats held by Democrats this coming November. That could help them hold onto the slim lead they now have in the House of Representatives.

That was the plan. But on that evening flight south in October, De La Cruz appeared uninterested in any public recognition. Boarding late and appearing exhausted, speaking to no one, and declining any refreshment from flight attendants, once seated she turned quickly toward the window.

While the number of migrants illegally crossing the border in the Rio Grande Valley area is now only a fraction of what it once was during the Biden era, the devastating impact of the Trump border crackdown on Rio Grande Valley businesses might have had something to do with De La Cruz’s posture.

Construction industry specialists say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more than 9,000 people in the Rio Grande Valley in the last year. The ranks of laborers have been decimated according to Paul Rodriguez of Valley Land Title Company. Area home construction loans are down at least 30% to 40% due to the migrant worker arrests at construction sites.

“I’m talking to individual bankers, and they were saying, ‘We have builders having to extend their loans because they can’t complete their projects,’” Rodriguez told the Houston Chronicle.

And it’s not just home builders being impacted. In December, the Mission-based cement company 57 Concrete filed for bankruptcy. More than 90 employees work there. The reason for the filing: labor shortages due to ICE raids on construction sites.

The National Association of Home Builders lists Texas as having the second biggest percentage of migrant workers in the construction labor force. That has business leaders here worried that the state will not have enough workers to build houses, fill the service ranks and assist with crops at harvest time.

The slowdown began in the Rio Grande Valley last summer as the ICE raids picked up. McAllen’s Republican Mayor, Javier Villalobos, told WFAA TV’s Inside Texas Politics it is not all bad. Yes, he said, part of the economy has slowed down, but, “fortunately when it comes to commerce I think we’re still pretty strong.” In his latest State of the City address, Villalobos announced that McAllen, the largest city in Hidalgo County, recently shattered its all-time sales tax record, indicating continued growth in shopping and trade. Nevertheless, he worries, “We have projects that have slowed down big time.”

Valley members of Congress worry as well and are hearing cries for help from people and businesses.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, Jr., a long-time Democrat whose District 34 sits next to De La Cruz’s and includes Brownsville, Harlingen and areas up the Texas coastline to just south of Corpus Christi, recently complained to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner that, as a result of immigration raids, there were, “projects on hold across the state of Texas and probably across the country because we don’t have the labor to do it.”

The Houston Chronicle says Turner told Gonzalez, “We have plenty of American people for American jobs, and that’s my concentration. To say we need to have migrants to do these jobs, I believe, is a slap in the face.”

That may be true, but Americans are not signing up for the jobs Turner touts.

No matter what part of Texas you live in, you have no doubt seen those who are – in restaurants, paving roads, repairing roof tops and elsewhere. The work is long and arduous, the wages are low and workers have little recourse if mistreated by their employer.

However, the work is also necessary. So Gonzalez wants undocumented workers with no criminal history who have been in the U.S. for five years to have access to temporary work permits.

De La Cruz, too, has added some ideas. She has joined with Democrat Henry Cuellar of Laredo and others in Congress to co-sponsor a measure called the DIGNITY Act. It proposes a seven-year, renewable legal status for certain eligible undocumented immigrants. De La Cruz has also talked about streamlining special visas for farm and construction workers via the Bracero Program 2.0 Act.

De La Cruz, Gonzalez and Cuellar have met with construction worker groups and business leaders to discuss the border. On occasion those meetings have gotten tense. Some constituents are not waiting for the mid-term elections in November to unleash their frustration over the border crackdown.

“We were the guys on the Trump train. We were the guys with the flags,” construction company owner Julio Carranza told De La Cruz at one gathering, “It’s not gonna happen this time. You’re gonna lose your seat.”

In some cases, people who backed Trump’s campaign pledge to deport convicted criminals, only to see families, friends and neighbors swept up by ICE, are not showing up for work fearing they too will be rounded up.

Building contractor Benny Melendez of Rio Grande City, insists it is about more than jobs and working. He told the Texas Observer, “We’re being targeted. We see raids in the Valley every day. We’re not only defending our livelihood. We’re defending our dignity as Hispanics.”

With elections coming in November, Rio Grande Valley Democrats have their eye on De La Cruz’ seat and winning back Latinos who felt abandoned by the party once dominant here. Valley Republicans are now working to prevent that from happening.

At the end of that October flight to McAllen, Congresswoman De La Cruz wasted no time exiting, head down, not a word to any of her fellow travelers, or from them to her.

No telling where she was headed – home for a rest or to yet another meeting with constituents frustrated about the local effects of the tough new border policy she once championed.