Texas Democrat James Talarico defended his longtime church’s decision to provide sanctuary to an illegal immigrant mother and her son who were facing deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a resurfaced video from 2023. Talarico, now a Democratic Senate candidate, pointed to the church’s involvement in the case while explaining how his progressive Christian faith shaped his political career. He described the decision to house the family as part of a religious tradition in which Christianity means “causing trouble.”
The remarks came during a June 2023 appearance on Texas Impact’s “Weekly Witness,” when Talarico was asked about the connection between his Christian faith and his work in politics. Talarico has long attended St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, where he was baptized as a child and remains active. During the interview, he pointed to several examples of what he called the religious tradition in which he was raised.
“Our church was really active in LGBTQ rights in the ’90s,” Talarico said. “We caught some attention by letting an atheist join our church in the 2000s, and then in the 2010s, again stirred some controversy by housing an undocumented family, a mother and son, who were close to being deported by ICE.” He presented those “controversies” as positive examples of his church putting its beliefs into practice.
Recent reporting confirms the situation Talarico described. The Texas Tribune reported that during the 2010s, St. Andrew’s decided to house an illegal alien mother and son from Guatemala who were facing deportation. The church’s immigration activism has continued in the years since, with members standing watch for ICE agents during its food pantry operations.
Talarico told the “Weekly Witness” hosts that the church’s willingness to involve itself in such matters had a direct influence on the course of his own life. “That was the tradition that I was brought up in,” he said. “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 then connected that history to his interpretation of Christianity and political activism. “And so, again, this idea that Christianity is just another word for causing trouble,” Talarico said. Earlier in the discussion, he had described the relationship between his religious and political beliefs another way: “Justice is just love out in public.”
Watch Talarico admit his church hid an illegal immigrant family here:
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Talarico has repeatedly brought up the case while discussing his faith. In a later interview, he said the mother and son had fled violence in Central America and described ICE as attempting to “kick them out of our country,” while presenting the church’s decision to shelter them as an example of acting in accordance with Christian love.
The case fits into the broader political identity Talarico has built around St. Andrew’s and its longtime pastor, Rev. Jim Rigby. Rigby baptized Talarico, married his parents and delivered the invocation when Talarico was sworn into the Texas House. The church has taken progressive positions on a range of political and cultural issues over several decades, and Talarico has repeatedly cited those fights when explaining his beliefs.
Talarico’s comments have gained renewed attention as his immigration views face greater scrutiny during his campaign for the Senate.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.