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Interview with Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX): Texas Takes Center Stage in Race to Control Congress; Hispanic Voters' Support for Trump Dropping Ahead of Midterms; Judge Limited Justice Department Access to Rep. Omar's Records in Sprawling Immigration Fraud Probe; Ukraine Says Some Military-Grade Starlink Services Restricted. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 14, 2026 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're just 20 days to Election Day when Republicans and Democrats in all 50 states will duke it out for control of the House and Senate. 470 seats are up for grabs this cycle, but only a handful of key races, considered toss-ups, could decide the balance of power in Congress. With swing seat spotlight, we're taking a closer look at those contests and the issues that will make the difference.

Today, we're looking at Texas' 15th congressional district. This border district is over 80 percent Hispanic, according to census records, and it's a seat that Democrats held for decades until Republican Monica de la Cruz first flipped it in 2022. In the last election, President Trump carried that district by 18 points, though the tide may be turning given sliding poll numbers and Texas Republicans' decision to redraw their state's congressional map.

Our next guest is running for reelection in Texas' 15th district. Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz joins us now. Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us.

I want to start with the immigration crackdown. In February, ICE detained a family from McAllen during a routine check-in. I know you're familiar with this story.

It was two teen brothers, these mariachi students that were part of the family that you previously invited to perform at the Capitol, and you took steps to help secure one of the brothers' release, and you posted this quote, "As I have consistently said, enforcement resources should be focused on individuals with criminal records." According to the latest data from TRAC, about 70 percent of those in ICE detention, like those brothers, have no criminal conviction. I wonder if you think President Trump's crackdown has gone too far.

REP. MONICA DE LA CRUZ (R-TX): I have been very clear from the beginning that any type of enforcement should focus, as you said, on the cartels and on the criminals. Now, I have had these conversations with the White House. As you know, enforcement is at the discretion of the White House. Here, what I have done to battle this complex immigration process is I have co-sponsored bipartisan legislation, such as the Dignity Act, which is the most comprehensive bipartisan legislation that is out there. It has the best chance of getting to the House floor. And I haven't stopped there.

I've also created legislation, such as the Bracero 2.0 Act, that helped many of our families follow a legal process into our country, as well as legislation to protect our DACA kids. This is something that I'm advocating for and that I'm actively involved in.

[15:35:00]

SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you about that legislation and others, but I want to go back to the fact that you said the White House handles ICE policy. At least 58 people have died in ICE custody during Trump's second term. We've seen people who have lived peacefully in this country for decades, contributing to their communities, get sent to countries where they have no connections.

They've been shipped off to random countries in Africa. We've also reported on kids being made to stand before immigration judges with no legal representation, reportedly bursting into tears. Do you think the way that this crackdown has been executed has been humane?

DE LA CRUZ: I can tell you that any loss of life is so sad, and my heart breaks for those families who have suffered any loss of life. What my job is, as a mother of two children myself, and as a legislator, is to make sure that we have common-sense immigration policy. Down here in South Texas, we have a hard-working community that wants a secure border.

We don't want to return back to the chaos that happened in the previous administration. But we also want common-sense legislation and enforcement. Those two things can go hand-in-hand, and that's what I'm advocating for, and I will continue to be a voice for those in South Texas.

SANCHEZ: So if it's, in your estimation, not common-sense that kids are in court with no legal representation, that people are being shipped off to these other countries, you would agree that the administration's immigration crackdown is not humane?

DE LA CRUZ: What I am saying to you is that I would like enforcement, and the people of South Texas would like enforcement to be on the cartels and the criminals. Look, in the previous administration, what we saw is not only hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants coming through our borders, but we also saw, very sadly, lots of drugs like fentanyl coming through our borders, killing family members, children. This holiday season is coming up, and there will be families without children at the table because of the fentanyl that came through our border.

During that chaotic time, nobody I talk to wants to go back to that. What they want is they want safe communities. They want to stop the drug flow. This is why I created legislation that specifically targeted the cartel and the drug flow of fentanyl into our communities.

SANCHEZ: Were you aware, Congresswoman, that more than 40,000 immigrants without criminal convictions had already been detained, many of them deported, before you voted to give ICE billions of dollars to carry out more of these arrests, when you voted for the Big Beautiful Bill?

DE LA CRUZ: I'm so glad that you asked that question. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify. The One Big Beautiful Bill, or the Working Families Tax Cut, as we like to call it, was hundreds of pages long, and it had lots of great legislation in there.

Part of that was DHS funding, and what that means to you and your viewers is that the Coast Guard will get a paycheck at the end of this month. It guarantees that our border security officers that are keeping our community right here in South Texas safe, that they will get a paycheck. And you know what?

It went to give working families tax relief that they desperately needed.

