Enrique Roberto "Henry" Cuellar[1] (/ˈkweɪ.ɑːr/ KWAY-ar; born September 19, 1955)[2] is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 28th congressional district since 2005.

[6] In early May 2024, Cuellar was indicted on money laundering, bribery and conspiracy charges by a federal grand jury in Houston, Texas.

[citation needed] On March 7, 2006, Cuellar again defeated Rodriguez in the Democratic primary with 52% of the vote in a three-way race.

On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Texas Legislature had violated Latino voters' rights when it shifted most of Laredo out of the 23rd and replaced it with heavily Republican San Antonio suburbs.

He handily defeated Ron Avery of McQueeney, the chairman of the conservative Constitution Party in Guadalupe County, and Democrat Frank Enriquez, a McAllen trial attorney, with nearly 68% of the vote.

[3] Cuellar won a rematch in the March 1, 2016, Democratic primary with former Republican congressional candidate William R. Hayward, who switched parties to run again for the House.

[33][34][35] On June 7, trailing by 281 votes in the runoff, Cisneros requested a recount to be conducted by the Texas Democratic Party.

[52][53][54] Cuellar was ranked the 6th-most bipartisan member of the House of Representatives in the first session of the 117th United States Congress by the Lugar Center and McCourt School of Public Policy.

[a][57] In 2011, Cuellar authored and co-sponsored legislation seeking to honor slain ICE agent Jaime Zapata.

[58] In 2013, in a statement with House colleagues Beto O'Rourke and Filemon Vela Jr., Cuellar renewed his opposition to a border fence along the Rio Grande between the U.S. and Mexico.

[59] Cuellar was one of three Democrats to vote for Kate's Law, which expands maximum sentences for immigrants who reenter the U.S. after being deported.

He said, "Senator Clinton is the only candidate with the experience and toughness to hit the ground running on her first day in the White House.

[4][50] He expressed concerns that the Senate health care bill[clarification needed] allowed federal funding for abortion.

[61] Cuellar is the only Texas Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and is prolific in using his perch to deliver federal funds to his district.

[62] In 2011, he delivered federal funding to open a Veterans Administration outpatient clinic operated jointly with UT Health San Antonio in Laredo, Texas.

[69][70] On June 26, 2009, Cuellar voted with the House majority to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as the cap and trade bill.

[71] In March 2023, Cuellar announced that he would vote to roll back environmental regulations in President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, making him one of only two Democrats to do so.

[citation needed] In 2025, Cuellar was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.

[74][75] In 2020, Cuellar was one of six House Democrats to vote against the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which aimed to legalize cannabis at the federal level.

[77] Cuellar is an opponent of the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment which would limit the enforcement of the federal law criminalizing marijuana in states that have legalized medical cannabis.

[79][80] Cuellar has supported automated license plate recognition federal contractor Perceptics and has been linked to lobbying on behalf of the firm by Podesta Group.

[85][86] Cuellar is a leading proponent for the proposed expansion of passenger rail from San Antonio, Texas to Monterrey, Mexico, a project he has advocated for since 2008.

[90] The governor visited Washington, DC in 2021 on a trip hosted by Cuellar's office to build support for the proposal link.

[92] The train's route would connect San Antonio to Monterrey in 2 hours, with a stop in Laredo, within Cuellar's district.

[97] On January 19, 2022, the FBI obtained a search warrant for Cuellar's Laredo residence and campaign office as part of a federal probe relating to Azerbaijan, known for its practice of "caviar diplomacy" and money laundering scandals like the Azerbaijani Laundromat.

[104] In response, party leaders including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reaffirmed their support for Cuellar.

[105] As of January 2023, no arrests had been made in the case, the FBI had not indicated Cuellar was a person of interest and Cueller was not believed to be the subject of the investigation.

[107] The indictment says that nearly $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijan and a Mexican commercial bank was laundered into shell companies owned by Imelda from December 2014 through at least November 2021.

Strother and Florencio "Lencho" Rendon struck plea deals in exchange for cooperating with the investigation into Cuellar; they each face up to 20 years in prison and fines in excess of $100,000.

The suspects stole Cuellar's vehicle, as well as his luggage, although the car and all of his belongings were recovered by law enforcement a few hours later.