Some politicians hide their extreme ideas until they get into office. But in the race to represent Texas in the Senate, James Talarico is campaigning on his.
Talarico is a Democrat state representative challenging Attorney General Ken Paxton for Senate.
More importantly, he is a self-proclaimed “Christian who hates Christianity,” someone who claims to love “trans kids,” and one of the most aggressive advocates of abortion and gun control in Texas. While he has tried to play the moderate, perhaps his most radical take is wanting to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “It’s time to tear down this secret police force,” Talarico said at a Democrat Senate primary debate earlier this year.
His efforts have proven to put illegal aliens before the lives of Americans.
After 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was sexually assaulted and murdered in Texas, allegedly by two illegal Venezuelans, state lawmakers introduced “Jocelyn’s Law” in the state Legislature. This was a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have required judges to deny bail to illegal aliens charged with felonies.
As the state House took the final vote on Jocelyn’s Law in 2025, Talarico was absent. But beforehand, he made sure to allow amendments that would have exempted certain immigrants from the bail restrictions, including those with pending green cards, humanitarian protections, or temporary legal status.
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Ultimately, the measure never got enough bipartisan support to move forward. After all, Talarico has argued to treat the border like a front porch, with a “giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door.”
But when given the chance to put that “lock on the door” after two illegal aliens allegedly raped and killed a 12-year-old girl, Talarico was nowhere to be found.
Throughout his career, and especially on the campaign trail, Talarico has vilified ICE while downplaying the agency’s work to remove violent criminals and protect American communities. “These masked men are waiting in school pick-up lines. They’re lurking in hospital waiting rooms. This is not law enforcement—this is something else,” he said at a rally earlier this year.
He also claimed ICE “shot a mother in the face,” apparently referencing Renée Good, killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis this year. Talarico failed to mention the fact that this “mother” had just struck an officer with her SUV, giving him internal bleeding, and the shooting was in self-defense.
Talarico has argued in favor of replacing ICE with an agency that is “actually going to promote public safety.” It seems like he is unfamiliar with the agency’s recent work.
ICE is on the front lines of the fight against human trafficking. During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations led nationwide anti-trafficking operations that led to 905 arrests and the rescue of 180 victims, including 30 children. And in Dallas, the ICE investigation helped dismantle an alleged sex-trafficking operation that authorities say exploited thousands of adults and minors for more than two decades.
ICE has arrested more than 10,000 gang members since the start of the second Trump administration, targeting members of violent transnational gangs including MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and the 18th Street Gang, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Those arrested include individuals accused or convicted of serious crimes such as murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, and drug trafficking. The facts suggest Talarico’s opposition to ICE is not rooted in what’s best for Texans, but in placing illegal aliens first.
Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft echoes the sentiment.
“He has made it clear he will follow through on his promise to abolish prison, defund police, and open the border to allow millions of illegals into Texas and turn the state into a paradise for cartels,” Kraft told the Daily Signal.
Talarico has been an outspoken critic of Texas’ election protections, claiming they are too strict. To register and vote, Texas requires simple identification like a state driver’s license or the last four digits of a resident’s Social Security number. While it’s illegal for noncitizens to vote in Texas, Talarico called illegal immigrants his “constituents.” He also opposed SB 1, an election integrity law that strengthened voter ID and mail-in ballot safeguards, expanded election oversight, and tightened rules to prevent fraud and protect the vote.
Talarico’s opposition to voter ID makes even more sense when understanding that, in a strategy meeting with his campaign, an activist with Beto O’Rourke’s “Powered by People” outlined plans to target individuals removed from Texas voter rolls to become Democrat voters.
Texas removes people from the voter rolls for several reasons, including felony sentences, noncitizenship, mental incapacity, moving outside the state or country, and death.
Talarico’s spokesperson did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment in time for publication.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.
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