SANCHEZ: So you knew then --

DE LA CRUZ: What is a big issue that we're talking about? And let me share with you this because it is important. If we're going to talk about the bill, we need to get the facts out there.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Sure, but I'm asking specifically about whether you knew that ICE agents had already detained some 40,000 people that didn't have any criminal convictions. I've heard your argument about taxes. Congresswoman, I hear your argument about taxes.

I was asking about one specific portion of it, if you could address the specific question that I'm asking. Whether you were aware that ICE had detained some 40,000, more than 40,000 immigrants without criminal convictions when you voted for the bill that gave them billions of dollars to continue carrying out those arrests.

DE LA CRUZ: Well, let's be fair about the question that you asked. You asked about my vote on DHS funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill. And I wanted to clarify for your viewers, because there is a lot of misinformation out there, that the One Big Beautiful Bill also had tax relief for people who are right now struggling on affordability.

[15:40:00]

That is a huge, huge problem.

SANCHEZ: I understand your point about tax relief. You've outlined that before and the checks for the Coast Guard. I just wonder if you could address the question of whether you knew that there were already tens of thousands of people without criminal convictions that had been detained, many of them deported by ICE when you voted to give them billions of dollars.

DE LA CRUZ: What I know is that when I go out into my community, and I sit at a kitchen table with a mom, dad, who are working overtime, that they're grateful that they have no tax on overtime, that they are able to put food on the table. And all of those abuelitos out there who are living on a social security check, that they have no tax on their social security checks that they're living on right now. They're grateful for having more dollars in their pocket for hardworking families.

And I'm glad to have provided that.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I mentioned that I would ask you about legislation, specifically you mentioned legislation that would help protect DACA recipients. You featured a family, a different family that you helped with immigration issues in one of your campaign ads, the wife of a DACA recipient that you helped to free. And you did co- sponsor the Dignity Act, which would give DACA recipients 10 years of conditional status.

Despite repeated attempts, that bill has not gone far. Currently, there is a discharge petition for a separate bill, the American Dream and Promise Act, that would also protect DACA recipients for 10 years. It has 217 signatures in the House, including one of your Dignity Act co-sponsors, Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar.

It has three Republican names that have signed onto it overall. It just needs one more signature to be brought up for a vote. The Dignity Act is not likely to get a vote soon.

This one has a chance if you would sign it. You have not signed it. Why?

DE LA CRUZ: Well, what we know is that there is a legislative process, and that process was created so that everybody has the opportunity to have input into a bill, into legislation. That means both Democrats and Republicans can give amendments. They can debate and talk about how to get the best legislation forward.

You and I both know that never in the history of America has immigration policy been passed through a discharge petition. That's not regular order. Why?

Because it doesn't allow the American people what they deserve, which is to have their voice heard through the committee process. Our Founding Fathers created this opportunity and committee so that everybody from Texas to Minnesota to Alabama would have a voice in the process. That's the way that the Founding Fathers wanted, and guess what?

The people in South Texas want their voice heard when it comes to immigration reform. That's why I've been in the front lines of these conversations, and I will continue to be on the front lines of conversations.

SANCHEZ: Before we go, Congresswoman, I mentioned some of the folks that you helped with their immigration issues. Last month in your district in Alamo, ICE agents pepper sprayed and arrested two 17-year- olds who stopped a film in ICE arrest. DHS has said that they were agitators who obstructed officers.

At last check, they have yet to be charged with any crime. Their attorney says they're American citizens who were on their way to enlist in the Marines. We learned that 10 days later, one of their mothers, after giving an interview to Telemundo, was deported.

Have you reached out to that family or asked ICE about the incident?

DE LA CRUZ: I can share this with you, is that our office proudly has served many, many families working through the legislative process. Families like the Mariachis that you mentioned a little earlier, high- profile, like the nun that we have also helped. These are just two of many high-profile cases that we work and are the voice of in Washington, D.C. And I invite all of your viewers here to contact our office so that we can help not only with immigration issues and challenges, but that we can help with IRS, Social Security, passport. We have a legacy of helping the good people of South Texas, and I look forward to helping to continuing that legacy.

SANCHEZ: And if these 17-year-olds' families reach out to you, will your office look into the incident? Will you try to help them?

[15:45:00]

DE LA CRUZ: We reach out, I'm sorry, we help any family who contacts our office on any issue from immigration to Social Security. And we welcome these calls because that is my duty, and I'm humbled to be able to serve our community.

SANCHEZ: We will pass that message along to these teens. Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz, thank you so much for the time and sharing your perspective.

DE LA CRUZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Now to a CNN exclusive. We're learning more about Monday's search of the Washington home of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

[15:50:00]

According to people familiar with the investigation, the White House pushed for an unusually aggressive search of Omar's house as part of an immigration fraud probe targeting her.

