Democratic State Rep. James Talarico of Texas called for an open border during his Jan. 24 primary debate with Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas.
Talarico defeated Crockett narrowly in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, securing 53.1% of the vote as of Wednesday morning. During the debate, which was livestreamed online by San Antonio-area TV station KXAN, Talarico claimed that the border between the United States and Mexico was like the “front porch” on someone’s house.
“Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front,” Talarico said.
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Upon taking office in January 2025, President Donald Trump issued several executive orders to address illegal immigration and border security, including designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua and the El Salvadoran prison gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations. Trump also declared a national emergency regarding the United States-Mexico border on the first day of his second term.
Trump secured $75 billion of funding for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to carry out immigration enforcement operations, which have been bitterly opposed by Democrats.
Talarico secured the victory despite a left-wing podcaster accusing him of calling former Democratic Rep. Colin Allred of Texas a “mediocre black man” in a Feb. 1 video posted to TikTok.
“James Talarico told me that he signed up to run against a mediocre black man, not a formidable and intelligent black woman, and I want to explain why this is problematic, especially as he shifted his current approach in the Texas Senate race,” the podcaster, who goes by Morgan, said in the TikTok video.
Talarico, a former public school teacher and currently attending a Presbyterian seminary, entered the Senate race in September, vowing to re-center the Democratic party on “working people.”
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