US Rep. Monica De La Cruz talks tariffs, discusses first term in office

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McALLEN — She made history as the first woman and first Republican to represent a swath of South Texas that had long been a Democratic stronghold.

In the lead-up to the 2022 General Election, she campaigned as part of a slate with two other women who were considered rising stars in the Texas Republican Party and who had, together, garnered such monikers like “the red tsunami” and the “triple threat.”

But once the votes had been tallied up, only McAllen-native and small business owner Monica De La Cruz had emerged victorious, flipping the District 15 congressional seat from blue to red.

It was the first time in more than a century that voters here had elected a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives.

At the time, Democratic Party leaders said De La Cruz’s win wasn’t necessarily a sign of a red shift in the Valley, but rather, a result of skillful gerrymandering.

Two years later, in a rematch against Democratic candidate Michelle Vallejo, a small business owner from Mission, De La Cruz again emerged victorious — and gained a larger share of the District 15 electorate in the process.

“It’s been exciting,” De La Cruz said during an exclusive interview with The Monitor this week — her first in-depth sit down with the media since her historic 2022 election win.

“It’s an honor to serve. In two years, we have done immense work, not only in the district, but in Washington D.C.,” she added.

FLIPPING THE VALLEY

On Nov. 5, De La Cruz extended her margin of victory over Vallejo from 8.5 percentage points in 2022 to an even 16 points.

But the GOP’s gains weren’t limited to District 15.

All four Valley counties flipped red in the presidential race, with President-elect Donald Trump edging out Vice President Kamala Harris in Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy and Starr counties.

For De La Cruz, the Valley’s increasingly rightward lean comes down to three factors: the border, the economy and a social conservatism among residents who value finding solutions to kitchen table issues.

Immigration has become the “hot topic” occupying the minds of voters in recent years, but especially here in the Valley.

The congresswoman called illegal immigration devastating, saying that local Hispanic voters sent a “loud message to the entire nation” that they want safe, legal immigration.

“We will not stand for open borders. We want safe communities and we want a safe legal process,” De La Cruz said.

But the number of migrants crossing into the United States through the Valley has been dropping steadily since Title 42 ended last May.

Nonetheless, border issues remained important to candidates on both sides of the aisle.

Another factor in the Valley’s red shift was the economy with voters worrying about being able to make ends meet, De La Cruz said.

“One of the things that I spoke a lot about — President Trump spoke a lot about — was prosperity. Meanwhile, on the national stage, Democrats were talking about pronouns,” De La Cruz said.

Such conversations “just did not resonate with this community,” she said.

BIPARTISAN BILLS

Despite the campaign trail’s hyper-partisan rhetoric, De La Cruz proved herself to be far more diplomatic once in office.

The congresswoman said she is most proud of passing five bipartisan bills out of the House, including one that has since been signed into law by President Joe Biden.

HR 1076 was a bipartisan bill that calls on the Government Accountability Office to study the funding mechanisms behind the trafficking of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and then report its findings to Congress.

De La Cruz introduced the bill in February 2023, just one month after taking the oath of office. It received almost unanimous approval, passing the House by a vote of 402-to-2.

The bill became law in September, and in so doing, also became the first piece of legislation written by a District 15 representative to become law in more than 15 years.

“In two years, we have been able to successfully pass five pieces of legislation off the House floor in a very divided Congress,” De La Cruz said on Monday.

“And that is exciting because they were all bipartisan pieces of legislation, and (one being) signed into law by a Democrat president shows the work that we are able to do across the aisle,” she added.

De La Cruz has also participated in some partisan legislation.

In March, she introduced a bill denouncing the Biden administration’s immigration policies and calling for the reimplemetaton of the pandemic-era Migrant Protection Protocols and other enforcement actions, such as expedited removal. She also voted on an impeachment inquiry into Biden.

But De La Cruz hasn’t been afraid to cross the aisle on issues that include Medicare, veterans and water.