But prosecutors first had to contend with the federal magistrate judge in a prolonged back and forth that hasn't previously been reported. CNN crime and justice correspondent, Katelyn Polantz, is with us now. Katelyn, tell us about this. KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of questions about politics around this search of Ilhan Omar and the criminal investigation into her. The question right now, though, is how difficult was it for the Justice Department to get access to the documents she would have had in her home? Or are they still trying to get access there?

Evan Perez, Jake Tapper and I have a number of sources we've been talking to in the Justice Department. We have learned that they are very aggressive about the investigation and specifically they were pushing to get access to the documents in Ilhan Omar's home to seize them potentially. And a federal judge in D.C., a magistrate judge, he pushed back for several days before telling them she's a member of Congress and you need to take certain precautions that the Justice Department didn't want to necessarily do whenever they were planning on that search. Ultimately, there's a process for them to go through their records. And this investigation, the other thing we are learning here through our sources, is that this investigation is largely about immigration fraud.

There is also an aspect of it about whether Ilhan Omar, the representative from Minnesota, she's a U.S. citizen now. But when she immigrated to the United States and became a citizen in 2000, how old was she and was she a minor? Was there some sort of false statement made on documents she would have been making at that time or that her father, who's now deceased, would have been making?

And is there a possibility that the Justice Department is now looking at, could there be a repetition of that false statement on more recent government documents? Whether the Justice Department is even going to get access to these records, if there were ones in her home, big question there because the judge is pumping the brakes on that. But this is a serious investigation, and it is ongoing in the middle of an election season.

KEILAR: Yes, really unbelievable. Katelyn, thank you so much for the reporting. Really appreciate it.

Ahead, we are learning some more about the disruption of the Starlink system in Ukraine. Now, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the Kremlin may be taking advantage of the disruption. We'll have that next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This just in, a Ukrainian official telling CNN some Starlink services are coming back online after they were restricted earlier. Kyiv says the disruption to its Starshield service was affecting military operations against Russia. President Vladimir Zelenskyy also said the Kremlin was taking advantage of the situation to launch its own attacks.

SANCHEZ: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who also oversees Starlink, posted a statement saying Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that any limits on its speed or usage are up to the U.S. military and President Trump.

CNN chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto is following the story closely. So Jim, what are you learning?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So an update just since we spoke in the last hour, a Ukrainian official, as you know, tells me that the military-grade Starlink signal known as Starshield is improving but not yet back to normal. So those speed limits we were talking about remain in place at about 100 miles an hour. That matters because they need to go fast to do things like intercepting Russian jet-powered drones.

So I'm told that it continues to impact air defenses. This is a direct quote from a Ukrainian official. The speed is not enough to effectively intercept Russian jet-powered drones.

So it's still impacting. I mean to Elon Musk's point there, it's not his decision since this is a DOD overseen service. So that would then presume to communicate that the DOD made a decision to restrict this.

Now, it's for a period of time. Perhaps by the end of this conversation, it'll be back up to normal speeds, but it isn't yet.

KEILAR: That's very interesting that he's pointing to DOD there. We're also following some comments from Vladimir Zelenskyy, right? He's visiting the U.K.

He's talking about Trump. He's talking about Trump's diesel deal with Russia.

SCIUTTO: He said out loud what I've been hearing privately for months now, and that is that Ukraine does not believe it can trust the U.S. as an ally anymore. And he said it in so many words. President Zelenskyy says it's a shame to lose -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- a reliable partner.

Remember, whatever the reaction will be in the White House from President Trump, and perhaps we'll have a Truth Social post about it before you know it asking for gratitude, he's connecting the dots here. The U.S. has zeroed out direct military assistance to Ukraine. That goes back pretty much to the start of the second Trump term.

And now you have this series of steps. They're seeing reduced access to Starshield, which they depend on every day to shoot down incoming drones. They're seeing a threat over the weekend to cut intelligence sharing and other weapons purchases, officially not acted upon yet.

But as I was saying the last time we spoke, they're seeing warnings that they used to get about incoming Russian ballistic missiles supplied by U.S. intelligence not happening anymore. And they're seeing the diesel deal with Russia, supplying them more money to finance the war, connecting those dots and saying they're not on our side anymore.

SANCHEZ: And is there much, as you're in contact with European allies and diplomats, is there much that Europe can do to sort of cover up that opening?

SCIUTTO: To date, they could do some but not all, because the U.S. is just such a behemoth when it comes to all these capabilities, satellites, you know, airlift, missile supplies, et cetera. So they could fill some of the gaps, but for now, they can't fill all of those gaps. And the most glaring example of that is the interceptor missiles for the Patriot system.

They can give some, but not as much as the U.S. used to be able to.

KEILAR: Yes, huge news, Jim, and great reporting. Such a pivotal moment that we should keep watching this in. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Thanks.

KEILAR: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END