A South Texas congresswoman told a packed convention hall that Republicans ended the border crisis, cut taxes, and forced Mexico to finally pay water debts owed to American farmers.
Story Snapshot
- Representative Monica De La Cruz spoke at the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, framing her district’s story around border security, tax cuts, and water.
- She credited President Trump’s administration with ending the border crisis and forcing Mexico to meet its 1944 Water Treaty obligations.
- The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed a $280 million grant deal for Rio Grande Valley farmers hurt by water shortages.
- Her office says Mexico delivered more than 500,000 acre-feet of water in one year, more than the prior four years combined.
- Republicans are working to hold and grow Hispanic support in South Texas ahead of the 2026 midterms, even as affordability worries persist.
A Working Mom From Edinburg Takes The National Stage
Monica De La Cruz introduced herself to the convention crowd the way she always does back home. “I’m a working mom of two children from Edinburg, Texas,” she said on stage in Dallas. The day before, she posted that she was carrying South Texas’s message to a national audience, tracing her family back to a grandfather who worked the fields. That story is the foundation for everything she says about policy.
The Republican Midterm Convention marked the first event of its kind, bringing Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and top Republican National Committee leaders together in Dallas to set the tone for the 2026 midterms. De La Cruz was a featured speaker, using her time to connect her district’s local fights to the national Republican message heading into November.
Border Security And Tax Cuts Headline Her Message
De La Cruz did not hold back on her core claim. “Working with President Trump, we ended the border crisis. We cut taxes. And we turned a socialist nightmare back into the American Dream,” she told the crowd, according to a live account from the event. She also pointed to cost-of-living pain her constituents felt under the previous administration, saying grocery prices jumped 20 percent and rent ate up entire paychecks.
Her remarks tie directly into a broader Republican strategy to win back Hispanic voters in South Texas, a region Democrats have long counted on. The New York Post reported that Republicans see the Rio Grande Valley as a real opportunity this cycle, even as some polling shows the party’s 2024 gains among Hispanic voters may be softening. De La Cruz’s speech leaned on border enforcement and tax relief to make the case that Republican control is working.
Water Treaty Fight Delivers Results For Farmers
Beyond the convention stage, De La Cruz has spent months pushing Mexico to honor its water obligations under the 1944 Water Treaty, which requires Mexico to deliver 350,000 acre-feet of water to the United States every year, averaged over five-year cycles. Her office thanked Trump directly in March 2025 for “holding the Mexican government accountable for the water they owe South Texans”. By December, her office reported a breakthrough: more than 500,000 acre-feet delivered in a single year, beating the combined total of the previous four years.
The water fight has real consequences for farmers who depend on irrigation to grow crops in the Rio Grande Valley. The United States Department of Agriculture announced a $280 million grant agreement with the Texas Department of Agriculture in March 2025 to help farmers hurt by the water shortfall. De La Cruz said she was proud to work with the Trump administration to get that relief deployed to producers who had gone without water for years while Mexico fell behind on treaty deliveries.
Affordability Concerns Still Weigh On Hispanic Voters
Even with those wins, De La Cruz’s team knows the fight for South Texas isn’t finished. Her full convention remarks focused heavily on border security and tax cuts, a combination her campaign believes speaks directly to working families in the Rio Grande Valley. Republicans are betting that voters will credit the administration for tangible results on water, farming aid, and border enforcement rather than dwelling only on national inflation debates.
🔥 DALLAS, IT STARTS NOW! 🇺🇸
Night One of the Republican Midterm Convention officially kicks off at 3:00 PM Central Time—and this opening lineup is bringing the energy:
⭐ RNC Chairman Joe Gruters
⭐ Rep. Monica De La Cruz
⭐ Carlos De La Cruz
⭐ The Honorable Scott Turner
⭐… pic.twitter.com/IPbdQ6EPuK— Kambree (@KamVTV) September 9, 2026
The stakes for De La Cruz and Republicans stretch well past her own district. South Texas has become a proving ground for whether the party can turn a mixed record of federal action into lasting loyalty among Hispanic voters who once reliably backed Democrats. Her message at the Dallas convention was built to show that Republican governance, not just Republican promises, is what changed life back home.
Sources:
youtube.com, rev.com, texastribune.org, nypost.com, texasborderbusiness.com, delacruz.house.gov, usda.gov
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