“I think it was key to our success showing that we were going to work for everyone, and that we were going to work together in a bipartisan way for solutions,” De La Cruz said of her first two years in office.

De La Cruz’s willingness to engage in bipartisan lawmaking at a time when she, herself, admitted how hyper-partisan Washington has become illustrates a promise she made to Valley voters during her 2022 victory party.

“I want all of your supporters to know that they can count on me to fight for all of South Texas,” De La Cruz said at the time.

Reflecting on that sentiment two years later, De La Cruz said, “What I wanted the people, the voters who were listening that evening … to know (is) that whether they voted for me or not, whether they were red or blue, at the end of the day in this position, I am for the red, white and blue.”

“In other words, I am the congresswoman for everybody in my community,” she continued, adding that she was willing to “work with anybody who wanted to see our community prosper and grow.”

One of the first steps she took was by offering “an olive branch” to a prominent Valley Democrat, state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, whom she invited to be her guest to the 2023 State of the Union address.

THE WATER CRISIS

De La Cruz has also worked across the aisle on the issue of water scarcity and the harm it is causing Valley farmers. She’s become one of the issue’s most vocal champions after Mexico’s failure to deliver water to the Rio Grande led to the sugarcane industry’s failure this February.

Together with the rest of the Valley delegation of lawmakers, including Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, De La Cruz has cosponsored a number of pieces of legislation aimed at addressing Mexico’s noncompliance with the water sharing treaty.

“We were able to secure language in the appropriations bill that states that we will not give Mexico any money if they do not give us our water,” De La Cruz said.

“Because of all of the noise our local media has been able to focus in this area, and we’ve been advocating for it so strongly in Washington D.C., that language is now an appropriation,” she said.

In August, De La Cruz formed what she calls the “South Texas Water Working Group” to help problem-solve the water crisis.

“What I decided, along with my farming community, is that we needed to stop relying on the Mexican government for our water needs, and instead find both immediate and long-term solutions,” De La Cruz said.

The congresswoman appointed a number of elected officials from across South Texas to the group, including local Democratic state lawmakers, farming industry professionals and McAllen’s former city manager.

More recently, De La Cruz introduced a bill on Nov. 11 that aims to provide financial relief to Valley farmers who have been impacted by water scarcity recently.

The South Texas Agriculture Emergency Assistance Act would provide some $280 million in grant funding to local farmers who have lost crops due to the lack of water.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

During her first two years in office, De La Cruz has seen a near meteoric rise in prominence on the national stage.

While she invited Canales to accompany her to her first State of the Union address in January 2023, by her second go-round, House Speaker Mike Johnson asked her to address the nation by delivering the GOP’s Spanish-language rebuttal.

And after receiving an endorsement from Trump during her 2022 campaign, De La Cruz continued to have the former president’s ear when he asked her to speak at the Republican National Convention this summer.

“This is a coveted spot,” De La Cruz said.

“And for us to have that voice, again, on the national stage, showed that the president supports the Rio Grande Valley,” she said.

WHAT’S TO COME

De La Cruz is hoping she will continue to enjoy Trump’s support once he retakes office next January, especially when it comes to issues like tariffs.

On Tuesday, Trump announced his plans to implement 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada on his first day in office.

Binational trade is a multibillion dollar industry in the Valley.

The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge alone is responsible for almost two-thirds of produce imported into Texas, or about a third of all the produce that is imported into the U.S. annually.

De La Cruz said the proposal to implement tariffs — which are ultimately paid by American consumers — is part of Trump’s efforts to “bring jobs back to America that had left us” and to strengthen the economy.

But with the Valley’s economy so heavily dependent on trade with Mexico, De La Cruz hopes Trump will make her a part of any tariff discussions.

“The president knows how important the Rio Grande Valley is. And I am confident that I will have a seat at the table in these discussions and be able to share with the president … how these tariffs will impact — both positively and negatively — our area,” De La Cruz said.

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