Political speech, timestamped and in context

Henry Cuellar: “We brought the South Texas builders and other folks to meet with ICE.”

Featuring: Henry Cuellar, Democratic | U.S. House, Texas, District 28

The Congressman Fighting To Make ICE Body Cameras Mandatory | Meet Rep. Henry Cuellar | MOAG S3 E9

Published October 1, 2026

I'm here, how do we get the job done. And we were able to do it. Now what we're doing is like on the ICE rates. Yeah. We brought the South Texas builders and other folks to meet with ICE. Ice. They want to meet with us. And we said, we are going to meet with. So we met with them on a Wednesday. Okay. (25:44–25:48)

STATEMENT

Asserts that meetings were arranged between South Texas builders and ICE.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

See the main statements from Henry Cuellar in this video

“President Obama deported more people than Trump has.”
Asserts that President Obama deported more individuals than President Trump.17:01-17:05
“They put $260 billion on Homeland additional.”
Asserts that $260 billion was added to Homeland Security funding.22:20-22:26
“My father was born in Guerrero, Tamaulipas, became a legal resident and a naturalized citizen.”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar's father became a legal resident and naturalized citizen of the U.S.01:20-01:27
“I became a member of Congress.”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar is a member of the U.S. Congress.02:21-02:24
“One of my first committees was the Agricultural Committee.”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar served on the Agricultural Committee in Congress.02:23-02:28
“I used to chair the appropriations for public and higher ed.”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar chaired appropriations for public and higher education as a state representative.05:40-05:45
“I was the last Democrat to hold [the position of Secretary of State in Texas].”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar was the last Democrat to serve as Secretary of State in Texas.05:55-05:58
“The Texas grant, the largest scholarship in Texas history. House Bill 713. That was my legislation.”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar authored House Bill 713, creating the largest scholarship in Texas history.06:24-06:33
“The South Texas Initiative was basically in the 90s where we said, we are going to provide more education, higher ed in South Texas.”
Asserts that the South Texas Initiative aimed to expand higher education in South Texas during the 1990s.06:39-06:51
“We created a South Texas initiative. We put a lot of money. Now you got UT, RGV, you got medical facilities, you got everything.”
Asserts that a South Texas initiative was created with significant funding, resulting in educational and medical facilities.07:05-07:14
“I started the first CHIP program, CHIP Health Insurance program, at the Farias Elementary School in Laredo that now it's statewide.”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar started the first CHIP Health Insurance program in Laredo, which is now statewide.07:24-07:32
“I've supported money for public ed, money for the Texas grant, larger scholarship. I emphasize in Texas history, the Pell Grant.”
Asserts support for funding public education, Texas grants, larger scholarships, and the Pell Grant.08:59-09:09
“In Congress, in Austin, I see that in other places, people put the party before the country.”
Asserts that in Congress and Austin, people often prioritize party over country.11:31-11:39
“I'm one of the most senior members in Appropriations.”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar is one of the most senior members in Appropriations.12:29-12:32
“If Democrats take over the House, then I go from the ranking Democrat to the chairman, which I meet on Homeland approach.”
Asserts that if Democrats take over the House, Henry Cuellar will become chairman on Homeland Appropriations.12:36-12:48
“In 2017, they took that language out [of appropriations].”
Asserts that language prioritizing ICE resources on criminals was removed from appropriations in 2017.17:49-18:00
“I was able to put, working with the Republicans, put the language back again [in appropriations].”
Asserts that he reinstated language in appropriations to prioritize ICE resources on criminals.17:52-17:57
“ICE is not supposed to be doing what they're doing.”
Asserts that ICE is acting beyond its intended scope.19:16-19:19
“They killed American citizens.”
Asserts that ICE actions have resulted in the deaths of American citizens.19:41-19:44
“I want to see everything. Training de-escalation cameras.”
Asserts a desire for ICE to implement training, de-escalation, and use of body cameras.19:49-19:55
“Keep away from sensitive areas like churches, schools, and hospitals.”
Asserts that ICE should avoid operations in sensitive areas.20:08-20:17
“They're not supposed to do that [profile based on appearance].”
Asserts that ICE should not engage in profiling based on appearance.20:20-20:25
“They had cameras. They chose not to use the cameras.”
Asserts that cameras were available but not used.20:45-20:53
“We had a roundtable with ICE. They said we're going to send 800 cameras to Houston.”
Asserts that ICE plans to send 800 cameras to Houston.21:20-21:26
“Harlingen, which covers this area, they're going to send, and I'm waiting for those numbers.”
Asserts that cameras will be sent to Harlingen, but numbers are pending.21:28-21:33
“San Antonio, El Paso, they had cameras to do it.”
Asserts that San Antonio and El Paso had cameras available.21:34-21:39
“The inspector general of Homeland is something that I put money in because they're the ones that investigate.”
Asserts that funding was allocated to the inspector general of Homeland for investigations.21:53-22:01
“My Republican friends have not allowed me to put more money because they don't want those investigations on it.”
Asserts that Republicans blocked additional funding for investigations.22:01-22:10
“We don't know what they're doing with it because they consider it to be outside of the appropriations.”
Asserts that the use of additional Homeland Security funds is unclear due to being outside appropriations.23:03-23:13
“Congress under Article 1 has to control those dollars.”
Asserts that Congress should control funding under Article 1 of the Constitution.23:23-23:28
“If I would focus on criminals and deport criminals, all of us will be applauding.”
Asserts that focusing on deporting criminals would be widely supported.24:11-24:17
“By Friday, when the South Texas builders were back, they got a phone call from one of their connections and they said, we were told not to do any more work site raids.”
Asserts that work site raids were halted following a meeting with ICE.25:54-26:04
“Now they're still going to do. If it's a criminal, they will pick up because that I'm okay with.”
Asserts that ICE will continue to target criminals despite halting work site raids.26:06-26:13
“I haven't seen [ICE questioning naturalized citizens] yet, but I always... get surprised by this administration.”
Asserts that ICE has not yet been seen questioning naturalized citizens under the current administration.29:33-29:40
“Once they go through that process, nobody should be questioning that.”
Asserts that naturalized citizens should not be questioned about their citizenship status.30:00-30:05
“They're making it very hard on the visas. On it. Student visas.”
Asserts that it is becoming very difficult to obtain student visas.31:53-31:57
“I sit in one committee called the Appropriations Committee.”
Asserts that Henry Cuellar is a member of the Appropriations Committee.34:30-34:34
“We decide what money goes to education, what money goes to the military, what money goes to healthcare.”
Asserts that the Appropriations Committee decides the allocation of federal funds to education, military, and healthcare.34:35-34:44
“They cut Medicaid and they're going to cut Medicare on it.”
Asserts that Medicaid and Medicare are being cut.35:07-35:12
“They said that they were not going to touch it.”
Asserts that there was a promise not to cut Medicaid and Medicare.35:11-35:14
“They cut health care, Medicare.”
Asserts that health care and Medicare have been cut.35:13-35:16
“They cut food a bit. Seriously, food for our students and for our seniors.”
Asserts that food assistance for students and seniors has been cut.35:15-35:21
“I believe in strong border security. But it's got to be sensible border security.”
Asserts support for strong but sensible border security.35:45-35:51