Talarico: "I'm A Border Security Democrat," We Need Immigration and Customs Enforcement
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/10/15/talarico_im_a_border_security_democrat_we_need_immigration_and_customs_enforcement.html

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico explains his view on immigration and immigration enforcement at CNN/Jubilee town hall event.

TINA LOREN, AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

My name is Tina Loren, and I protect firefighter families from the unexpected. I'm also a Miss Texas United.

TALARICO: Wow.

LOREN: And my question for you is that your Senate term would extend beyond President Trump.

TALARICO: Yeah.

LOREN: So what would you do and what federal laws would you support to ensure that border security was durable regardless of what party was in the White House? And then if or when someone enters our country illegally, and they have no basis to stay, should federal law require that they be removed from our country?

TALARICO: So I think Texans understand this issue of immigration better than most people around the country because we live with it. We live with the challenges, and we live with the benefits.

And I've said before that both political parties have failed us on this issue. Joe Biden failed us during his administration by not securing the border. I remember talking to my colleagues in the state legislature who represent border communities, and they were telling me about the utter chaos along our southern border during the Biden administration. That's unacceptable.

But now we've seen under this administration a different kind of extremism. We've seen masked men in unmarked vehicles kidnapping our neighbors off our street.

We were told that ICE was going to go after violent criminals, and I support that. If you're an undocumented immigrant and you commit a violent crime, you should be deported immediately.

But that's not what they're doing. They're going after Uber drivers. They're going after small business owners. They're going after grandmothers and infants.

ICE should be focused on going after the cartels, not our communities. They should be going after violent gang members, not moms and babies.

And so, I think we've got to get to a place where we reject the extremism on this issue in both parties and finally pass comprehensive immigration reform.

And here's what I think that should include. One, it should include border security. I'm a border security Democrat. I think we should know who's coming into our country.

And in fact, in the state legislature, I worked on this issue. I authored a bill as a state representative to modernize our ports of entry because 93 percent of the fentanyl that comes into Texas comes through our ports of entry. And we don't have the technology or the manpower to stop it.

I rolled out a common sense border security plan that was endorsed by Democratic and Republican law enforcement officials along our southern border, calling for more border patrol agents, calling for better surveillance technology so we can detect unauthorized crossings.

I also think that that comprehensive immigration reform package should include more legal pathways for hardworking immigrants who want to come here and contribute to our economy and make us richer and stronger as a nation, as immigrants have always done. You wouldn't be at a town hall for a guy with the last name Talarico if this was not a nation of immigrants. We all have that immigrant story somewhere in our backgrounds.

And then lastly, I think we have to build a pathway to citizenship for our neighbors who have been here for years and decades. They should pay a fine. They should pay back taxes. They should learn English.

And if they can do all those things, I think they deserve a shot at joining our communities as full citizens.