South Texas lawmakers are pushing to stop ICE raids at construction sites. Here’s how.

The crowd inside the McAllen Performing Arts Center on Monday was silent as they watched a series of videos showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducting work-site raids across the Rio Grande Valley. 

The videos were collected by the South Texas Builders Association, a local trade group that’s been pushing for change to immigration policy that has swept up its skilled trade workforce over the past year. 

More than 100 of its members leaned in to hear from its board of directors and U.S. Reps. Monica De La Cruz, R-McAllen, and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, discuss what’s possible to stop the ICE raids through policy and legislation. 

“Our job sites are being raided with no actual warrants being shown; both illegal and legal residents are being picked up at our job sites,” said Mario Guerrero, the executive director of the South Texas Builders Association.

On the policy front, both Cuellar and De La Cruz have been pushing to meet with top officials in the Trump administration — from the Department of Labor to Homeland Security — to discuss the issue. 

The goal is to convince the federal government that sweeping work site raids are not the most effective way to target immigrants who have committed crimes and deport them.

Cuellar is hopeful that his position on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee could give him leverage amid a significant increase in ICE funding.

ICE was allocated $75 billion through 2029 for its immigration deportation efforts as part of the Big Beautiful Bill. Cuellar said his goal is to insert language that would require ICE to target criminals and stop the worksite raids. 

“We’re trying to provide some oversight on ICE, including language that we’re trying to add where it says ICE deports criminals,” Cuellar said. “I’m for deportation. But there’s different ways of doing it. I don’t agree with the way they’re doing it right now.” 

Instead, Cuellar co-sponsored the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act, which would create a new work visa program, H-2C, that could include construction industry workers. 

The bill was introduced in September 2025, but it has not been voted upon on the House floor. 

De La Cruz has also been actively trying to change policy, hosting dozens of meetings with leadership in the Trump administration, including the Department of Labor, and her fellow legislators in the Hispanic Caucus. 

De La Cruz said her goal is to offer a regional perspective about what’s happening in South Texas to businesses — from bakeries to lumber suppliers. 

“So that you all can come together and discuss these important issues. I think the first step is bringing awareness. I am hyperfocused on representing South Texas, and that’s why I have been a loud voice in Washington, D.C.,” she said. 

De La Cruz also co-sponsored legislation that would enable Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to remain working in Texas. In 2025, DACA recipients in Texas whose work authorization expired were barred from renewing it following a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Her bill, the Dignity for Immigrants While Guarding Our Nation to Ignite and Deliver the American Dream Act of 2025, was introduced in July 2025, but it has not yet been brought to a vote on the House floor.

Still, De La Cruz said she was optimistic about the future and mentioned Trump himself has been considering immigration reform, even for DACA. Trump told the New York Times this month that he’d “love to have a comprehensive immigration policy. Something that really worked. It’s about time for the country,” but declined to offer specific details. 

Still, the proposed changes aren’t expected to happen fast enough to change the trajectory of the construction industry workforce shortage, Guerrero said.

“It’s not fast enough; we need a solution tomorrow. We need our president to come here and tell ICE, you know what, let’s just hold off on these construction sites, let’s run proper investigations on the people that we’re apprehending and come back with warrants,” he said. 

Watch: Mario Guerrero discusses how worksite raids are affecting construction across South Texas on the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal’s podcast.

For now, the construction industry shakeup has trickled down to other businesses, from lumber yards and suppliers to title companies and banks, executives told elected officials on Monday. 

Paul Rodriguez, CEO of Valley Land Title Company, said he’s noticed a 40% decline in construction activity for bank loans. 

“We’ve been seeing it in our numbers since the summer and certainly towards the end of the year,” Rodriguez said. 

Just last week, he spoke with a local bank executive who had loaned money to a builder, but an ICE raid picked up 18 workers at the job site, and the project has been halted. 

During the first six months of 2025, demand for building materials across the Rio Grande Valley was steady, but after the work site raids ramped up, sales have declined, said Jeremy Smith, co-owner of Matt’s Building Supply. 

“All of that momentum was lost,” he said, noting about a 30% drop. “This is squandering an opportunity where economic growth can happen, this isn’t true in a lot of parts of the country. I think that it would only take a minor correction in policy to really see this change.”