A 2023 interview of Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico has resurfaced in which he cheerfully recounted how his church housed an illegal immigrant family facing deportation, drawing sharp Republican attacks three months before Election Day.
In the clip, recorded during a June 2023 appearance on Texas Impact's "Weekly Witness" show, Talarico described a pattern of progressive activism at his church stretching back decades. He told the interviewer his congregation was "really active in LGBTQ rights in the '90s," drew attention "by letting an atheist join our church in the 2000s," and then "stirred some controversy by housing an undocumented family, a mother and son, who were close to being deported by ICE" during the 2010s. Fox News Digital reported on the resurfaced footage, which has become a flashpoint in the Texas Senate race between Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Talarico, a Democratic state representative and Presbyterian seminarian, did not treat the admission as sensitive. He framed each episode, from LGBTQ advocacy to sheltering illegal immigrants, as a proud tradition that shaped his career in public life.
"That was the tradition that I was brought up in. It's what led me to teach public school students on the west side of San Antonio, led me to run an education nonprofit and then led me to run for office."
He capped the story with a laugh. "And so, again, this idea that Christianity is just another word for causing trouble," Talarico said.
No details about the church's name, denomination, or location appeared in the reporting. Nor did the clip reveal the names, nationalities, or legal outcome for the mother and son the church sheltered. Whether ICE ultimately deported them or they remained in the country is unknown.
The interview went well beyond the immigration admission. Talarico used the term "Christo-fascism" to describe several Texas laws, including a requirement that public schools display the Ten Commandments, a program allowing schools to replace guidance counselors with chaplains, the state's school voucher initiative, bans on sex-change surgeries and treatments for children, and the state's abortion ban.
"All these ideologies stem from this Christo-fascism movement, which, essentially, like I said, is just using faith to exercise raw political, social and economic power. I think it's dangerous to all of us, but particularly to those who are marginalized and oppressed in our state."
That framing, a Democratic candidate for statewide office calling mainstream Texas legislation a form of fascism, gave Republicans an opening they were eager to use. Talarico has previously drawn scrutiny for saying "God is nonbinary" and claiming there are six sexes, statements Republicans have highlighted as evidence of how far left he stands on cultural issues. He also drew fire for calling the American flag a "complicated symbol" ahead of the Fourth of July.
Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft told Fox News Digital that "despite looking like a loser, Talarico is a dangerous man."
"He has dedicated his life to helping illegals by dismantling border security, defunding police, and abolishing prisons to turn Texas into a paradise for cartels and criminals."
Madison Cercy, spokeswoman for Paxton's campaign, went further in her characterization of Talarico's worldview.
"In Talarico's form of Christianity, you must be trans, you can't support the oil and gas industry, you must support late-term abortions, and you have to let in every criminal illegal immigrant seeking asylum."
Cercy added that "James Talarico hates Christianity, and he's said it. The only form of Christianity Talarico practices is one that sacrifices children at the altar of the radical trans movement and most Texans would agree." Talarico's record of public appearances has continued to supply his opponents with material. He headlined a Pride festival featuring an 11-year-old drag performer, a fact that has circulated widely in Republican campaign messaging.
JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico's campaign, pushed back on the Republican characterizations in a statement to Fox News Digital. Ennis called the attacks "flat out lies" and cast Talarico as a faithful Christian standing against corruption.
"James is a Christian seminarian who's dedicated his life to the teachings of Jesus Christ, fighting religious and political corruption when he sees it because there's nothing Christ-like about powerful people twisting the teachings of Jesus to justify hate, violence, and greed."
On the policy specifics, Ennis said Talarico "opposes defunding the police and supports stronger border security and immigration enforcement." He pointed to Talarico's voting record, claiming the candidate "voted to send billions of dollars to support law enforcement, called for more border patrol agents, and has said we should be arresting and deporting violent criminals and human traffickers, not moms and babies."
That framing presents a challenge Talarico will have to navigate for the rest of the campaign. He now says he supports stronger border enforcement and deportation of violent criminals. But in the 2023 clip, he described his church's effort to shield illegal immigrants from ICE as a point of pride, and laughed about it. Those two positions sit uncomfortably side by side. Voters will have to decide which version of Talarico to believe.
Ennis also took aim at Paxton, arguing that "Ken Paxton's fellow Republicans have blasted his record of abusing his office to benefit his wealthy donors and the well-connected, allowing criminals back on the street even as it made Texans less safe." The Democratic National Committee, for its part, did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
A recent Fox News poll shows Talarico leading Paxton in the Texas Senate race, though no specific numbers, margin of error, or sample size were published in the reporting. That poll result drew attention across conservative media when it first appeared.
Paxton, speaking to Fox News Digital after a rally in Houston, called the deficit "not surprising" given that "we were three months behind" after his primary runoff against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. He expressed confidence that the gap would close as voters learn more about his opponent.
"We're still three months out. And I know that when we put our resources together, when we get there, we will be able to highlight things and once the voters know the real James Talarico, not the fake one that's running right now... people will get to decide for themselves."
Paxton's argument amounts to a bet that Talarico's own words, on immigration, on faith, on cultural issues, will do the work once enough Texas voters hear them. Clips like the "Weekly Witness" interview are the kind of material that tests that theory. Talarico sat for a friendly interview, spoke freely about sheltering illegal immigrants from federal law enforcement, and used the word "Christo-fascism" to describe laws that large majorities of Texas Republicans support.
The race has already attracted national Democratic attention. Barack Obama traveled to Austin to campaign for Talarico, a sign that the party sees the seat as genuinely competitive. Talarico has also shifted on policy in ways that suggest he knows a general election audience in Texas differs from a progressive podcast audience. He endorsed reparations after polls showed erosion among Black voters, a move that raised questions about whether his positions track conviction or polling data.
For a candidate running as a man of faith, Talarico's own words on that 2023 tape present a straightforward problem: he described his church actively obstructing federal immigration enforcement, and he did it with a smile. Texans who believe in secure borders and the rule of law will not need a campaign ad to tell them what that means.
